This use is not controversial, but turning promising ideas into practical operating services is not always easy. A recurring theme touched on by numerous speakers was the inherent tensions of these developments, related to both the efficiency of public management and the requirements of democracy. The new technologies offer considerable possibilities for increasing efficiency, informing the public, consulting users and more generally for making society more democratic. They are a powerful set of tools that governments can use and develop. In particular, they raise the question of equal access to the new technologies and the knowledge transmitted by them.
Information overload is a risk for governments.
Issues and pressures have become global but the means of government action remain largely national. Governments may therefore have to work together to define common responses. Consultation procedures are a useful tool to keep the administration informed, improve the targeting of programmes, and obtain the support of or consensus amongst the parties concerned, as well as improving the legitimacy of decisions. Ministers noted, however, that such procedures often stimulate expectations that are difficult to satisfy, can highlight special or narrow interests at the expense of the general interest, can fragment the representative process, and can obstruct or delay public decision-making. The part played by the media, clearly vital to the functioning of democracy and oversight of administrative action, can be disruptive if decision-makers are subjected to permanent inquisition.