DDC-Alive to Engagement

8/11/2019 DDC-Alive to Engagement

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Digital Democracy Alive to Engagement

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Introduction!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Key Messages from Speakers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!#

Digital Demonstrations at the Event !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$

Group Feedback & Discussions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!%%

Scenarios !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!%&

Acknowledgements!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!%'


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On 21st July 2014 Swansea University organized a workshop at the Cardiff

Millennium Centre to debate future directions for digital democracy innovation.The aim was to provide useful, insightful comments as part of the evidencegathered by the Speakers Commission on Digital Democracy. Keystakeholders from Universities, the public sector and industry were invited fora day-long programme of talks, hands-on demos and brainstorming. Theoutputs of the day are recorded in this document.

When people hear the word, digital, they often imagine sleek, shiny

technology perhaps the smartphones and tablets that are so pervasive.Interaction with this digital world is one that is heads-down with userstapping and prodding the glass screens. In contrast, think about the livelydemocratic processes of debate, voting and discussion. Even thevocabularies used for these moments of togetherness are charged withenergy and physicality hustings, lobbying, rallies etc. The theme for theday, then, was the benefit of designing technologies that accommodatehuman values and ways of interacting in all their tangible, physical, messyforms.

From the debate and reflection key messages emerged. These are useful tothose interested in developing future services and infrastructures for digital


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democracy. Each emphasizes the importance of keeping people at the heartof the innovation and implementation process:

Be user-centred. There are many examples of failed technologyinnovations, especially in the public sector and government, worldwide.

One important way to increase the chances of success is to involvepeople the systems are being created for, throughout the design anddevelopment process. There are well-established methods of user-centred and participatory design that have been shown to be highlybeneficial.

Design for Diversity. From a highly connected city point of view, it iseasy to believe that everyone is always able to be online and able touse the latest gadgetry. The reality is that there are many people wholack the resources (e.g. mobile broadband or even landline broadband;latest devices; digital literacy) or desire to be digitally focused. Further,

democracy flourishes when everyone has a voice and in a diversepopulation, such as found in the UK, this means thinking abouttechnological strategies that are useful and usable by the young, old,and people from a variety of cultural, social and economic backgrounds.Diversity design should not be an added extra but should drive theprocess from the beginning. Designing for extra-ordinary users cancreate excellent solutions for all.

Design for groups and physical sociality and not just for singleusers, alone. Many proposals for digital engagement are basedaround single users interacting with their own devices. There is anuntapped design space that provides congregational or grouptechnologies for social, together interactions.

Design for visibility and engagement. How can we make the hiddendigital discussions and debates (e.g. those going on in social media)more visible and accessible? This might involve the use of additionaldisplays (e.g. Smart TVs; or, audio output providing automaticallygenerated spoken summaries of hot topics being discussed on, say,Twitter); and, software techniques (e.g. graphical visualisations andoverviews);

Design for persistence and tangibility. Digital interactions have atendency toward the ephemeral and intangible; like many puffs of cigarsmoke. Meanwhile, humans are embodied; integrated physical-intellectual beings. How can we design systems that exploit thesecharacteristics? Tangible computing concepts (where physical objectsare used to manipulate and contribute to the digital world) are valuable,here.

In the rest of this report, we provide overviews of each of the keynote talksand demonstration systems presented during the day. Then, we summarise

the discussions and brainstorming sessions stimulated by these contributions.


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Key Messages from Speakers

Yvonne Rogers, University College London - Widening communityengagement through gathering public opinions in playful and more accessibleways

Traditional ways of obtaining public opinion have largely been throughmarketing people approaching people at events or in the street with aclipboard, cold calling over the phone or sending people a text or email to awebpage for them to register and then fill in. More recently, tablet computershave been used to replace the clipboard. However, all of these approacheshave their limitations and can be susceptible to bias. The reasons include thegeneral public being wary of people approaching them and an increasingtendency to simply ignore unsolicited messages. Many will avert their gaze,put the phone down or delete the message. Those who do respond are often

only a small number of the population who are committed, opinionated or areperceived to have too much time on their hands. As such, it is unclear howrepresentative these digital volunteers are of the general population at large.To what extent can we call this digital democracy?

