Vision 2020 - A case study of Web 2.0 application to public governance in Taiwan

There has been a noticeable change in the roadmap for e-governance development in recent years. In accordance with recent public reforms targeted at achieving good governance, the focal areas of e-governance have started to shift from improving provider-centered services, readiness of tangible infrastructure, and administration reengineering to developing citizen-centered initiatives, information disclosure, and public participation. Recent developments in Web technologies offer opportunities as well as challenges for government to address these emerging issues. Web technologies and applications have entered the phase identified more generally under the conceptual umbrella of Web 2.0. The core value propositions of Web 2.0 are multifaceted, such as using the Web as a single platform for versatile interactions, users also serving as producers, facilitating collective intelligence with greater ease, richer user experiences, and continuous upgrade of applications based on user feedback. These features are considered facilitative of a bottom-up, decentralized, deliberative, and participatory governance structure. In 2008, a website named Vision 2020 was launched by the Taiwan central government. The website was designed with Web 2.0 features, aimed at encouraging interaction between the elite and the general public in order to build vision of what the country should be like in the year 2020. Since Web 2.0 technologies facilitate participation, this chapter attempts to examine Vision 2020 features, such as its “Web 2.0-ness,” levels of e-participation, and the relationship between the two.補正完