Strengthening civic participation in Paraguay through online technology

Transcript

1. Strengthening Civic Par/cipa/on in Paraguay Through Online Technology The Impact of Civic Technology Conference (TicTec) 2018 Jorge Saldivar, Ph.D.
2. PARAGUAY CONTEXT Emerging democracy Voting and protesting
3. Technology is facilitating new spaces of civic engagement
4. How can technology facilitate impactful processes of civic engagement in developing countries?
5. CASE STUDIES Topic: public services Topic: education Topic: public park RENOVA EL PARQUE CABALLERO
6. Oct-Dec’15 organizer Political Party duration VOZ Y VOTO, PUBLIC SERVICES INNOVATION 7 themes Garbage and recycling, infrastructure, urban mobility, etc. engagement strategies Promotion via the Facebook profile of the candidate, newspaper, radio
7. MULTI-CHANNELS OF PARTICIPATION 7
8. 154 participants 36 ideas 88 comments 429 votes 26% submitted ideas 48% only observed VOZ Y VOTO, ACTIVITY
9. Sep-Feb’17 organizer Catholic University of Asuncion duration PARTICIPA EN TU EDUCACION, INNOVATION OF THE PARAGUAYAN PUBLIC EDUCATION 3 themes School attendance, teacher training, education infrastructure platforms Ideascale and Facebook engagement strategies Scheduled weekly Facebook posts and ads
10. 67 participants 7 ideas 13 comments 37 votes 4 submitted ideas 73% only observed PARTICIPA EN TU EDUCACION, ACTIVITY
11. April’18-Present organizers Civil Society ORG duration RENOVA EL PARQUE CABALLERO, INNOVATION OF A PUBLIC PARK 9 themes Infrastructure, security, landscaping, sports, etc. Catholic University of Asuncion platforms Appcivist and Facebook engagement strategies Offline events, alliances, facebook ads, posts in popular blogs
12. QUANTITATIVE/QUALITATIVE RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS Online surveys 33% of response rate demography motivation factors expectation Platform activity logs # of ideas # of votos # of comments # of users timestamp of activity Semi-structured interviews 10 participants
13. PARTICIPANTS’ PROFILE Half men and half women. Young, between 25 and 34 years old. Well educated. Living in the capital and in middle- to high-class neighbourhoods. Technology savvy and content consumers. Socially but not civically active
14. MOTIVATIONS TO PARTICIPATE Contribute solutions Learning Civic duty Socialization Pass time 0 22.5 45 67.5 90 83% 51% 46% 29% 4% The participants could choose more than one option
15. PARTICIPANTS’ EXPECTATIONS 32% believed their ideas will serve to inspire others
16. PARTICIPANTS’ EXPECTATIONS 31% expected their ideas to be studied 32% believed their ideas will serve to inspire others
17. PARTICIPANTS’ EXPECTATIONS 31% expected their ideas to be studied 26% expected their ideas to be implemented 32% believed their ideas will serve to inspire others
18. MEANS TO FACILITATE THE ENGAGEMENT OF PEOPLE ABROAD The technology allows the people living abroad to be engaged in discussions oriented to address issues in their home countries 13% 
 of the participants reported not living in Paraguay
19. MEANS TO ENGAGE THOSE NOT CIVICALLY ACTIVE X 44% 
 of the participants did not voted in elections in the last years The technology fosters the participation of people that reported not being civically active in the last years
20. MEANS TO DIRECTLY INFLUENCE PUBLIC POLICIES
21. MEANS TO DIRECTLY INFLUENCE PUBLIC POLICIES Idea about garbage recycling and classification 1
22. MEANS TO DIRECTLY INFLUENCE PUBLIC POLICIES Idea about garbage recycling and classification 1 Pilot plan “Asunción Limpia” implemented in 2
23. MEANS TO DIRECTLY INFLUENCE PUBLIC POLICIES Idea about garbage recycling and classification 1 Pilot plan “Asunción Limpia” implemented in 2 +20K kg. of recycled garbage has an impact 3
24. 5 LESSONS LEARNED
25. 5 LESSONS LEARNED Discuss day-to-day topics. People show to be more willing to participate when the topics affect their daily life than when the discussion is around broad themes, such as Education 1
26. 5 LESSONS LEARNED Discuss day-to-day topics. People show to be more willing to participate when the topics affect their daily life than when the discussion is around broad themes, such as Education 1 Promote personally and through public figures. Personal promotion through public figures show to be more effective in attracting participants than structured weekly and impersonal ads in social media 2
27. 5 LESSONS LEARNED Discuss day-to-day topics. People show to be more willing to participate when the topics affect their daily life than when the discussion is around broad themes, such as Education 1 Promote personally and through public figures. Personal promotion through public figures show to be more effective in attracting participants than structured weekly and impersonal ads in social media 2 Be responsive. People show to expect feedback from the organizers regarding their proposals. Be close to the participants throughout the process 3
28. 5 LESSONS LEARNED Communicate clearly the process goal. People indicate that they want to see clearly communicated what will happen with the participants’ proposals 4
29. 5 LESSONS LEARNED Communicate clearly the process goal. People indicate that they want to see clearly communicated what will happen with the participants’ proposals 4 Organize binding civic engagement processes. People show to be more committed to the process when there are on board actors with the power to put in practice the proposals 5
30. Thanks! jorge.saldivar@uc.edu.py @jorgesaldivar Funded by PROGRAMA PARAGUAYO PARA EL DESARROLLO DE LA CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGIA