Democracy Island

From CyberOne Wiki

Democracy Island

Democracy Island in Second Life is a well established forum by the New York Law School. Essentially it is an experimental space in Second Life to study, encourage and actually do citizen participation and engagement (all using the virtual world medium). Related to virtual teaching institutions, that includes NYLS, Harvard, Yale, is the annual State of Play Conference. The State of Paly Conference was originally founded by Professor Noveck, and is considerd the world’s first research conference on virtual worlds. Professor Noveck also created the State of Play Academy, New York Law School’s online distance learning platform.

For more comprehensive information see the Democracy Island website.


Just briefly, extracted from the website, the following describes Democracy Island:

• What Problem Does It Solve: Democracy Island overcomes some of the difficulties associated with civic participation and engagement in real space.
• How Does It Do That: By offering an on-line space that can be conveniently accessed from home or work.
• Why Is It Different: Uses a three-dimensional, virtual space to combine the best of town hall meetings with the convenience of a telephone or web-conference.
• Who Will Use It: Agencies and interest groups wishing to consult the public; communities wishing to organize civic fairs.

One project that under the State of Play Academy is the “Peer-to-Patent: Community Patent Review” project, a cooperation with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. For more information see Professor Noveck's and her students blog.

Note other Democracy Island projects include:

• Rulemaking Fair
• Advantage of Virtual Worlds Technology