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WHAT AFTER PROTESTS?DESIGN ISSUES AND SOFTWARE TOOLSTOWARD DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY
Fiorella De Cindio
Dept. of Informatics and CommunicationUniversity of Milan
&RCM (Milano Community Network) Foundation
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LIC: Laboratorio di Informatica Civica (dal 1994) framework: social interactive systems in real life settings analysis, design and development of methods, software tools and
field experiencs in the area of e-participation, in particular at thelocal level
The first initiative (since Sept. 1994): t the Milan Community Network (RCM >25.000 registered
members) inspired to Community Networks e Free Nets since December 1998, a Participatory Foundation a long series of projects and initiatives
LIC and Foundation RCM
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To Gary for inventing ISDT and inviting me in 2000and 2010
To the organizers of ISDT 2011 for inviting meagain
Gary’s focus: strongly rooted in CPSRComputer Professional for Social Responsibility
what computer scientists and professionals can doto help people we are discussing with in other ISDT
talks ?
to develop digital systems that allow peopleto shape a “better” world
to understand how to develop these systems to understand more the nature of our discipline
“Will we be smart enough, soon enough?”(Doug Schuler, ISDT 2009)
Thanks
Gary, ISDT 2009
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Settore pubblicoPA, istituzioni
Settore privatoeconomia, mercato
The best way to forecast
future is to invent it
A.Kay
K.Nygaard
The informatics perspective
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The empirical nature of Informatics (Nygaard, 1986)
Differently from Mathematics and Engineering,Informatics (not Computer Science) is an empirical science
Consists of:1. a phenomenology, or empirical basis, i.e. phenomena
(any fact, circumstance, or experience that is apparent to the sense) to be studied (their identification, observed behaviours, andproperties)ex.: Tycho Brahe in astronomy, Lynneus in botany
2. comprehension and explanation of phenomena throughmodels based on an underlying theory(properties, concepts, relations,..... anticipation of behaviour)ex.: Newton in astronomy, Darwin in botany
3. Validation of models and theories through experimentsex.: the experiments at CERN in Physicsexperiments have to be designed
• computability• complexity• concurrency• (regular)
languages• ……….
The programmable computer
just applications
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Tahrir Square February 18, 2011
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Milan, Duomo Square, May 30, 2011
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“We are the Men ofFacebook”
Divergent and polarized opinions
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Rome, San Giovanni Square, June 12, 2011: the Gay Pride
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“after (successful) protest” or “after (successful) elections”:
How can we design technology to support the evolution and sustainability of protest movements (mainly)
raised online ? citizens’ movements
-- which have found online support to organize and mobilizeto set up a democratic organization ?
the request coming from these aggregations of engaged citizensfor a more inclusive democracy ?
Public institutions which really want to engage citizens,but need to learn how to do it in a sustainable way
………….
Can ICT help people to shape “their” world ?
Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto
The empirical nature of Informatics (Nygaard, 1986)
Differently from Mathematics and Engineering,Informatics (not Computer Science) is an empirical science
Consists of:1. a phenomenology, or empirical basis, i.e. phenomena
(any fact, circumstance, or experience that is apparent to the sense) to be studied (their identification, observed behaviours, andproperties)ex.: Tycho Brahe in astronomy, Lynneus in botany
2. comprehension and explanation of phenomena throughmodels based on an underlying theory(properties, concepts, relations,..... anticipation of behaviour)ex.: Newton in astronomy, Darwin in botany
3. Validation of models and theories through experimentsex.: the experiments at CERN in Physicsexperiments have to be designed
At least framework(s), i.e., set(s) of organized concepts and tools from various disciplines
The network society
Case studies in real-life settings to learn from experience: successes & failures
Transparent failure (Kuhn, 1963)The structure of scientific revolutions
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A double iteration
Da “Web Science” (2008): Tim Berners-Lee et al.
real-life settings to learn from experience
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1. it is a well established democracy, with a very good Constitutionwritten after 20 years of the Fascist regime
2. it suffers (since ~10/15 years) of a “democratic anomaly”it is governed by Prime Minister Berlusconi who is at the sametime a tycoon owner of a large media empire
he owns or controls quite directly all (but one ?) national TVchannels; indirectly major national newspapers, ….
