Local eDemocracy National Project “Harnessing the power of new technology to encourage citizen participation in local decision making between election times.”

National Projects 22 National Projects delivering cost effective products, services and toolkits building blocks of effective e-services tailored to citizens and to each council’s unique needs 81% of all local authorities involved in the programme Sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Managed by local authorities for local authorities

Local eDemocracy National Project Sponsor: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Scope: England Phase 1: Development November March 2005 Funding: £4 million Phase 2: Productisation and dissemination April 2005 – March 2006 Funding: £0.5 million Governance: Project Board (including councillors) Project management: Local authorities

Democratic challenges Decline in turn out in local and national elections Fall in trust and reputation of politicians But citizens are interested in issues and in their communities…

Citizen engagement OECD classification of citizen engagement Information one way relationship Consultation two way relationship controlled by government citizens provide feedback Active Participation partnership citizens actively engaged in policy-making

Enhancing democracy A project enhances democracy if it: supports representative democracy engages citizens makes decision-making transparent manages conflict as well as consensus improves political equality increases community control

Drivers for eDemocracy Impact of the internet 11.7m citizens online in the UK 90% of under 25s use the internet 80% of under 25s use computer games Government policy e-Government targets for December 2005 Local Vision: Community leadership & engagement

Harnessing the power of new technology “Why didn’t we think of that before?” rather than “How on earth do we do that?”

Research into councillors’ website needs Research report Strategy guide National Project pilots and research Communities Baseline Survey Funding Database Case Study Materials Partnership working Self Assessment /Diagnostic toolkit Councils Councillors Research Report E-dem toolkit Policy making processes Democratic pupils Community Groups Issues forum eDemocracy games iCan E-Dem icons Websites for 50+ and Youth Microdemocracy Citizen Panels E-moderation Online Surgeries Webcasting National Councillor Database Weblogging Online Surgeries

eDemocracy games…

eDemocracy games benefits… Interactive narrative goals rewards problem solving opportunity to win Can be used in the school environment basis for further discussion/other activities Councils can customise Entertaining

Websites for specific age groups…

ePetitioning… Traditional petitioning existing democratic process well known, but popularity declined can be hard to access paper petitions difficult to track progress ePetitioning pilots in Bristol and Kingston developed by International Teledemocracy Centre (Napier) creates a central space for petitioning information people can start, join and comment on petitions online through the councils’ sites

Life of an ePetition… Form / Content checked Petitioner contacted Petition live on site Petitioner promotes People join and comment Initiating Supporting Closing Closed Progress tracked

Benefits of ePetitions… Modernisation of traditional democratic tool Accessible for time hungry people people with a disability Transparency encourages others to join in tracking ‘How to’ guidance and case studies now available Napier University offers one-off licence fee and technical support

Weblogs for civic leadership & engagement…

Civic blogging… Aims of civic blogging to educate on public policy to promote community organisations to enhance citizens’ understanding of local government to praise employees, elected representatives, citizens to personalise - put a face on the faceless bureaucrat Unique features of blogs authoring – commitment to update regularly linking – network potential commenting – dialogue potential Advantages over websites easy to get started many products in the market, mainly free

eDem icons for accessible websites… kiosk webcastinglocal politics politics

Issues forums… Online deliberative tools Connecting communities of place and interest Supported by e-democracy.org US community organisation chaired by Steven Clift Open source platform Very actively supported

Evaluation… Expert Evaluation Group Prof Stephen Coleman (Oxford Internet Institute) Prof Ann Macintosh (International Teledemocracy Centre, Napier University) Dr Mansur Lalljee (Dept of Experimental Psychology, Oxford)

Single view of the benefits Communities More responsive and welcoming of democratic input Better understood and easier to manage democratic processes More transparent, accountable and auditable Better able to engage with other agencies and partnerships CouncilsCouncillors More effective councillors as managers of the council and representatives of wards More responsive to Councillor input Better governance of council business Better scrutiny function The public is more informed and better understands the democratic process More willing to initiate public engagement, campaigns Recognises value of engagement as citizens Better understanding of role Increased engagement Increased trust Higher turnout More responsive to public involvement Higher Profile Increased trust Better casework Better at community leadership Better ward representation More inclusive Better access (24/7)

Delivering local eDemocracy Resources for local authorities Products from pilots Case studies Funding database Benefits analysis Knowledge pool Project toolkit – guidance based on PRINCE2

_ democracy.gov.uk

My contact details Councillor Mary Reid Chair: Local e-Democracy National Project