Marie Madden of the Galway Independent reports, “Researchers at the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) in NUI Galway are leading a multi-million euro European Union initiative aimed at government transparency and giving citizens a voice in creating policies. The project, entitled ‘Puzzled by Policy’ has now launched a new widget (http://join.puzzledbypolicy.eu) that provides a fun way for users to find out about immigration policy and become actively involved in the immigration policy-making process. This unique widget encourages users to explore their opinions on various immigration topics, as well as enabling them to see how their views compare to those of policy-makers, NGOs, and other immigration stakeholders.”

Madden continues, “While the ‘Puzzled by Policy’ widget is customised for Greece, Hungary, Italy and Spain, users from other countries may also participate at a European level. DERI’s Deirdre Lee, who is leading the ‘Puzzled by Policy’ project, commented that the project aims to help end the detachment and disillusionment of citizens in the policy making process of the EU by improving information resources and tools. ’DERI is providing the models, technologies and tools for more effective and efficient public administration systems. This is all part of a larger move toward eGovernment, which embraces the world wide web for better governance’. With over 140 researchers, DERI is one of the world’s leading international web science research institutes, established as a CSET in 2003 with funding from Science Foundation Ireland.”

Read more here.

Image: Courtesy DERI