CREATING THE SYMBIOTIC CITY:Bottom-up collaboration for the

co-design of Civic Software

Pedro Prieto Martín, Asoc. Ciudades Kyoseipedro.prieto-martin@ckyosei.org

Edgeryders Conference: ”we, the people” sessionStrasbourg, 2012.06.15

About “Ciudades Kyosei” First Spanish NGO devoted to

(e)Participation, eDemocracy and eGovernance

• Officially established in 2006;

• Our research on (e)Participation started in 2004.

Areas of work:

• (e)Participation research and expertise

• (e)Participation advocacy, promotion and education

• Socio-technical design, construction and management of Civic Software systems

Our research has focused on:

• Civic Engagement

• Best design practices for (e)Participation systems

• Difficulties to promote innovation in the ICT for Governance field

Our main aim:

• The collaborative creation of Kyopol(aka. Symbiotic City)

Construction

Collaborative Evaluation

Pro

toty

pes

Minimal viable product

Feedback & improvement

ParticipatoryDesign

Sociopolitical Research

Research questions

ObjectivePrevious

knowledge

Socio-technical Experimentation

Technical research

Articulation of design objectives, visions and intuitions

AlphaPilot Projects

Permanent Beta

Beta

Theoretical analysis

Improvement and scaling

---> Done so far

Kyopol – Symbiotic CityA living project

BRAZIL GUATEMALA

SPAIN

Vicious Cycle of Participation

Intrinsic Problems· Complex· Expensive· Non-representative· Non-inclusive· Less informed· Conflict prone· Non-deliberative· Difficult to scale· ...

Extrinsic Problems· Arbitrary· Manipulability· Risk of capture· Irrelevant subjects· Non-effective· Not self-sustainable· Inefficient· Civic exhaustion· ...· Administrative Monopoly of participation

Motivation =

f (effort, usefulness)

Incompatibilities - Political - Legal - Cultural - Socioeconomic - Organizational

Participation =1/5 · Deliberation +

1/4 · Manipulation +

Rest · Politics as usual(Struggle for powerand accountability)

EU eParticipation =

Some lessons about participation

Change in expectations

Reduction in power and knowledge assimetries

Reduction cost of collective

action

Peer-to-peerrecognition

“Long Tail” models

CognitiveSurplus

Motivation =

f (effort, usefulness)

Virtuous Circle of (e)Participation

Vicious Cycle of Participation

Intrinsic Problems· Complex· Expensive· Non-representative· Non-inclusive· Less informed· Conflict prone· Non-deliberative· Difficult to scale· ...

Extrinsic Problems· Arbitrary· Manipulability· Risk of capture· Irrelevant subjects· Non-effective· Not self-sustainable· Inefficient· Civic exhaustion· ...· Administrative Monopoly of participation

Motivation =

f (effort, usefulness)

Incompatibilities - Political - Legal - Cultural - Socioeconomic - Organizational

Some lessons about participation

Pioneers Group

Collaborative Creation – Who?

Core Team

Communication

Public workers

Neighbor Assoc.

Kyopol ALPHA

Developers

Participative Methodologies 15M

Citizens

Politicians

AlcaláVillalbilla

Madrid

Pilot Projects Phase 1

MadridEuskadi

CataluñaSPAIN

ArgentinaVenezuela

Brasil

Phase 2 Phase 3

Expansion

PortugalUK

MéxicoItalyGermany

Kyopol BETA

?

Thank you very much for your mindful listening!!

More information athttp://www.ckyosei.org

Edgeryders Conference: ”we, the people” sessionStrasbourg, 2012.06.15