Blog by Sarah Hubbard and Darshan Goux: “…Public officials now have a myriad of digital deliberation tools and programs to choose from. Some considerations for selecting which tool(s) to use include factors such as whether the technology solution is open-source vs. paid, data collection and retention policies, the engagement modalities it offers (e.g. video, audio, surveys, written input), as well as the procurement processes, staffing requirements, and the overall objectives or scale of the engagement.
Below are a few examples of technologies being used to support public deliberation processes today:
- Engaged California is an initiative and digital platform that aims to channel input on complex issues from the people directly to leaders in state government. Their first effort, Los Angeles wildfire recovery, turned submitted comments into a policy action plan for the State of California. The project leveraged the Ethelo platform and included multiple rounds of discussion.
- Bowling Green, Kentucky, launched their BG 2050 Project to envision the future of the city. The project leveraged Polis to collect input and cluster areas of consensus, and Google’s Sensemaker to analyze data. They engaged 10% of the Bowling Green population, generated thousands of ideas, and reported in post-surveys that 70% of participants felt more confident that their voice mattered and 83% of participants gained a better understanding of different viewpoints.
- Other platforms facilitate real-time, small-group, guided discussions online and may include automation features to manage speaking time, agendas, and more. The Stanford Online Deliberation Platform, Cortico, and Frankly are all tools that use technology to aid in these deliberative conservations. The Stanford Online Deliberation Platform has been used in more than 40 countries and has had over 100,000 hours of deliberation on the platform.
- Multi-purpose platforms such as Decidim provide infrastructure to enable everything from participatory budgeting to assemblies. The platform has over three million users and is used by more than 500 organizations around the world.
This is just a small sample of the current ecosystem and their applications. The organization People Powered maintains a larger list of digital participation platforms…(More)”.
