Broadband Cities 2007 - Amsterdam and Almere, The Netherlands

Virtual worlds are hot. At the moment Second Life is the most well known virtual world and is growing in popularity. The future of Second Life is still uncertain. Nevertheless governments should pay serious attention to the development and the possibilities of virtual worlds. The potential is enormous. The city of Zoetermeer is therefore exploring the boundaries of the virtual world Second Life.

The possibilities of Web2.0 applications like virtual worlds are often unknown to governments. However they have to innovate to be able to connect with their new generation of citizens. Due to the increasing capacity of the computers and the unlimited data carriage capacity of fiber, virtual worlds might be the next big thing. It certainly adds a new perspective to the Internet, which allows governments to innovate the interaction with their citizens and customers. Interaction is important to reach a well-supported government policy. Citizens nowadays prefer however to stay at home instead of going to the city hall to have a discussion. Through virtual worlds the city hall can come to them and take away the barrier to interact. Online participation is becoming reality. Providing real services through virtual worlds is a more difficult challenge, but not impossible in the future.

Because of the possibilities of virtual worlds, the city of Zoetermeer is operating a pilot project with Second Life at the moment. In this parallel session the city of Zoetermeer will shed its light over the experiences, the lessons learned and the future possibilities of using virtual worlds by governmental organizations.