We propose an alternative approach for public participation that tries toengage a wider range of people in more welcoming and open ways. Ourprototype device, VoxBox, was designed as a wardrobe-sized, playfulmachine that gathers peoples opinions from across the spectrum, includingthe young, old, individuals, groups of friends to families. The aim was tocreate a pleasurable and playful experience that would enable the general

public at large to voice their feelings, views, and opinions at events such asfestivals, fares and conferences. Sliders, buttons, knobs, and spinners areused to transform answering questions into a fun activity. Simple, attractivevisualizations of the collected data are also displayed via portholes.

Our studies of it being used have shown it is a real crowd-puller. For example,at the Tour de Francefan parks this summer, many people answered all thequestions, taking their time to do so and debating them with their friends orfamily. They really enjoyed looking at how they had added to the overallresults in the visual feedback display, triggering further discussion. Manyanswers were thought-provoking, but others humorous, for example, in

response to the question, If there was an entry fee for this event, how muchwould you be willing to pay?one person answered, I'd sell my children. Andpossibly my mother!

How this can help thinking about Digital Democracy

Suggests a novel way to engage more members of the general publicto voice their opinion

Demonstrates how we can develop new technologies that movebeyond mobile or webs-based screen only apps

Shows how technology can have mass appeal and be adapted in a

variety of contexts


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Julie Palmer, DVLA Engaging with large populations

My talk, entitled Engaging with large populations, demonstrated how DVLA,with 44 million driver records and 36 million vehicle records has access to thislarge population and has to be able to engage with a huge variety of

customers across the country. Our engagement/contact takes place over avariety of channels mail, telephone, digital, via a third party etc, and ourfocus is always on Simpler, Better, Safer, i.e. the easier we make it for ourcustomers to pay their tax, update their records, tell us when theyre changingany details about themselves or their vehicle, the more likely they are tocomply, this means better quality data, and ultimately improves road safety.

Our data is a highly valued source of information for our customers,stakeholders and data partners (police, courts etc), and it is essential that ourcustomers can trust our processes and systems to keep their informationsecure. I focused on DVLAs Digital journey, to keep in with the topic of

electoral reform, online voting, illustrating how we were simplifying thecustomer journey, and not just replacing paper services.

CASE STUDY - DVLAs Online Car Tax service, currently over 23 milliontransactions a year, with a take up of 61% after 10 years. I explained how theservice was marketed, how we identified and targeted areas of the countrymost likely to use online services, how we partnered with SEAT cars to givefree SEAT cars in return for carrying the SEAT logo on our reminderdocumentation. Marketing investment enabled further refinement of ourmarketing techniques, and all of this helped to increase take up over the first 6years to 50%. Marketing funding ceased in 2010, take-up continues to risedue to word of mouth, a strong brand, ongoing message on the reminder,growth of broadband, and more importantly having a product that people wantto use.

We continue to develop and deliver well designed, high quality digital services,we have learnt from online car tax the importance of having an excellentservice, designed to support user needs. Our new services can be used onphones, tablets, and of course laptops/PCs. We are now using social media tohelp us get our messages out, particularly about new services, this channel ishigh profile and demands quick responses therefore we have to be able to

match the needs.

How this can help thinking about Digital Democracy?

Decide what you want to achieve, test it with your customer groups,and continuously improve your offering, based on their feedback.

Provide services that the customer wants to use, because it makestheir life easier, not just yours.

Importance of understanding user needs: knowing your customer, andengage according to this knowledge, look for innovative ways to marketyour service partnering with other organisations.

Keep it simple simplify the service, keep the UI clean.


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Mike Evans, BBC -An Accessible New Broadcasting System

At BBC Research and Development we are doing a lot of work to understandand invent the kinds of user experience our audiences will have in the future,as part of a new IP-based broadcasting system for the Information Age. One

important part of the New Broadcasting System is the accessibility it affords toolder and disabled people, and the ability of IP-based systems to supportconnectivity of media devices to the assistive technology that disabled peoplemay use throughout their daily lives.

Our work developing an experimental Universal Control API (bbc.in/VzpUMN)has shown that technology to provide accessible connectivity to digital contentcan create novel user experiences including multi-screen content andconnected toys for users of all kinds. In general, the New BroadcastingSystemwill enable really engaging content, that spans multiple devices andscreens (like our Smart Wallpaperwork - bbc.in/1tg1sLM), and that can bemade responsive, not just to accessibility requirements, but in duration,composition and to what each user needs.


