e-participa project virtual environments for local citizen participation: principal bases for design...
TRANSCRIPT
e-Participa project
Virtual environments for local citizen participation:
principal bases for design
Interdisciplinary analysis of municipal citizen participation for the design of virtual collaborative
environments
2/17
Virtual environments for local citizen participation
principal bases for design
III. e-Participation experiences
II. e-Participa Project
I. What is e-Participation?
IV. Principal bases for design
e-Participa Project
What ise-Participation?
e-Participation experiences
Principal bases for design
3/17
What is Citizen Participation?“All kind of activities where individual citizens -as well as citizen groups and associations- engage in with the intention of influencing public policy, either indirectly or directly”
e-Participa Project
e-Participation experiences
Principal bases for design
What is e-Participation?
TransparencyNeutrality
INITIATIVE MOBILIZATION PARTICIPATION EFFECTS/RESULTS
Political accord Social accord Administrative accord Plain objectives -realism
Reach Representativeness-pluralism
Information Deliberation
Influence on policies Generation of participative culture Institutional coherence
Our project focuses on participative processes oriented towards decision making at the municipal level
Phases and criteria for participative processes
and, more specifically, on those processes that are organized or at least supported by local government authorities.
4/17
e-Participa Project
e-Participation experiences
Principal bases for design
What is e-Participation?
What is Citizen e-Participation?
The utilization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) ‑mainly Internet‑ to promote and support citizen participation
Obstacles for e-Participation:
Legal Organizational Cultural Technical and financial capacity
5/17
What is it?e-Participa is a PhD research project at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Spain) to design a virtual environment aimed to reinforce citizen participation at the municipal level.
How will it be developed?By means of an interdisciplinary methodological approach which combines socio-political analysis with systems design methodologies, thus integrating the knowledge of real day to day citizen participation with the enabling capabilities offered by the Internet.
e-Participa Project
What ise-Participation?
e-Participation experiences
Principal bases for design
6/17
Theoretical analysis
Sociological research
Design Evaluation
Previous knowledgeObjective
Technical research
Theoretical analysis
• Theories on Citizen Participation, eDemocracy, eGovernment, etc.• Participation experiences• e-Participation systems & experiences
Requisites
Principles
Sociological research
• Ceará (Brazil):o Participation in developing
countries• Catalonia (Spain):
o Municipal e-Participation
Technical research
• Applicable technologies• Accessibility
Design
• Functionality• GUI• Internal structure
• Participatory processes• Business models
Prot
otyp
e
Evaluation
• Citizens• Citizen organizations• Town-hall civil servants• Politicians• Participation experts
Requisites
Construction
Final design
Pilot installations
city-kiosey v.1
to the future
Construction
• Free Software• University bound• External funding
Pilot installations
• Spain• Brazil• Argentina
e-Participa Project
What ise-Participation?
e-Participation experiences
Principal bases for design
7/17
Lessons learnt:
• Positive consequences of e-participation• Key factors for successful e‑participation initiatives• Shortcomings of current virtual environments
Several e-participation experiences around the world have been analyzed:
Consensus DEMOS Dito & Digalo
EDEN Webocracy
Estatut Catalá OPA Ipatinga
...
e-Participa Project
What ise-Participation?
Principal bases for design
e-Participation experiences
8/17
• Information sharing
• Quality discussions and effective communication
• The documentation of participative processes while promoting their transparency
• The extension of citizen participation to a greater number and range of citizen groups
Positive consequences of e‑participation
e-Participa Project
What ise-Participation?
Principal bases for design
e-Participation experiences
9/17
• Some are shared with face-to-face participation: Thorough planning of the participative process Commitment to the process on the part of political and administrative entities Promotion of the processes
• Virtual participative environment
• Guarantee universal public access to the system
• Adequate training of citizens and public servants
• Mediation (or facilitation) of discussions
Key factors for successful e‑participation initiatives
e-Participa Project
What ise-Participation?
Principal bases for design
e-Participation experiences
10/17
• Predominance of systems using proprietary software
• Do not take into account the role of moderators
• Participative processes lack continuity, consisting normally of isolated events
• Main limitation: lack of compatibility with the necessities and characteristics of the municipal environment
Shortcomings of current virtual environments
e-Participa Project
What ise-Participation?
Principal bases for design
e-Participation experiences
11/17
1. A focus on the municipal environment2. Attention to the groups involved in citizen
participation 3. Support for the face-to-face participative methods
already in operation4. Development based on Free Software5. Temporary use of the participation system6. A tool for municipal government AND citizens’
groups 7. Promoting increased knowledge and social
networks 8. Quality discussion, supported by mediation and
transparency9. Citizenship School
e-Participa Project
What ise-Participation?
e-Participation experiences
Principal bases for
design
Principal bases for design
12/17
Electronic participation supports and complements rather than substitutes face-to-face participative mechanisms and processes
The system can be easily integrated into existing face-to-face participative processes:
• Participatory Budgeting• Citizen Councils• Neighborhood participative processes• Internal participative work of government and citizen organizations • ...
3. Support for the face-to-face participative methods already in operation
e-Participa Project
What ise-Participation?
e-Participation experiences
Principal bases for
design
13/17
Advantages associated with open source software:
• lower cost of development and implementation• higher level of technological innovation• independence with respect to suppliers• greater security and privacy • greater adaptability to specific needs• support of a greater number of languages
Whatever improvements that a municipality incorporates into the system to attend to its specific needs will be available to the entire community of users.
4. Development based on Free Software
e-Participa Project
What ise-Participation?
e-Participation experiences
Principal bases for
design
14/17
1. A focus on the municipal environment2. Attention to the groups involved in citizen
participation 3. Support for the face-to-face participative
methods already in operation4. Development based on Free Software5. Temporary use of the participation system6. A tool for municipal government AND citizens’
groups7. Promoting increased knowledge and social
networks8. Quality discussion, supported by mediation and
transparency9. Citizenship School
e-Participa Project
What ise-Participation?
e-Participation experiences
Principal bases for
design
Principal bases for design
15/17
The system will seek to take advantage of Internet capabilities in order to promote knowledge sharing, social networking, and a culture of collaboration amongst citizens
Examples of collaborative tools:
• User profiles• Possibility of personalizing the system• Recognition of quality participation
7. Promoting increased knowledge and social networks
e-Participa Project
What ise-Participation?
e-Participation experiences
Principal bases for
design
16/17
The system needs to promote informed, reflective, quality discussions that lead to thoughtful decisions, buttressed by the contributions of the different collectives involved
User-friendly interface that facilitates:
• Integration with e-mails• Incorporation of the discussions in a specific result oriented participative methodology• Easy monitoring of the discussion and intuitive access to the interventions• High communicative expressivity• Debate mediation/facilitation:
with tools for analysis of interventions, the creation of summaries and questionnaires that participants will respond to, and the introduction of sub forums, etc. high transparency level guaranteed by the system
8. Quality discussion, supported by mediation and transparency
e-Participa Project
What ise-Participation?
e-Participation experiences
Principal bases for
design
17/17
1. A focus on the municipal environment2. Attention to the groups involved in citizen
participation 3. Support for the face-to-face participative
methods already in operation4. Development based on Free Software5. Temporary use of the participation system6. A tool for municipal government AND citizens’
groups 7. Promoting increased knowledge and social
networks 8. Quality discussion, supported by mediation and
transparency9. Citizenship School
e-Participa Project
What ise-Participation?
e-Participation experiences
Principal bases for
design
Principal bases for design
19/17
Backupslides
UML Design
20/17
Backupslides
UML Design
21/17
Backupslides
UML Design
22/17
Backupslides
Visual Design