Free digital certificate

Digital TV offers big opportunities for e-democracy; the trouble is that Sky is the most important gatekeeper.

It makes sense for e-government services to work on TV. After all, not all households have access to a PC. Getting government services on the net has been a long and painful process, but the real challenge lies in creating services that are even more accessible to the public.

In this year's New Statesman New Media Awards, it was reassuring to see a seemingly polarised group of judges -- Michael Fabricant and David Shayler among them -- effortlessly come to the same conclusions about what constitutes a good site or service. So, if we can agree, why aren't all organisations, the government in particular, putting these theories into practice?

The good news is that, in some cases, the first signs of development are definitely there. It was particularly interesting this year to see www.tameside.gov.uk, a regional council service allowing residents to pay their council taxes and parking fines online, present itself on a television through a games console. The real opportunities, however, lie with digital TV: satellite, cable and terrestrial.

This year's overall merit winner is www.faxyourmp.com, a site that allows constituents to fax their MPs from a PC or a web-enabled TV. "We took into account some of the issues of TV design," explains the site's founder, Tom Loosemore. "Users hate scrolling and like the text to be big so they can read it from the sofa. A major interactive TV platform agreed to carry the service and expressed satisfaction at its speed and clarity."

However, the government has stated that, if it is to publish e-services on digital TV, it will have to do it over all three mediums. But in doing this, the government faces problems.

Cable's only real problem is that it is still very disjointed in this country. Terrestrial, too, faces an uncertain future.

The real difficulty lies with Sky, which holds the monopoly over satellite television. Sky, as gatekeeper to the service, has adopted technologies that mean it can charge whatever it likes for entry to its platform. It claims that its platform is special -- doubtless for good profit motives -- but this is simply not the case. In truth, what you would see on the television is quite simply a website with fewer images. But if the government wants to increase accessibility to its services, it will have to bite the bullet and pay. At the moment, this seems unlikely.

So the government faces a gap between its ambitions and a rapidly consolidating market of digital TV platform owners who need to make money. While we wait patiently for the revolution to happen, what we are more likely to see in the coming year are more enlightened councils such as Tameside creating services that work on PC and TV.

In the midst of this debate, however, it becomes clear that even e-government services currently available on PC are not up to scratch. David Elstein, the former head of Channel 5, believes that the government "has a huge amount of work online before it gets to TV. The e-envoy needs to attack this issue before launching something nebulous on satellite. Tens of millions of pounds are being frittered away on partial and unconvincing projects." It will no doubt be a long time yet before convincing projects arrive on a screen near you.

the winners

Overall merit award

WINNER: www.faxyourmp.com

COMMENDED: www.abctales.com

Elected representative award

WINNER: www.vincentcable.com

Advocacy award

WINNER: www.hungryandhomeless.co.uk

COMMENDED: www.fathersdirect.com

Online communities award

WINNER: www.abctales.com

COMMENDED: www.bullying.co.uk

www.britishbornchinese.org.uk

Education award

WINNER: www.24hourmuseum.org.uk

COMMENDED: www.historyworld.net

www.beskilled.net

E-government award

WINNER: www.camden.gov.uk

COMMENDED: www.tameside.gov.uk

the losers

Raspberry award (for worst website)

WINNER: www.inlandrevenue.com

It has done the impossible by taking a disliked, cumbersome process and making it tedious and unworkable online.

COMMENDED: www.postoffice.co.uk

Almost totally inaccessible to web-users with a PC rather than a Mac.

www.gateway.gov.uk

Allows limited transactional services, only to those with Microsoft technology.

Overall merit award

www.faxyourmp.com

A dozen volunteers started FaxYourMP.com in 2000, after realising that most people found it impossible to contact their elected MP directly. This website successfully allows the public to do just that. It identifies the parliamentary representative for your constituency and highlights the issues on which they may be able to help you. It also publishes their recent speeches and provides information about their political backgrounds. Finally, you can write to them, hit the send button and be reassured that they will receive your communication.

Advocacy award

www.hungryandhomeless.co.uk

This site aims to raise awareness of London's homelessness problem and to communicate that "not all homeless people are ignorant, stupid, thieving drug addicts". It does this by presenting homeless people who are eager to work and want assistance to help them back into society. As well as giving employers the opportunity to contact them, the site illustrates how the internet can be used by homeless people to improve their prospects. It also provides a search for people looking for missing friends and relatives. An insight into the lives of homeless people is given through discussion and poetry pages, and street art is advertised for sale, all profits from which go back into the site. Since launching this website, Steve Andrews has found a job, as have other members of his team.

Online communities award

www.abctales.com

Created for people with a passion for writing and reading, ABCtales claims to be "the most exciting story site in the world", with approximately 6,000 works. It gives people the opportunity to publish their literary creations -- short stories or poems -- free of charge, and to receive critical comment from readers. The best work is selected for paid publication in a monthly magazine of the same title. A discussion site provides a forum in which to share thoughts and ask questions. The site is the brainchild of John Bird, the founder of the Big Issue, and 20 per cent of the profits go to the Big Issue Foundation. All stories receive an age certificate for guidance and cannot be viewed without registering. A youth site will be launched in September 2001.

Education award

www.24hourmuseum.org.uk

Created to develop audiences for museums, galleries and heritage attractions, 24 Hour Museum is an independent charitable organisation, chaired by Loyd Grossman. It is funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport through Re:source, with additional help from, among others, the National Assembly for Wales and the Clore Foundation. The site was launched in May 1999 as a partnership project between the Campaign for Museums and the Museums Documentation Association. It provides information on new exhibitions and developments around the country, an online magazine, a national curriculum navigator and links to global institutions. A version in Welsh is also available.

E-government award

www.camden.gov.uk

This site was launched in 1998 to provide citizens with an accessible, customer-focused interactive online arena where concerns, interests and questions can be voiced. It now allows time-saving online transactions for business rates, council tax and parking tickets -- used by almost 1,000 people per month -- as well as providing a facility to make complaints and report problems. In addition to these services, the site acts as a gateway to an extensive range of council and community information, including local amenities, places to visit, maps and details of council departments.

Elected representative award

www.vincentcable.com

This website, designed for Vincent Cable MP, informs his constituents about the work he does on their behalf at both local and national levels. Designed to promote a greater understanding of an MP's job, Cable's site features access to parliamentary questions, offers of trips to the Houses of Parliament, local campaign updates, as well as comprehensive accounts of emerging local issues and his recent successes as an MP. Community politics is important to Cable, which is why he has asked the people of Twickenham to choose the topic he should adopt for the private member's ballot. The site provides the public with the opportunity to contact him quickly and directly.