The mass, shared user experience of broadcasting and theperceptually engaging technologies of audio and video are verypowerful, and can draw people into content experiences of significantduration and depth. This power to engage is set to increase furtherwith the New Broadcasting System.

Core advancements in broadcasting and in media content are

persistently and effectively driven with audience accessibility in mind, inorder to ensure the widest possible audience.

An IP-oriented New Broadcasting System will naturally help form awider connected ecosystem of engaged users, engaging material andpowerful and accessible interaction. This is technology with enormousdemonstrable capability to bring people, knowledge and ideas together

The mass, shared user experience of broadcasting and theperceptually engaging technologies of audio and video are verypowerful, and can draw people into content experiences of significantduration and depth. This power to engage is set to increase further

with the New Broadcasting System.


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Andrew Davies, Chair of NHS ABMU Trust, Wales.

ABMU is one of seven health boards in Wales. Wales health policy andstructures are increasingly different from England with the internal marketabolished and a focus on collaboration not competition, e.g. no Clinical

Commissioning Groups (CCGs). ABMU is a very big beast with a 1.3 billionannual budget and 16,5000 employees, serving directly a population of over500,000. It faces a huge set of challenges, some brought by changing agedemographics (the Silver Tsunami is here now) with 65% of hospitaladmissions over the age of 65 and the median age of patients in many wards85+. Then of course there are financial issues, especially at this time ofausterity.

There has been an historic underinvestment in IT in the Health Board andNHS in Wales. Most companies in the private sector will spend 5% of turnover

on IT; with us it has been less then 1%. Capital investment has beendominated by bricks and mortar but IT needs to be considered as essential asa utility such water or electricity.

As well as providing backbone management and operational functions, we aredeveloping a vision where IT allows us to develop and integrate a highlycomplex health economy context from a citizens perspective. This is achallenge because culturally, health services have tending to focus onproducer interests. The benefits of shifting to a commitment to citizen-centred services are immense. We know that when the citizen, whetherpatient, user or carer, is centrally involved in the design and delivery ofservices with front-line staff, then not only are services better, but they usuallyare delivered at lower cost. We also know that when we dont put the citizenat the heart of our services, then things can go badly.

We have listened to the patient voice and introduced improvements as aresult of formal feedback and complaints and despite constraints, aresupporting this conversation with many innovations in use of digitaltechnology. For example, during the measles outbreak early in 2013, the useof social media was critical, especially with the demographic that we weretargeting, i.e. those in their teens who hadnt had the MMR inoculations.

We were also the first Health Board in NHS Wales to introduce free wi-fi forboth patients and staff last year (a number of other HBs have followed ourlead this year). One simple example of how this can benefit patients was seenin a mother who broke ankle with no mobile signal but sitting in Morriston A&Eshe was able to Facebook friends and family and get kids picked up fromschool. Patients are now able to stay in touch and get support needed whenin hospital, some can even carry on and run their businesses from theirhospital bed.


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We are planning additional innovations that may include:

Posters in each area of a hospital with QR codes which will provideinstant feedback based on location, e.g. Ward level by simply using a

QR code on a poster in the area. Each location will have a dashboard to show live location (e.g.4444

ward level) performance for patient experience based on feedback andcomplaints.

Social media is a disruptive technology and free wi-fi not only allowsthe potential for structured feedback via software but also gives instantfeedback via apps like Twitter. There is an increasing public trend forresolution of problems by tweeting rather than complaining. Manyusers (as Radio 4 MoneyBox & Today programmes have reported)get speedier resolution to complaints e.g. from insurance companies,by using hashtags on twitter #directline for example. As a Health Board

are we ready to respond to #ABMUHB? Such a lightweight and alreadypopular mechanism may provide fast responses for problems at hand,e.g. long waits, cleanliness, etc., but currently we are not set up torespond in this way. There is potential, for instance, for tweet to godirectly to a services supervisor to pick up on a dirty floor or toilet


Politics like health needs disruption from producer interest to citizen-centred.

