Strasbourg, 28 August 2009 CDLR(2009)48
Item 7.1 of the agenda
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON LOCAL AND REGIONAL DEMOCRACY
(CDLR)
THE FUTURE OF THE LOREG DATABASE
AND ITS NETWORK OF CORRESPONDENTS
Secretariat Memorandum
prepared by the
Directorate General of Democracy and Political Affairs
Directorate of Democratic Institutions
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Loreg’s origins
The LOREG project, financed by a voluntary contribution from the Norwegian Government, formed part of the activities carried out under the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, whose founding partners (40 states and organisations) in Cologne in June 1999 pledged to strengthen the countries of South Eastern Europe “in their efforts to foster peace, democracy, respect for human rights and economic prosperity in order to achieve stability in the whole region”[1].
Meeting in June 2000, the CDLR, on a proposal from the Secretariat, decided that a database on local and regional democracy, with an extensive range of documentation, and with the possibility of incorporating it into a more extensive network, could, in addition to making a significant contribution to the spread of good practices in Europe generally, be one of the measures implemented under the Stability Pact Programme.
LOREG was thus first included in the CDLR programme of activities in 2001 and was launched in December of the same year.
The Network of LOREG correspondents’ origins
At its meeting on 9 April 2003 (document CDLR-BU(2003)12), the Bureau of the CDLR agreed that the quality of the LOREG database was ultimately dependent on input of documents and other data from member States. The CDLR endorsed the Secretariat’s proposals, and agreed to the creation of a network of national correspondents. Correspondents would be responsible for managing the content of the library, while CDLR members would be on hand to offer useful information concerning their countries’ experience to their colleagues upon request. The involvement of ministries responsible for local and regional government was considered essential for developing the database which was truly pan-European and representative of the different forms of local and regional democracy. The network has had annual meetings since May 2005.
LOREG and its competitors
LOREG’s complex architecture meant it could offer a multitude of search criteria. It was also possible for a user to carry out searches for documents in a variety of languages, a variety of formats, a variety of authors and on a large variety of subjects, on all member States of the Council of Europe. It is fair to say that as a database in 2001, LOREG was fairly revolutionary.
However, more or less contemporaneously, a team from Stanford University were working on building up what would become the world’s most successful Search Engine to date: “Google”. Google enables full text searches, and provides easy rapid access to billions of web pages. Google is so successful, that since 2006 the Oxford English Dictionary has recognised the verb “to google”.
Closer to home, Ministries working in the field of local and regional democracy were beginning to set up their own websites using a technology that often outstripped the earlier technology of LOREG. Two of the anticipated advantages of LOREG back in 2000, in addition to the multiple search possibilities, were that the documentation stored in the LOREG database would be official and that it would be translated into the official languages of the Council of Europe to increase its accessibility. By 2008, it was clear that Ministries’ own websites had become the storage place for their official documentation, often using newer, more robust and better performing databases. In addition, texts on LOREG are often not translated into English or French since translation is an expensive service.
Today, the mix of Google and Ministerial websites has meant that finding and locating official documentation on local and regional democracy have become far easier by means other than LOREG.
Running costs
In 2001, the Department of Information Technology at the Council of Europe was able to host the database for free, this included work on the database whenever it was plagued by bugs or other operational problems.
In 2009, with Council of Europe budgets becoming ever tighter, the Secretariat was informed that the hosting of databases was to become a fee-paying service and that the cost of running and maintaining LOREG for 2009/2010 would be 9000 Euros.
Development costs
With each passing year and each new technological breakthrough, it is inevitable that IT tastes and needs become increasingly sophisticated. The user feels frustrated when a database no longer delivers, or is unable to deliver in the same way as its more modern counterparts.
In 2006, at the suggestion of the Network of LOREG correspondents, LOREG underwent some radical changes to include functions such as an email alert system and an interactive correspondent page – standard functions for a contemporary database.
In 2008, the Network of Correspondents suggested a further set of technological changes for keeping the database in line with the times, notably:
- the inclusion of a news feature on the LOREG home page. It was suggested that it should contain updates on member states signing new legal instruments or adopting new legislation in the local and regional democracy field;
- further development of the current LOREG editor permissions available for correspondents, since correspondents were unable to delete documents added by their member states’ former correspondents;
- country source of the document to be made clearer on the results page.
The anticipated cost of this work is substantial.
Other developments to maintain LOREG’s position as a valued database should be the indexing of LOREG to ensure it comes within the first 10 results on Google searches. The cost of this update is in the region of 2000 Euros.
Loreg Network costs
The budget allocated for the annual meeting of the Network of LOREG correspondents is set at approximately 14 000 Euros.
Alternative futures for LOREG
In light of the above the Secretariat believes the time has come to make clear policy decisions as regards LOREG’s future. Three main options are:
1. Maintain LOREG and its Network:
- at a fixed annual cost of 23 000 Euros (9000 for maintenance and 14 000 for a meeting);
- with ad hoc costs (usually 10 000-15 000 Euros per annum) for development, to keep LOREG in line with technological advancements and foster partnerships with other organisations.
This option would require cutting in other CDLR expenditure, such as the CDLR sub-committees and their work.
2. Invite a suitable organisation/body to take on responsibility for LOREG (whilst ensuring that Council of Europe's and member States’ initial efforts are clearly acknowledged on a permanent basis).
3. Discontinue the LOREG database and Network of Correspondents, whilst transferring certain functions to the Local Democracy Website (notably the Overview by country function and certain browsing facilities).
Action
CDLR members are invited to reflect on LOREG’s future in the light of the information provided above. The CDLR is invited to take a decision regarding LOREG’s at its meeting in September 2009.