In a new post in the London School of Economics' Data and Society series, Centre for BOLD Cities affiliate Sarah Giest and her colleague Ansgar Koene describe how the success of civic apps depends on how effectively they facilitate the dynamic elements of citizen engagement and the citizen-to-citizen dimension in particular.
In a time of short days, long, gloomy nights and a seemingly endless stream of news stories about filter-bubbles, corporate and government surveillance, ‘fake news’, and algorithm-driven discrimination it can seem as if the internet does nothing except undermine human rights and democracy. At such times it can be good to remind ourselves of the positive work presented at conferences like Data for Policy; showcasing how the internet, and its associated data flows, are being used to improve the ways in which the ideals of democracy are translated into action. One example of such a development is the increasing use of digital technologies to enable people to engage with urban challenges in their neighbourhoods through the use of civic apps, digital tools that facilitate the communication among citizens and between government and citizens.
The full article is available on the LSE Impact of Social Sciences blog.