3. the net is more and more the unique channel for gathering anddistributing information (against media control), organizingactivities, sharing experiences and speaking freely:in summary for sustaining civic engagement and organizingpolitical opposition
A good laboratory for addressing the “after protest” issues mistakes and opportunities
My “lab” is Italy
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Risk 1 lesson 1 from a “success” storyfrom blogger to political leader
Risk 2 lesson 2 from a failureFacebook
(I developed and used these examples to discusswith citizens and politicians)
What about the use of existing platforms
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A frequent mistake
both public institutions and grassroots movements, when realize theneed of setting up an online space for civic purposes
either open space(s) on Facebook, Twitter, Ning,a Google group, …
place side by side a “collage” of some popular web-basedapplications/modules:
some discussion boards a blog area polls some social network features
bothcritical in terms of resources and of citizens participation
Problems: tools and spaces conceived and designed for different purposes and
for a different audience lack of design (no design) often delegating the implementation to somebody else (a web agency
or the most skilled guy ,i.e., a techie)
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organized through Beppe Grillo’s blogagainst the political “caste”
Bologna, September 8, 2007
organized through Beppe Grillo’s blogagainst the political “caste”
Bologna, September 8, 2007 Last posts:- 676 comments- 847 comments- 1043 comments
http://www.casaleggio.it/thefutureofpolitics
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Beppe Grillo’s blog The 5 Stars MoVement
Many people see him as a leader against Berlusconi and the political caste increasing score in local elections
~10% in Emilia-Romagna, ~5% in Piemonte real impact on the results (non elections of left-coalition
candidates)While he is probably another example of the case:
“I/we participate, he/they profit”The main problem is actually the way in which the Beppe Grillo’s blog is
managed: because of is public role, it is no longer the ‘private’ spaceof a popular blogger
The blog is managed by a private company whose mission is to developthe web presence and strategy of customer companies for marketingpurposes
They apply the same approach to Grillo’s blog capillary and non manifest control through
“hidden” moderators fully non democratic promote a deceitful “vision” of the future which demands to
reflect about direct online democracy
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Self-organized through pageno support from political parties and trade unions
> 500.000
Violet People
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the Violet People Facebook page
• created and managed by an anonymous profile -- San Precario:who is the actual owner of the page ?Nobody knows (actually, someone knows)
• the day after the demonstration, the Fb page is ‘renewed’:only some of the admins of the NoB Day page are invited again(by San Precario)
• the rules for managing the page changed several times according to Fbneeds, and “San Precario” choices
• rise of conflicts within the administrators group around political issues:• relationship between the national group and the local groups• internal democracy of the movememntbecame issues about passwords, permission, time, ….
The Violet movement in one year became marginal (disappeared)
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Candidates at the primary elections of the left coalition forMayor of the City of Milan
To ask a question, a citizen as to click “I like”
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“you are indeed NON DEMOCRATIC” !
Who is non democratic: Pisapia, Boeri, Onida, Sacerdoti….or Facebook?
or the problem is in using Facebookfor a wrong purpose
[ex. : no permalink the ‘intelligence’ flows away]
Unde
moc
ratic
o n
on d
emoc
ratic
?
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If I have to organize a seminar, a conference or a political forum
Spaces and tools
a metaphor
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Software is not just a device with which the user interactsit is also the generator of a space in which the user lives.
Software design is like architecture:When an architect designs an home or anoffice building ... the pattern of lifefor its inhabitants are being shaped.People are thought of as inhabitantsrather than as users of buildings...focusing on how they live in the spacesthe designers create
We speak of DIGITAL HABITATS Terry Winograd Bringing Design to Software, 1996
Software System Design is like architecture
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Architects of social change
Issues to be considered why people should participate ? why politicians should participate ? who is the owner the online space where participation occurs ?
who is the owner of the participants archives ? who manages it ? who defines the conversation roles and rules (moderators,
administrators, participats) who, when and how can change them ? who intervene when rules are violated ? …..……
As architects of these spaces, we are shaping the social structure of themovements/initiative
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groups of citizens who really want to influence the decision-making process [at the local level]also in case of reluctant institutions
public institutions which really want to involve citizens in thedecision-making process
need concepts and tools to design and implementcivic/deliberative digital habitatsi.e., online spaces created for enabling people’ civic engagement
need a way to organize these concepts
OUR design problem
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The need for a design framework
a collection of (organized) concepts discussed in the literature rooted in the democratic tradition learned by experience
to support conversations among promoters and designers ofcivic/deliberative digital habitats
empirically tested in our own initiatives in the analysis of several case studies in education
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A design framework for designing civic digital habitats
Consists of 4
1. to balance 3 dimensions and support different kind of activities
(4 spaces)
2. to design the osmosis with the Internet
3. to involve people in the design/development process
4. to design participation over time
Continuously evolving (a wiki ?)