Simple innovations, like free wi-fi can dramatically improve

participation. Use of existing lightweight digital infrastructures such as social media

platforms should not be underestimated. Expose the results of online survey, debates etc. publicly and in situ to

increase accountability.


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Digital Demonstrations at the Event

During the event a range of hands-on demonstration prototypes werepresented by groups drawn from around the UK. Some of these are outlined,below.

1. Com-PhoneSimon Robinson and Jennifer Pearson

Swansea University

The Com-Me toolkit is a collection of hardware and software componentsproviding solutions for content creation and sharing in locations around the

globe where there is low textual and computing literacy and limited power andnetwork coverage.


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The core components of the toolkit are:- Com-Phone: a multimedia narrative application for a mobile phone- Com-Tablet: a tablet-based media repository- Com-Charge: a phone charging station

- Com-Cam: a TVCam device for sharing mobile phone content onold TVs

Used individually or together, these components allow groups such as NGOs,community associations and governmental organisations to facilitate digitalcontent creation and establish community media sharing infrastructures withinrural and other hard to reach populations the world over, helping people gettheir voices heard. Each of the components of the toolkit, includinginstructions, designs and source code downloads where applicable, are freelyavailable from digitaleconomytoolkit.org

The development of the Com-Me toolkit was funded by EPSRC grantEP/H042857/1. Involvement in the demonstrations at the Digital Democracyevent was funded by EPSRC grant EP/J000604/1.


Helps to focus thinking on rural, resource constrained and often-sidelined populations.

Free and open source: extendable to provide simple ways of sharingand collaborating with digital media.

Provides an ecosystem of media creation and sharing that can helpbring communities together and potentially spur action. Helping people in resource constrained environments get their voices

heard, both inside a community and via story sharing outside, tothe wider world.


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2. WrayKeith Cheverst and Trien DoLancaster University

The demo showed two of the Wray photo displays that have been developedas part of an investigation into the ways in which situated displays can

facilitate notions of community through supporting shared sense of history.The Wray displays have been deployed in the village of Wray since 2006 atsettings including: Wray Village Hall, Village Tea Rooms, Post Office, VillagePub, etc. The system has been Co-designed with residents of the villagethrough numerous Design Workshops and enables village residents submitand comment upon photos relating to village life and it's cultural heritage ingeneral. Furthermore, the system encourages a sense of ownership by villageresidents by enabling them to create and moderate their own contentcategories, e.g. The Wray flood of 1967. Indeed, since its first deploymentover 2600 photos have been submitted across 27 categories. Furthermore,over 400 comments have been submitted, often relating to story telling (e.g.They were landlords when I used to go in) or identifying people andlocations (e.g. I lived in the house with). A significant number of comments


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relate to asking questions to fellow residents or providing answers, e.g. Thatwasn't a bomb, that was the flood.

One crucial aspect of the longitudinal evaluation of the system has beenproviding residents with a simple and inclusive means of providing feedback

on the system. This has been achieved through the use of a comments bookplaced next to the Wray displays. Comments have included requests foradditional functionality, e.g. supporting news items, suggestions for places todeploy the displays within the village and general comments on theusefulness of the system, e.g. a great way of recording a living history ofWrayand a delight for those who were born here and to go down memorylane.

The development of the system has been funded by both the EPSRC andMicrosoft Research. The current EPSRC project utilsing the displays withinWray is called SHARC (grant no. EP/K015850/1) and is focussing on

exploring the co-design and use of tools (including mobile) that can enable thecommunity to share and co-curate digital narratives relating to the villageslocal history from a range of sources and perspectives.

How this can help thinking about Digital Democracy The system facilitates a sense of community within a rural village

community and this sense of community is an important factor in digitaldemocracy given then need for people to feel a sense of belonging andinfluence.

The system has an easy-to-use commenting feature which hasenabled residents of the village to discuss aspects relating to thecultural heritage of the village as well as contemporary issues againfacilitating such dialogue can be viewed as an important aspect ofdigital democracy.

The interaction with the system is straightforward through the use of atouchscreen with a clear and easy to follow user interface this hasenabled the system to achieve a high level of inclusiveness within thevillage.

