Using crowdsourcing techniques to help people collaborate in developing solutions for complicated problems. These techniques include engagement, education and co-design. These posts describe how new information and communications technology can be used to supplement and improve existing public participation programs using these techniques.
Three interesting articles about Crowdsourcing that appeared in late 2019:2020 and beyond: 11 predictions at the intersection of technology and citizen engagement in the DemocracySpot blog by Tiago Peixoto and Tom Steinberg. Lots of food for thought.Why Crowdsourcing Often Leads to Bad Ideas by Oguz A. Acar in the Harvard Business Review, outlining some of […]
Over the holidays I had a chance to update crowdsourced-transport.com with new information. Here are the highlights: Crowdsourced Public Transport page – added: WikiRoutes – site where users can add information about public transport routes and suggest improvements (PT Mapping). Digital Matatus – an application for using smartphones to map public transport routes (PT Mapping). […]
MetroQuest is an application that provides a suite of tools that can be used to improve the public participation process. The tools support all three types of collaboration: engagement, education and process. It’s been used for many transport projects including Toronto’s Big Move 25-year transportation plan.
City Swipe is a Tinder-like application designed to collect input on what people like and dislike about downtown Santa Monica (California). It’s really simple to use and therefore good for collecting lots of input. Here are the instructions from the project website: www.dtsmcityswipe.com HERE’S HOW IT WORKS Each slide will show an image and a […]
The Good Practice Exchange at the Wales Audit Office has published an interview with Gunnar Grímsson of the Citizens Foundation in Reykjavik about Better Reykjavik. Here’s a link to the article: A Better Reykjavik and a stronger community: The benefits of crowdsourcing and e-democracy The project has been quite successful: well over half the city […]
Beth Simone Novek writes in The Guardian about the need for more and better crowdsourcing. Her recommendations include focusing on the knowledge building aspects of crowdsourcing – not just using crowdsourcing as a communications tool, developing a range of crowdsourcing practices that speak to people’s particular knowledge, and ensuring that crowdsourcing is open to all. Read […]
Beat the Street is a community game that encourages people to walk or cycle around the community. It was developed by the UK’s Intelligent Health, an organisation dedicated to increasing physical activity and improving the health of communities. They develop programs that combine technology (e.g., activity trackers and games) with on-the-ground community programs. So far over 500,000 people […]
The City of Oslo Norway has developed a fantastic app that blends gamification with reporting. The app, called Traffic Agent, is designed to enable children to identify and report transport problems they encounter while travelling to school. It’s such a great example I’ve added it to the Crowdsourced Streets page in two places: reporting and […]
ProPublica has developed a very effective interactive application that shows the chance of being killed if you are a pedestrian (30-years old, average for all ages, and 70-years old). You can roll on the app’s X-axis to see the likelihood of being killed when hit by a car going at different speeds. It’s a good tool […]
Tom Saunders of NESTA has written an excellent post: Power to the people: how cities can use digital technology to engage and empower citizens. It recommends four strategies: Resist the temptation to build an app; Think about what you want to engage citizens for; Remember there’s a world beyond the internet; and, Pick the right question for […]