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GemeinschaftGesellschaft
Technology
The “glue” which takes peopletogether
• tools• features
(1) to balance 3 dimensions
Toennis (1887) Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft
The rules which define the socialstructure
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The gemeinschaft dimension
participation is demanding
it cannot be a continuum
keep on the fly occasions which trigger participation
allow different types and degree of participation(provide opportunities)
participation (not technology) is a learning process
citizens: responsibility & awareness
politicians: delegate power
never assume sharing of goals, may be interests
Effective metaphor of a win-win game which brings togethera set of social actors
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The gesellschaft dimension
What is the participatory contract among the social actors (neverusers or customers) ? (terms of service)
Which identification policy?
Anonymity
How to preserve a civil, civic dialogue?
Galateo (code of conduct)
Who is the referee?
Moderation as a service to the community
Who is the ‘guarantor’ of the game?
The role of third parties (My Society, RCM Foundation)
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Gemeinschaft : a masterpiece a very well identified shared interest mapped into effective
logo, slogan, color
Gesellschaft &Technology: a disaster an anonymous administrator
who bans the other admins as soon asthey manifest a divergent opinion
Facebook:the rules for managing the pagechanged several times accordingto Fb marketing needs
The Violet People: a case to learn
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The technology dimension: spaces and tools
Community cultivation
Individual participation
interazioni asincrone
publishing
interazioni sincrone
Wenger et al. 2005,Technology for communities
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InformationSpaceknowledge sharing
Deliberative Space
Community Spacefree interactions the “pic-nic” space
purposeful interactions
reputation social relationship
Personal Space
The technology dimension: spaces and tools
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the need for dedicated tool
E. Wenger et al. 2005
• platform (hopefully, open-source)• tools, rooted in the democratic tradition• features, enforcing ‘good’ behaviours
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openDCN, an open-source platform
Inspiration from the analysis of offline participatory processes
(Agenda 21, participatory budgeting, deliberative polling)a set of different deliberation modalities
adapted by observing recent citizens praxis
Informed Discussion (asynchronous, several participants)rationale, interactive, responsible, fair,…supported by a georeferential map
Deliberative Meeting (synchronous, not too many participants)regulated by Robert’s Rules of Order
Citizens Consultation (asynchronous, many participants)vote anonimity, secrecy, uniqueness, reliability, ….
Problems & Proposals (asynchronous, several participants)a more structured informed discussion
These “democratic” features have to be ‘embedded’ within the tools
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Public Informed Discussion features
rational:I don’t attach you, but I explain why I do not agree with you,possibly with the support of factual data(space for documents, video, photos, ….)
interactive:when I say something, I take into account what has alreadybeen said
responsible:people should be encouraged to ‘put their face’, while allowingdifferent levels of engagement (styles of citizenship)
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The design framework for designing civic digital habitats
Consists of 4
1. to balance 3 dimensions and support different kind of activities
(4 spaces)
2. to design the osmosis with the Internet
3. to involve people in the design/development process
4. to design participation over time
Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto
InformationSpaceknowledge sharing
Deliberative Space
Community Spacefree interactions
purposeful interactions
reputation social relationship
Personal Space
(2) to design the osmosis with the Internet
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InformationSpaceknowledge sharing
Deliberative Space
Community Spacefree interactions
purposeful interactions
reputation social relationship
Personal Space
YouTube Facebook Twitter….... Flickr …….
