Introduction
Services for citizens are increasingly being deployed by public agencies on a supply-side efficiency basis, without actually determining the needs and wishes of the citizen. This has led to low usage of the services by many citizens, especially those with special needs and/or living in rural areas.
Citizen First is an outcome of the June 2003 INTERREG IIIB NWE Workshop held in Ireland where a Partnership was formed with common objectives to ensure that organisations are increasingly citizen-centric in service provision. Citizen First aims to reduce the digital divide that affects communities and citizens in the territories of Mid-West Region (Ireland), Eindhoven Region (Netherlands), West Flanders (Belgium) and Cambridgeshire (UK).
The main aim of the project is:
To empower NWE Citizens by engaging with their communities to deliver the
services that they require in an inclusive Information Society that overcomes
social & spatial isolation.