Modelling Citizen Engagement - Informing Digital Futures: Strategies for Citizen Engagement - page 112

analysis and action planning by the citizens involved in the Reflect ICTs
project processes. Through similar transforming processes, the communities
in North Western Ontario represented by the Keewaytinook Okimakanak
have succeeded in making telecommunications facilities available to citi-
zens. These include new telehealth facilities and a virtual high school. As
reported in Chapter 4, the Internet High School enables young teenagers to
stay with their families and engage with their communities rather than hav-
ing to travel far afield and risk losing their roots. Similarly, the telehealth
project makes substantial savings by enabling patients to have virtual con-
sultations with doctors and other health professionals rather than having to
travel hundreds of miles for appointments. Desirable digital futures seem
to be evolving for this community.
Outcomes
From the case studies, we can also identify numerous examples of other
kinds of outcomes. These are sometimes less tangible than the outputs
cited above but nevertheless important. Examples of such outcomes are
shown in Table 6.3.
Table 6.3. Examples of outcomes from Citizen Engagement processes
- Increased relevance and value of solutions generated
- Ownership of solutions
- Capacity building
- Empowerment
- Mutual respect and understanding
- Increased economic and commercial activity
- Increased innovation
- Increased social inclusion and community cohesion
- Joining up of policy, strategy and ICT
- Sustainability
An outcome which is less immediately visible but equally important in
terms of its long-term benefit, value and influence is the sense of owner-
ship experienced by participants. The Jhai Foundation has several active
projects in which local people can choose to participate on the basis of
their preferences and skills. Cultivation and sale of local coffee (Jhai Coffee)
on a fair-trade basis has promoted economic development throughout the
area assisted by the Jhai Foundation (www.jhai.org/).
The projects report high impact and attribute this to the fact that their
communities own them. Similarly the philosophy and methodology of par-
ticipation in the Reflect ICTs project regards the community as a whole as
the basic unit for the engagement process. This approach has meant that