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8 Strategies for Citizen Engagement: (i) Shifting
the Focus of ICT Design Practice
For citizens to be actively engaged in shaping their digital futures requires
that they have both the opportunity and the capacity to do so. This, in turn,
means that governments, ICT system providers, manufacturers and other
agencies need to recognize the sociotechnical implications of strategies
and plans, and the need to engage with citizens in making decisions and
shaping solutions. This requires a change in focus from the traditional
view of either policy making or ICT design, which can only occur if it be-
comes part of the culture and routine practice of society and of organiza-
tions. A further requirement is to build the capability of citizens and other
stakeholders, giving them the knowledge and skills to work in this new
way.
Modern life places heavy demands on its citizens. Spending time and ef-
fort to engage in informing ICT design decisions is an additional demand
which many may not welcome - however desirable the long-term benefits.
Equally, those with job responsibilities for achieving the engagement of
members of the public and relevant others in projects and exercises may
find this an onerous task. The inherent difficulties are often exacerbated by
the lack of guidance available on either the purpose of engage-
ment/participation or on how to achieve it.
The aim of this chapter and Chapter 9 is to make accessible to those
who need it, the available knowledge for embedding citizen engagement as
a normal part of ICT development projects - i.e. institutionalizing it. The
final chapter in this suite of three considers the challenging issue of bring-
ing about culture change throughout society to alter thinking about the role
of technology in society and the part citizens play in defining that role.
Thus these last three chapters describe complementary strategies for
achieving citizen engagement/participation.
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