The point is that eurobloggers are specialised on the EU, which makes them an iperspecialised bubble with almost no bridges to broader conversation, argues Lowry.

We cannot expect those bridges to form that easily - why would anyone outside our bubble connect to a microscopic, hyperspecialised echo chamber where people talk a language they do not understand?

So it’s up to the Brussels Bubble to build those bridges outwards if we want to create a European online public space.

Connections can happen on specialist subjects - even though they are difficult to find and explore in this contest.

A cohort of specialists blogging about the EU-level issues in their particular subject would give those who don’t understand the EU a ‘handle’ on how the EU affects their field.
Because if these cohorts do what bloggers normally should - engage with others blogging in the field - they will be engaging with people outside the Brussels bubble. Thus forming bridges, and helping pop the Brussels bubble.

There has also been the successful launch of Launch of it.ckan.net for open data in Italy (working with the Open Knowledge Foundation’s CKAN). On the Open Knowledge Foundation’s Blog, Stefano Costa and Federico Morando, in writing about the launch of IT.CKAN comment: “There are currently 67 packages available — thanks to the Extracting Value from Public Sector Information (EVPSI) project. In particular, the NEXA Center contributed material generated as part of the EVPSI project, which is funded by the Piedmont Region and coordinated by the University of Turin.

I am not totally sure that a web developer is necessarily a great communicator. On the contrary, developers tend to (indeed) develop rather than use somebody else’s technology. Isn’t the not-invented-here-syndrome something that developers are usually affected from?

The post raises question that you can frequently heard lately: do developers have a political role in what they do? Are they getting one? Should they have one?