I'm a person who likes big projects, and ever since I got back from Chile I've been thinking, what should my next big project be? Well, I think I've got one. My goal is that new communications technologies and practices be used to increase the political power of citizens, particularly citizens who currently have very little political power.

I'm interested in the transformative power of ICT on politics. I don't just want our current political practices to be more efficient (read: e-government, paying taxes online, flashier politician's websites). I want technology to aid in the transformation of politics so ordinary citizens can have more power over government, more power to influence policy, more power to override well-funded special-interest minorities. I want these changes to have a global impact.

In order to achieve this we need great ideas and great implementation. We need a virtuous cycle of thought and action where smart people share their ideas and come up with new solutions to political problems. Then we need creative and committed people to implement these ideas. In some cases the thinkers and the implementers may be the same person. The important thing is that thought informs action which informs thought. We need big ideas, but we need to test them in the field to make sure we work. We need people working in the field, but we need to make sure that they are using the latest and most effective techniques.

For this we need networks of intellectuals closely connected with networks of practitioners, constantly sharing ideas and practices. But that's a step forward from where we are now. The first step is to create these communities and get them thinking and caring about digital activism. There are only a few people in this field and their connections to one another are informal or non-existent. We need to bring these people together physically so they can meet one another and share ideas. We need to create means for ideas to be shared (website, newsletter, meet-ups). That's what I'm currently interested in, creating the community of intellectuals and practitioners who will make global digital activism a reality.