Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
the venture. However the number of stages in which citizens are involved
is not of itself an indicator of the importance of the engagement nor of the
likely success of participation/engagement exercises. This is clear from the
Netmums case where citizens were only involved in one stage of the pol-
icy-making process. However, because it was the crucial agenda-setting
stage, their contributions had the potential to influence everything that sub-
sequently happened, as a result of clarifying for members of the working
party the critical aspects and issues to address in their deliberations.
It seems that only in a minority of cases are citizens given the opportu-
nity to be part of every stage of decision-making. Only three of the 13
cases described in Chapter 4 (namely, the two
Reflect
ICTs pilots (Beardon
2005) and K-Net (Beaton 2004)) gave citizens the opportunity to be part of
the whole spectrum of decision-making, from setting the agenda to choos-
ing or developing ICT solutions and 'owning' the subsequent implementa-
tions. Such experiences enable citizens to develop an holistic view of the
technological, social and policy aspects of developments which relate to
them, empowering them to shape decisions on design and policy - and
progress towards desirable digital futures. In other words, building the ca-
pacity of citizens to participate and engage effectively. Confining partici-
pation to specific decision-making stages of any development limits the
understanding, the learning and the sense of ownership citizens have re-
garding the eventual outcome.
6.2 Modelling Citizen Engagement
Using a framework based on concepts from systems theory, we have ana-
lysed the case studies described in Chapters 4 and 5 to identify the inputs,
outputs and the intervening transformations involved in participation/
engagement projects. Based on the results, a descriptive model of effective
citizen engagement has been developed, as shown in Fig. 6.1. In this
model, the diverse characteristics, knowledge and experience of citizens
are identified as the inputs to a transformation process. Supported by rele-
vant tools, and with appropriate leadership and facilitation, this leads not
only to the generation of
outputs
(i.e. artifacts such as problem definitions,
requirements specifications, action plans or policy statements), but also to
the generation of a range of
outcomes
(e.g. raised awareness, greater con-
fidence, empowerment). These are in some respects less tangible than the
outputs but profoundly significant in enabling people to influence and
shape decisions, thereby contributing to the creation of desirable digital fu-
tures.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search