Background

The first web site of Stara Zagora Municipality was developed in 1999 with the desire to publicize the historical and culture monuments of the city. The broader implementation of information technologies in everyday life has set new tasks before the municipality regarding the faster and more intensive communication between itself and the citizens. This strive for openness has generated the Mayor s Hot Topic Forum.

Practice

In recent years the number of Internet users has increased continuously (encompassing about 15% of Bulgaria s population). Since 15 December 2000 in cooperation with pecialist from Internet Group Ltd. - Stara Zagora, the Mayor s Hot Topic Forum was developed with a link from the City of Stara Zagora portal. It is based on a UNIX platform ensuring maximum protection of information. PHP was used as a programming language, allowing access to a database holding the information with all questions and the answers and comments made in their response. The Forum has its own Search by work or phrase.

The name Forum was not randomly granted. The feature was especially called Forum since once put forward, the question stimulates a discussion, in which everybody concerned with the topic can participate.

The aim was to organize this interaction not as a mailbox, but in a format which gives publicity to the issues discussed, allowing everyone at any point of the world at any time to speak his opinionon the topic selected by him/her, as well as to have direct contact with the participants.

Results

The ideas was very well accepted by the citizens of Stara Zagora. Many of them directly ask and receive answers to their questions within the Forum. Their activity increases when there is a hot issue to be settles, for example the reconstruction of the opera, the city cleanness, water pollution, the repair of the language medium school and other specific city problems.

The system itself is so designed as to allow easy multiplication, and with small change of design could be used for other simila purposes. For example, responding to the call of the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB) to organize a conference on the occasion of the Day of the Municipality, focused on A better life in our cities with presentations on different topics, a discussion Forum For a better life in our city was launched. Varioussubtopic feature there and everybody can take part to express their attitude and their views.