Ben was in the Beautiful town of Krems in Austria last week for the 2013 CeDem conference. The annual event, hosted by the Danube University, provides an unparalleled opportunity for experts in the field of eParticipation to gather, exchange their ideas and projects and discuss new developments. Key topics for this year’s event include the need for eParticipation to be well structured, the importance of direct democracy in developing areas and successful ways to evaluate eParticipation projects. Consensus among the delegates remains that despite the recent downturn in the popularity of eParticipation in developed nations, direct engagement with citizens must remain at the heart of any ICT-savvy government.