• UK | Wikileaks' war records: the datajournalism perspective
  The Wikileaks disclosure of Afghanistan war records has been frontpage news in the last two days. It was not only about journalism, but also about datajournalism
  The three newspapers that broke the story had less than a month to choose how to publish the data: how to choose? How they did it?
  Here's what was the process at The Guardian:

• EU | "You can offer a policy expert a bridge, but you can’t make him cross it."
  More on the debate on the role of eurobloggers in (possibly) shaping policy: Ralf Grahn comments on Mathew Lowry's post on building bridges outwards:

• Ireland | MerrionStreet.ie: the government news service goes live - but not for citizens
  The Irish government has recently launched MerrionStreet.ie (named after the Dublin street on which Government Buildings is located), "the Irish government news service".
  The website is aimed at creating a new approach in communicating with citizens and based on the WordPress Open Source software platform. In an interview to Silicon Republic, the team behind the website even cited Number10.gov.uk as a particular inspiration for MerrionStreet.
  But Richard Fahey is not convinced that they are on the right track already: in a long and detailed post, he reviews the social media strategy of the government website, comparing it with those of UK and US.

• EU | Eurobloggers and EU policy: how to build bridges
  A couple of weeks ago on Public affairs 2.0 blog, Steffen explained the possibile influence of new voices in the EU, defining eurobloggers and policy bloggers and the intersection of the two groups. After all the conversations that followed the launch event of the Brussels Blogger Study, Mathew Lowry reflects on whether the lack of specialists in EU-oriented blogs is impeding the development of the European online public space.

• EU | The Brussels Blogger Study
  Brussels based PR company Waggener Edstrom has recently published a study on the EU blogosphere, called the Brussels Blogger Study (here available - but not downloadable). Many eurobloggers attended the launch event of the report (you can see all the Twitter reaction with the hash tag: #bbs10) [edit: as it was pointed out, almost all of them attended the event via Twitter, after Jon Worth - who was actually there - started tweeting. And he precised: "Odd then that I heard about the event via other bloggers, and had to invite myself to attend"]. But many of them weren’t convinced with the criteria that were used to determine influence and ranking.

Personal Democracy Forum is coming to Europe again in 2010.

With Europe wrestling with the economic downturn and changes in ruling coalitions in several major countries, the time is ripe to explore how citizens and governments alike are using new interactive communications technologies to address critical problems and do more with less.

PdF EU 2010 will be held on October 4-5 at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, one of the great cultural centres of Barcelona.

In the coming weeks we will be announcing more information, including an impressive lists of speakers and full agenda. 

The registration is open and you can save 50 euros off the regular admission price by registering today (and for a limited time).
Save the date and see you in Barcelona!

• UK | iPhone apps or no iPhone apps? That is the question...
  A couple of weeks ago the British government started reviewing its 820 websites as part of a bigger plan of efficiency in the Public Administration. As it turned out from a BBC Freedom of Information request, a big expense (£10,000 - £40,000) is related to the development of iPhone applications.

• EU | Social media going local... on a European level?
  It may sound strange but it is how they may be used, according to Antonia Mochan, Head of Media of The European Commission Representation in the UK.
  In a long interview, Mochan tells the folks at Waltzing Matilda about about how she uses social media in her job and how they fit in the Commission’s news cycle:

• EU | EU Commission launches public consultation on net neutrality
  

  The debate on net neutrality has grown in intensity over recent months – we will respond with a Commission communication after hearing your perspectives and hosting a summit with the European Parliament.
  
  The process will be as open as the internet! As already made clear, I will not support any public policy that may threaten freedom of expression. I am committed to an open and efficient internet where freedom can flourish. And I have also underlined that I am keen to promote transparency, innovation, fair competition and investment in new efficient and open networks.

• UK | Digital engagement, where art thou?
  

  I don’t like the phrase ‘Government 2.0′ much, so the something bigger hopefully isn’t that. I quite like ‘Open Government’, and digital engagement is part of that, as is open data and general increases in transparency from government.

  A few weeks after the UK election, Dave Briggs wonders what is the place of digital engagement in times of austerity.