The user-centred design approach has provided important insights intothe ways in which situated technologies can gain effective use whenplaced at 'community hubs' (e.g. post-office, village hall, etc.) and how

members of the community can be engaged with to recommend, andeven carry out for themselves, technology placements.


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3. On SupplyAdrian FridayLancaster University

Renewable energy sources challenge us to think differently about theexpectation that energy is always available whenever we demand it. OnSupply is a Catalyst project (http://www.catalystproject.org.uk/), working with

the citizens of Tiree, a small island off the west coast of Scotland who are onthe edge of the national grid and generate some of their own energy usingwind power.

Using a series of technology probes, workshops and interviews, we exploredwith the community how new energy awareness devices might help peoplereflect on when energy is available and promote use at greener times. Weco-designed and iteratively built several energy aware prototypes, including arenewable energy forecasting system (Tiree Energy Pulse) that overlays windturbine output with the wind forecast for Tiree; the 'energy detector' that castschool children as 'renewable energy detectives'; and 'the datarium'

community ambient energy artefact that encourages curiosity about energyavailability.


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Our results indicate that, despite there being no cost benefit to the consumer(at the moment), some people are motivated to synchronise consumption withavailability of renewable energy - delaying high energy tasks until renewableenergy was expected to be available. We also reveal some of the complexity

and barriers of everyday life that prevent this kind of more sustainablebehaviour.

4. City WalksClara CrivellaroDigital Interaction Newcastle University

City Walks is a do-it-together tool to engage city residents with their citysurban environment and with the experiences, narratives and desires of others.City Walks subverts the traditional city-walking tour into a platform for situateddialogue and alternative imaginations of places in the city.

Using counter-factual maps, inspirational cards and digital archival andcitizen-generated content, City Walks encourage collaboration, creativity and

re-interpretation of places in the city. Walkers negotiate routes and generatestops and topics for discussion. During these discussions, walkers accessand add geo-located digital content through a mobile phone and NFCtechnology. The intention is that future walkers will be able to discover,discuss and contribute to this content to create an ongoing archive. CityWalks foregrounds the publics identification and discovery of sociallymeaningful places and practices, matters of concerns and visions for and inthe city, to discuss and reflect on the present and the future of the city.


By intervening in the organizational process of city planning, invitingcity residents to identify matters of concern grounded in the places they


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use and access, and supporting them in reflecting on and imaginingalternatives for specific locations and sites in the city.

Providing a platform for dialogue and understanding amongst cityresidents around the citys diverse social practices and needs.

Generating digital content that can be used by both city residents and

local authorities to discover where others people visions, needs andvalues may lie, and as evidence to inform policies, future plans anddesigns in the city.

5. App-Movement.comAndrew Garbett and Edward JenkinsDigital Interaction Newcastle University

App Movement provides a web-based tool for any individual, community ororganisation to propose, design and develop an audience for a multi-platformlocation-based mobile application. No expertise is required to get started - justa touch of determination and a great idea. App Movement is a new paradigmin mobile app development that allows communities to commission their ownapps and address issues at the grassroots level.

Anyone can start a Movement by visiting the site and creating their Movement,adding photos, a description and tags to encourage others to support the idea.The creator then harnesses their social network by sharing a unique URL andencouraging others to support the Movement and reach the goal of 250supporters. Once this target has been met the community is then guidedthrough a series of design tasks in which supporters are able to contribute,comment and vote on various options such as app name, colour scheme etc.After the design phase has been completed the app is then generated for bothAndroid and iOS and released to the community behind the commissioningprocess.



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Providing a means for communities and individuals to commissionlocation-based application that meet local information needs that arecurrently lacking.

Ensuring the sustainability of community-centered mobile applicationservices by confirming there is a real demand behind an idea.

Alleviating the top down model of technology commissioning andencourages everyone to participate in the design of digital services fortheir own community.

6. PosterVoteVasillis VlachokyriakosDigital Interaction Newcastle University

PosterVote is an electronic voting platform that has a low level ofdevelopment and maintenance costs (both monetary and in terms of technicalskills required), while increasing the potential for social movements to engagein action. It is designed to be as accessible and easy to participate in assurveys but also provide a scalable digital platform to allow communities andservice users to vote and give feedback on issues of concern.

