Why do some organisations, who are meant to represent citizens from across Europe, not use ICT in order to engage citizens? This is the question we want to answer and test in the real world in the seminar organised by Top-IX and Euclid Network in Turin. What are your ideas? Is it a lack of access? lack of skills? or lack of motivation? What could be the underlying reasons behind this phenomena and how can we test it? Join the debate!
This is and ad!
One marginal note, the link at the bottom of the link page to the INSITE project is pointing to the wrong URL. THe web site of the project is www.insiteproject.org
It is vital that we find out ways to involve citizens better in the democratic process. There are already existing organisations that represent citizens at highest level in Europe. However, if those do not seem to use ICT to engage citizens. Therefore, we first need to find out what the underlying reasons for this are and test those in the real world. Let's find out the barriers to online engagement and design a creative way to test those
Reduce (even better, remove!) obstacles to engagement. ICTs for civic engagement should be easy to use, engaging and integrated with existing social networks. I want to re-post this old article (2009) in which Stack Overflow founders identified the critical issues that need to be tackled if you want to create an engaging social platform: http://readwrite.com/2009/05/02/anthropology_the_art_of_building_a_successful_soci#awesm=~o9iATozDF7uvx6
I want to highlight this initiative as an example of approach (stimulated from the top) to civic participation. In the freshly redesigned platform (based on Wordpress), users can join the conversation and express their ideas about some pre-identified themes. Is this the right approach?
http://www.euclidnetwork.eu/projects/current-projects/global-solutions-networks/euclid-networks-contribution-to-global-solutions-networks.html
I think Euclid can be considered as one of those organizations representing citizens in Europe. I think it could be useful to understand how Euclid is using ICTs to engage citizens and how its approach differs from the approach of other Organizations.
An alternative way could be to hijack an existing tool and use it different purposes. Exaptation is when an artifact change its functionality thanks to the interactions between the artifact and the agents that are using it. As explained by Spolsky in the linked article: "He points to the Scalinata della Trinita dei Monti, or the Spanish Steps to further his point. "They were built to be stairs," he said, "from the Spanish Embassy at the base, up to the Trinita dei Monti at the top." Instead, they've become the "living room" for backpackers in Rome. "Partially it has to do with the steps being the perfect comfortable height to sit on," he said, but also, they provide a fantastic view of the Piazza di Spagna at the bottom."
This content is created by the open source Your Priorities citizen engagement platform designed by the non profit Citizens Foundation