Mission
Engaging Citizens and Empowering Communities
Trust
In order for nations to govern peacefully, they must have the trust of their people. This has long been known, however, the recent pandemic tested the trust citizens globally have for their Governments and their most critical State institutions, including health, banking and media. Irish citizen’s trust in State institutions is relatively high, with the most recent statistics from Eurofound - the EU employment and working conditions agency - showing that trust in the Garda, the healthcare system, the Government, the European Union and the news media is ahead of the EU27 average. Citizens do not give their trust lightly, nor can this trust be taken for granted. Early research emerging from Covid-19 studies suggest that the majority of Irish people have a greater trust in the Government post-pandemic, however, this study relates to data and privacy in the short-term rather than long-term general policy. How Ireland’s Government builds on digital trust earned in 2020/2021 remains to be seen.
Transparency
Public trust is an essential component of successful government and this trust must be earned, not through tokenistic initiatives but through open, transparent and participatory policy-making. Such participatory policy-making demands a system of transparency that is not a common feature of public sector administration. While this opaqueness is not necessarily by design, poor systems will no longer excuse poor public consultation and citizen engagement. Transparency encourages engagement, and engagement strengthens democracy. Stronger democracy allows for more effectiveness in government by promoting accountability at every level. The tools and technologies exist to facilitate open and transparent government. The events of 2020/2021 drove technology into the majority of Irish households, accelerating digital adoption rates for individuals by up to a decade. To keep the momentum of this citizen ICT revolution going for the betterment of the nation, it is not enough for people to trust the Government, the Government must trust its people.
Technology
Technology is transforming how the Government interacts with its citizens and how they, in turn, interact with their Government. This shift has the potential to bring more people into the public participatory process. Not only will this expand public participation, early studies suggest that it is likely to enhance the diversity of participation, which is the goal of all outward-looking governments. Technologies currently in use include two-way platforms in place of traditional one-way websites to keep citizens informed and to capture feedback in real time; immersive technologies, and augmented reality in particular, to allow citizens to ‘experience’ and truly understand proposed changes to their neighbourhood; Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to measure behaviours and/or prompt action; and gamification of everyday activities to teach good citizenship. Teaching people ‘how to citizen’ (as a verb, per Baratunde Thurston’s groundbreaking work) could potentially reimagine the relationship between citizens and their Governments.
Training
Right now, smart cities across Ireland are using or considering the use of a whole range of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to monitor air quality, noise levels, categorised traffic flow, likelihood of gully overflow, litter bins nearing capacity, life-saving devices needing attention and so much more. All of these sensors are transmitting data on a continual basis, some of which are made available to citizens in real time to allow them to factor the insights into their decision-making. Where is the rest of the data? With whom is it being shared? How can departments outside of the smart cities teams use the insights emerging? While the Government and local authorities are actively working to address it, a silo culture still exists.
Governments, at local and national levels, and their communications agencies need to understand the ethos of transparent government and they need to understand the emerging technologies opening up two-way conversations between citizens and their governments, rather than tracking social media hashtags after the fact. Contact us (link to contact) or follow our News (link to News) for upcoming training courses and events.