Art: Rendering of Sweden's Second Life Embassy Last May, as Internet users were discovering
Second Life -- described on the site as a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its more than 8 million residents -- the government of Sweden announced it was putting a Swedish embassy there in the online world.
Boston is also ramping up a Second Life online presence, according to a recent story in the
Boston Globe, and the city hopes to present concerts, hold virtual office hours by city officials, and help residents engage in many of the types of civic participation currently conducted through e-mail or on the city's Web site, but with the added novelty of a virtual world.
Wayne E. Hanson served as a writer and editor with e.Republic from 1989 to 2013, having worked for several business units including Government Technology magazine, the Center for Digital Government, Governing, and Digital Communities. Hanson was a juror from 1999 to 2004 with the Stockholm Challenge and Global Junior Challenge competitions in information technology and education.