The platform consists of two parts; 1) the printed poster with the question and

answers and 2) the electronic hardware which is a thin, flexible circuit boardwith 5 buttons and 5 LEDs that is placed at the back of the poster. The twoparts are laminated together to protect the hardware from environmentalconditions. The use of the PosterVote is then simple once printed andcombined, it can be placed in physical locations (i.e., at the site of a newplanning application) where people will see it and be prompted to respond toits questions. The votes can be downloaded either visually by recording theLEDs flashing and uploading the footage on our server or by using a USBcable.


Making democratic practices more accessible, not just by enablingpeople to vote but by enabling local organisations, community groups,


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political parties or service providers to commission simple polls. Supporting different levels of peoples engagement with democratic

processes (either local or national). Providing the tools to hold the government accountable to issues of

local concern.

Highlighting the importance of digital democracy in supporting citizenempowerment rather than just improving the efficiency of governmentaladministration processes.

7. BootleggerGuy Schofield and Tom BartindaleDigital Interaction Newcastle University

Bootlegger is a new tool for shooting live event videos using mobile phones.Musicians and fans can connect using Bootlegger to produce high-qualitymulti-camera concert films. Bootlegger acts as director and producer,coordinating camera operators, suggesting shots and collecting footage.During the gig, the Bootlegger app allocates shots according to where you arein the venue. Fans at the front might be asked to grab close-ups while thoseat the back are given wide shots. For consistency, example compositions areshown as overlays on the screen.

To keep things interesting, Bootlegger suggests different shots and

compositions guaranteeing great coverage. Operators are automatically set togo live by the app and warned if another phone cant get a shot, meaning nogaps. After the show Bootlegger uploads videos to the cloud automaticallyand securely, enabling musicians to keep control of their live content. Anynumber of phones can be used for a single event. Shows can be private, withan invited team or made public so any audience member with a smartphonecan participate.

How this can help thinking about Digital Democracy Highlighting ways in which music production can be democratized:

musicians are using digital tools to take control of their recording anddistribution.


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Enabling music fans and musicians to collaborate seamlessly,providing a forum where everyones creative input can be judged on itsown terms.

Teaching film-making conventions to non-expert users: we areexploring whether the resulting videos are more persuasive, more

engaging and more powerful as a promotional tool.


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8. VocalEyes Digital DemocracyPeter Anderson(founding Director, VocalEyes Digital Democracy)Sarah Hoss(Community Engagement Specialist Pembrokeshire College)

VocalEyes Digital Democracy is a system for capturing the ideas and prioritiesof large numbers of people in geographic and community-of-interest groups

and progressing the best ideas through to action. Unlike other systems,VocalEyes can be used directly on a handset (mobile phone, tablet) orcomputer, in peoples homes, schools community halls and workplace. It hasan authentic process of governance; which inspires trust. People are able toself-organise and the process is transparent and robust. All comments arecaptured, whether in favour, neutral or against the proposed idea, and addedto the data on the report generated for the administration team.

Actions are reported straight back onto the system and promoted viatraditional media, posters, and social media, creating a feedback loop directlyback to each user and increasing satisfaction. Users report that they feel morelistened-to and their ideas are being adopted for the benefit of all.

VocalEyes is currently revolutionising the system for capturing Learner Voiceand giving organisations an efficient platform for crowdsourcing from theirstaff. VocalEyes is currently installed in 15 organisations, mainly in Furtherand Higher Education.

Where available, via single sign-on, VocalEyes works with people toencourage participation in ideas-generation where individuals can contributetheir own ideas and participate in rating and debating all contributed ideas.

Highly-regarded ideas into tangible actions and for the first time, decision-makers receive a report direct from their community showing the priorities


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clearly and concisely. VocalEyes is built and tested and is now available formass-participation.

VocalEyes has received support via the European ESDF programme; UnLtd(Level 1, 2 and Fast Growth Awards) and was funded for 2 years by the Big

Lottery to trial community use in Herefordshire. Following the demonstrationof VocalEyes at this event a European-funded project (SmartSociety) basedat Oxford University has agreed to pilot VocalEyes. Current case studiesinclude:

Village/community students - Havens Community, Narberth (West Wales)Primary School students - Wolfscastle and Broadhaven Primary SchoolsFurther Education students Pembrokeshire CollegeFurther Education staff Pembrokeshire College (where staff generatedpotential savings of 28.5k in one 90 minute session).University at faculty level University of Wales Trinity St David worked to

bring five campuses together on a digital platform to generate ideas.University at student level at University of Wales Trinity St David withover 40 tangible outcomes in the first 6 month for improving the studentexperience and increasing student satisfaction levels to an all-time high.Government- wherever it has been installed, VocalEyes is being used aspart of the mix to engage young people to inform the Future Generations Billthat will be presented to the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) in March2015.

