This was presented at mySociety's TICTeC Local 2019 conference, which was held on 1st November 2019 at City Hall in London. More details on the conference can be found here: https://tictec.mysociety.org/local/2019

2. Evidence and Impact
Dr Rebecca Rumbul, Head of Research
@RebeccaRumbul
TICTeC Local, London, November 2019

3. Rebecca Rumbul - TICTeC Local 2019 @Rebeccarumbul

4. Local digital . . .
● Is built to do good
● Will make local institutions easier for citizens to access/engage with
● Will make local government more streamlined/efficient/economic
● Has interfaces that are easy for everyone to use
Rebecca Rumbul - TICTeC Local 2019 @Rebeccarumbul

5. However . . .
● How should we define ‘good’ in an overall local sense?
● Increasing participation will not necessarily increase fairness
● Effective ‘digital’ requires a whole-organisation approach, it cannot be ‘bolted
on’
● User experience is nuanced and varied
Rebecca Rumbul - TICTeC Local 2019 @Rebeccarumbul

6. There is a lot we don’t know
● What is ‘ideal’ in terms of citizen engagement?
● How can engagement be representative?
● How can local institutions absorb increasing expectations of engagement?
● How do participatory exercises within representative democracy structures gel?
Rebecca Rumbul - TICTeC Local 2019 @Rebeccarumbul

7. Good research can begin to provide
answers
Rebecca Rumbul - TICTeC Local 2019 @Rebeccarumbul

8. Digital tools for
democratic participation
“While digital tools have enormous potential for
democratic engagement, the exact implementation and
local context matters. Work has to be done to make sure
the use of digital tools is expanding participation
proportionally rather than excluding specific groups of
people. When selecting tools, thought is required not
just about the best tool for the task, but for the best tool
that fits the wider context.”
Rebecca Rumbul - TICTeC Local 2019 @Rebeccarumbul

9. Digital tools for citizens’
assemblies
“Above all when approaching the use of digital tools, it’s
important that the final choice is
appropriate to the aims of the project — and will
typically be complementary rather than taking a
center-stage role. Digital tools can reduce costs and
enhance the process by creating resources
that add greater depth and knowledge to the process,
but shouldn’t detract focus from the
importance of the core deliberative activity of the
assembly.”
Rebecca Rumbul - TICTeC Local 2019 @Rebeccarumbul

10. Rebecca Rumbul - TICTeC Local 2019 @Rebeccarumbul
How does
participatory
integrate
with
representative
democracy?

11. We need more evidence in order to build
the best solutions for citizens
Rebecca Rumbul - TICTeC Local 2019 @Rebeccarumbul

12. The Impacts of Civic
Technology Conference
24th & 25th March 2020, Reykjavik, Iceland
Call for papers / presentations / workshops OPEN NOW
Rebecca Rumbul - TICTeC Local 2019 @rebeccarumbul