This third issue of the European Journal of ePractice analyses attempts by local, regional and national governments and agencies to use new technologies to promote social inclusion. In its i2010 eGovernment Action Plan, the European Commission sets out a vision for the take-up and use of e-services across member states with the objectives of not only improving efficiency and saving taxpayers' money, but also expanding democratic participation.

The papers for this issue of the European Journal of ePractice were submitted at a time when there was some certainty left in the structures of governments and the services they delivered. They are being published at a time of unprecedented turmoil in business and governance. The global financial crisis of late 2008 has redefined the business/government landscape. Some banks have become bankrupt, and there is concern that even Iceland may as a country be insolvent.

As the European Union moves towards elections to the European Parliament in June 2009, there is a chance to reflect on the status of democracy and participation across the continent. Never before have there been such contradictory and auspicious developments in thinking about how all sections of European society can engage in policy making and political debate. On the one hand, it is clear that many have disengaged from formal politics, voter turnout is falling, membership of political parties is declining, and there is a widespread sense of a loss of trust in government and politicians.

Participation and collaboration, so far, reach a small minority of users. Ferro and Molinari frame the debate in the context of the participation ladder theory, and remind us that European eParticipation
projects reach an average of a few hundred users: this kind of government-led 2.0 initiatives very much share the traditional problems of low take-up of eGovernment. There is the risk of repeating