When people think about engaging with government it’s usually via a ballot box or sterile council chambers where public opinion is one directional and most often unsatisfying. But those days are changing and both the public and local governments are slowly catching on and collaborating in new ways. Technology has been one of the main drivers and facilitators of that shift toward more meaningful engagement - creating new access points to government and bringing a new face to public engagement. For example, in Detroit residents can now find out via a text message when the next bus will be arriving at their bus stop. This new access to city information creates a relationship between the resident and government, and provides essential information about bus arrivals that previously was not available through traditional government access points.

In the traditional models of engagement, like a public meeting for example, a resident was required to have the luxuries of time and transportation in order to participate. What technology has done is eliminate those requirements, enabling a new group of people to have a voice, literally changing the face of public engagement. On Monday  I’ll be presenting at the annual International City/County Management Association (ICMA) conference  (Social Ideation: Using the Internet to Gather Citizen Ideas @ 2:30 pm , Room North 120D) where I’ll be making the case for new forms of engagement and collaboration between local governments and their communities.

The importance of the shift that’s taking place, and why it’s essential that local governments adopt the technologies that empower this form of engagement, boils down to who is represented in this new form of engagement. City officials are able to make better policy decisions when more voices are heard, particularly participation from residents who are not able to show-up at City Hall for a public meeting. This is how technology broadened engagement in Philadelphia with a text messaging application, Textizen, that allows people to submit ideas to the City Planning department via text messages. By enabling SMS as a form on engagement, the City is providing the 40% of households that don’t have access to the internet or others that don’t have time to attend a public meeting a way to participate in public decision making.

Today there is a growing number of services that enable residents with SMS capability to participate in public discussions and debates. There are also tools, like Granicus, that stream council meetings so people with access to the internet can watch public meetings and participate online. And with increasing usage of mobile phones to access the internet, apps like MindMixer enable mobile phone users to engage with local government.

Choosing an inclusive technology is essential to ensuring that the new face of public engagement represents the interests of all residents and broadens participation and collaboration with local governments.