VocalEyes is one layer of a greater route-map for providing hyper-localcontent to users and with its foundations in Social Enterprise is beingsupported by UnLtd, was a finalist in the recent Times EducationalSupplement awards and a finalist in 2008 in the No10 Revolutionary awards.


Teaches digital citizenship and captures big data for easy decision-making and generating the evidence needed to support decisions.

Has a process of governance and transparency that encourages mass-participation and belief in the system.

Builds-in community-participation Enables responsiveness and quickly provides feedback on actions. Saves money by tapping into the resources and ideas of people to

crowd-source. Uses big data to help make informed decisions.


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9. VoxboxLorna Wall, Connie Golsteijn, Sarah Gallacher, Lisa Koeman, SamiAndbergUniversity College London

The Voxbox is a tangible questionnaire device. It is an alternative way togather opinions and feedback in public spaces or at events, compared tomore traditional methods such as paper-based or online questionnaires.People are often averse to interacting with someone armed with a clipboardas they are unsure of the required investment of time or what the nature of theinteraction will be. Additionally, asking for opinions online post-event can oftenbe difficult to incentivise and the user is no longer in the correct context togive accurate responses. The Voxbox was designed to make a potentiallymundane and awkward activity into a more playful and engaging experiencethat the user initiates.

Voxbox users press buttons, move sliders, turn knobs and talk on a telephone

to answer a variety of questions. As they do so, a coloured ball drops down aclear tube to show their progress. When they have completed all thequestions the ball drops out for them to take as a reward. The aggregateanswers from all user inputs are visualised on the back of the Voxbox soindividuals can see the general response of the crowd and compare their ownanswers with the majority. Initial trials of the Voxbox at the Tour de France fanparks in London have been very successful. Users typically approached theVoxbox and began to interact without any prompting from nearby researchersand even though it is designed as a playful experience users gave seriousresponses to the questions, taking some time to think and reflect on theiranswers. Group interactions are also supported with families and groups of

friends taking turns to push buttons or slide levers to reflect the groupconsensus.


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The Voxbox is designed as a modular system so each question box can beremoved and replaced with others depending on the required feedback. Thisallows us to apply this technology to a wide range of situations and eventswith minimal setup effort. Since our initial trials, there has been much interestin the Voxbox from various places including market researchers, galleries,

theatres and festivals who all cite issues with gathering feedback from thepublic and see the potential of this technology to help. This project is fundedthrough the ICRI-Cities lab. For more information please visit the website:www.voxboxproject.com


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Group Feedback & Discussions

After the participants attending the event had listened to the presentations,

and interacted with the demos available at the event, a session for groupthinking and discussion was held. All of the attendees were split into one offive groups and asked to discuss issues surrounding:

a. To what extent is physicality/ liveness/ liveliness important whenthinking about developing new digital democracy approaches?

b. What is physical-digital thinking best for? Representation; Scrutiny;Making laws?

c. What are the possibilities in the short, medium, long termd. What are the positives and negatives?e. What are the barriers?

Group 1 suggested that politicians could make greater use social media ofsocial media to promote interest amongst the population in politics. The use ofsocial media would encourage a sense of getting a response back from thosemaking policy decision, to the people they are representing.

The group also discussed how wearable sensors, such as the FitBit, arecurrently enjoying a great deal of interest. The question was put forward abouthow this form of continuous data gathering could be utilised for digitaldemocracy. However, the group members were weary of the potential securityand data privacy issues that could be involved with this type of approach.

Group 2 raised the question about how people first get engaged in theprocess of democracy. Do people first get exposed during their full-timeeducation years, or is it an event during adult life that promotes an activeinterest? This then raised the concern of issue vsconventional politics andhow these impact of personal drivers to engage. Issue politics would be thosethat generate personal interest from individuals, whereas the conventionaleffects the population as a whole. Do these questions need to be answeredbefore designing digital interventions into the process?

