White paper on creativity - ebla center

Chapter 3between organisms and environments.For example, the weather is a complexsystem that can be described by thelaws of physics and these laws allowsus to make forecasts about theevolution of the system. But we willnever be able to find a place in themeteorological system containing itsdesign. vCities are complex entities that can beclassified both as living organisms andlarge physical systems. No citypossesses a DNA automaticallyconstructing its future development,although some cities, at the time oftheir foundation, were designed anddeveloped according to a “plan”. Andthe evolution of a city cannot bedescribed by strictly physical laws,although there are structural limitswhich even the most spontaneoussettlements are forced to accept.Therefore, to understand, forecast andto a certain extent influence thechanges affecting cities, we must usetwo kinds of lenses: the lens of oureyes and an internal lens in the mind,which can only be used with the aid ofwords expressing concepts. This iswhy we must be very cautious inhandling concepts and words todescribe the sociological city and inrelating what we see to what we thinkor imagine.eGovernance. Administering thecity in the transition to the thirdstageIn examining the claims of a proposedevolution towards a “network society”,and from eGovernment toeGovernance, we must pay closeattention to various aspects:a) the connections between thevarious information systems and theircapacity to communicate and to beused for strategic endsb) the capacity, especially in theresidential use of new technologies, toprovide individuals with access toadvanced uses; here even thetechnological aspects of connectionare important – now what counts isthe “last metre” rather than the “lastmile”c) The interactive use of networktools to link people to people andcitizens to the administration.In other words, completing what wehave called the “transition to the thirdstage” (the knowledge society, i.e.following on from the society ofobjects and the society of services)requires a strong thrust in terms ofinfrastructure and support for themost innovative uses, involving thedevelopment of technical indicators tomeasure the accessibility toinformation in the field ofeGovernment.Here are some relatively little knownexamples.• The extremely successful“Internet Saloon” organised by theAssociation of Metropolitan Interestsin Milan (AIM) for elderly people wasattended by over 6,000 pensioners infour years. The participants wereWHITE PAPER ON CREATIVITY 70