The group also talked about campaigning, wondering whether it could be aleading candidate for being further digitised? Currently, these campaigns (inthe UK) heavily utilise paper based manifesto documents and broadcastsocial media; could we instead have conversations driven digitally bypostcodes, for instance?

Group 3highlighted the potential outcomes that a shift from physical to digitalpresence might have based onspaces and places for civic life. Being in aphysical space makes civic life visible, but digital means of communicationallow people who are uncomfortable or unable to engage physically, to beinvolved in discussions. However, innovators should make use of community

spaces that already exist to host these discussions. Spaces such asallotments where people encounter each other on a frequent basis could be


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the foundation for greater discussion of topics. These spaces need to becarefully considered, be they online or offline.

Group 4 suggested that physical approaches might be more beneficial, asthey require more commitment and effort to engage with. Does this mean that

those performing these tasks are the more enthused about the topics?

The group were concerned that being online has the potential to remove thehuman aspect of ourselves. Being together in a physical space for debate isimportant, as gathering together forces accountability and transparency ofindividuals and their stances. However, physical spaces may place unwantedconstraints and restrictions onto discussions. Being in a digital space couldremove unwanted prejudices, as we are likely to not fully know an individualsbackground or appearance.

Group 5 were concerned that a widespread cultural apathy towards political

process would not be solved by the introduction of digital solutions. Currentdigital services are primarily customer based, focusing more on the side ofconsumerism. How could these approaches be transferred to engage with acitizen, rather than consumer? The new digital approaches need to generatea sense of being included, rather than being alone together.


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Scenarios

Following these discussions, each group was asked to create a futuristic

scenario of digital democracy in action. After ten minutes of discussion, theywere asked to sketch it or act it, addressing two issues:

a. Why is it a good idea?b. What might be unintended consequences?

Facespace An anonymous user has been using the social networkFacespace for a long time. Back when he was 15 there was a governmentdeal to share Facespace data with politicians. Specifically, this data could beused to assist in the process of determining voting preferences of the users ofthe site. Based on previously liked, shared content or online conversations,

the electoral office can now automatically determine who the anonymous useris likely to vote for in an election.

There is now no need for the anonymous user to attend polling stations, whichcould have potentially been an inconvenience. However, there is now littlereason for the anonymous user to actively reflect on current events ordiscussions. The process of voting forces careful consideration of severalfactors, which the automatic interpretation of Facespace data removes. Thereis also scope for harmful manipulation of information, where users couldpromote content to bias other members voting preferences.

E-Petition App Harry liked a picture on his social network feed. Based onthis, he was invited to participate in a local survey. A company was puttingforward an application for a massive wind farm on hillside. The voting processwas taking place on Aberystwyth promenade, a long way from the proposedwind farm site, and Harry made his way there.

Using a tablet based e-petition app, Harry could make his vote. As the votewas on the promenade, the metaphor of ice cream was used to depictresponses. A noanswer showed an icon of a melting, sorry looking ice cream,whereas the yesvote had a full pristine 99 flake.

The wind farm application process was successful, and the farm wassubsequently built. This was all despite the vote being held away from thebuild site, by people who likely had little concern about the impact a largewind farm might have on the local population. In tribute to those whoparticipated in the vote, the wind farm was shaped like ice cream cone.


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Acknowledgements

Digital Democracy Alive to Engagement, was hosted at the Wales

Millennium Centre in Cardiff on the 21st

July. Swansea Universitys ComputerScience Department (http://www.swansea.ac.uk/compsci/)and College ofScience (http://www.swansea.ac.uk/science/) sponsored the event.

Event Organisers

Tom Owen, Software Alliance Wales, Swansea University Matt Jones, Head of Computer Science, Swansea University Sian Jones. Communications and Marketing Officer, College of

Science, Swansea University

Image Credits

The images used in Section 1 (Introduction) are copyright material used withthe permission of the holder, Patrick Oladimeji (Swansea University). All otherimages contained in this report are the copyright of the authors as stated inthe section titles and have been included with their permission.

Documents

DDC-Alive to Engagement