(2) to design the osmosis with the Internet
the websites of public institutions, political parties and movements, ofsingle politicians, ……. It is not matter of APIs, but regards the role ofthe different online environments
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(3) to involve people in the process(4) to design participation over time
through direct involvement (focus groups, interviews, surveys)expensive and not always effective
by learning from the field experiences continuous monitoring users feed-back gathering lead users lead communties
Designing and cultivating Adopting suitable approaches to software development
(e.g., agile programming)
The 2 remaining guidelines
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Two iterations
Da “Web Science” (2008): Tim Berners-Lee et al.
Participatory design through iterations
To validate the framework
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Digital Habitats have to be cultivated
The gardener: prepares the ground choose and sows the seeds waters and manures it looks if they sprouts helps the growth by cutting dead
branches
Who is the gardener ?the community manager
Designing and cultivating
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A case study
The compairison among similar initiatives: allow citizens to use amap to report problems for local government to fix
UK: http://www.fixmystreet.com/ Venice: http://iris.comune.venezia.it/Iris/ Udine: http://www.epart.it/udine/ Milano: http://www.sicurezzastradale.partecipami.it/
considering the 4 design principles the 3 dimensions
gemeinschaft, gesellschaft, technology (spaces and) software tools
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Carisolo, 10 febbraio 2011
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Carisolo, 10 febbraio 2011
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Progetto IRIS: Venezia 2.0
zero comments
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Delegation:to fix
the problemin my
neighborhoodis your job
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ePart: the social network of the citizens who participatebut comments are disabled !a service: Udine municipality promote it as “active listening”
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• most are anonymous (but those with citizens name arepublished in the ePart home page)
• complains about moderation
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Sicure
Sicurezza Stradale (all’interno di partecipaMi)
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Sicurezza Stradale (Road safety)
Promoted by no profit bodies: Ciclobby and RCM Foundation
Ciclobby obtained from the City gov to set up a forum todiscuss mobility problems for bikers (and beyond)
RCM Foundation offered support with two spaces: a geo-referenced informed discussion to collect citizens
reports an informed discussion to follow the forum activities and
discuss general issues
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Sicurezza Stradale: the timeline
31 March 2008:the forum is set up in the City House and the web site is opened
……… citizens report …….. in parallel: discussion in the forum involving citizens, city council
members (opposition), the alderman 13 Jan 2009
presentation of a summary of the citizens reports142 problems (>50% with comments) from 97 citizens, 55 solutions
No feedback from the administration……… citizens continue to report …….. 15 Nov 2011:
the Mayor discharges the Alderman……… citizens continue to report ……..
20 new problems and several updates on the previous ones 30 June 2011:
a new Government is elected, a former member of the forum is nowpart of the gov: will the new gov consider citizens reports ?
……… citizens continue to report ……..
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Sicurezza Stradale is deliberative
The course of the forum is documented in a thread opened by thePresident of the promoting nonprofit association (Ciclobby)with posts from the Alderman and two influential members ofthe City Council seating in the oppositionhttp://www.sicurezzastradale.partecipami.it/infodiscs/view/5
it contains all the relevant documentation, which would allow thenew gov to consider citizens remarks
The overall online discussion is deliberative: More than 50% of the problems are commented (to enforce,
to question, to arguments) A large majority of the threads is illustrated with documents,
photos, links, some video
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Sicurezza Stradale: threads that is worth considering
1. Citizens organize a petition to ask the Alderman the change of adecisionhttp://www.sicurezzastradale.partecipami.it/infodiscs/view/1373
2. Citizens designs new solution providing ‘simulations’http://www.sicurezzastradale.partecipami.it/infodiscs/view/1548see “Materiale informativo”
3. After the remark by a citizens http://www.sicurezzastradale.partecipami.it/infodiscs/view/1636a Member of a District Council, presents a formal questionhttp://gen2007-mag2011.partecipami.it/?q=node/11159/20516&single=1&#and keep citizens informed on the course of her question: the problemis going to be solvedhttp://gen2007-mag2011.partecipami.it/?q=node/11159/20645&single=1&#
4. Citizens inform that a problem has been solvedhttp://www.sicurezzastradale.partecipami.it/infodiscs/view/1155#body_1646
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A framework for designing Deliberative Digital Habitat
How general it is ?How complete it is ? merge with other frameworks
to enhances the way in which we share experiencesHow useful it is ?
it enhances the possibility that most of the relevant issues areconsidered in the design as their underestimation can createsubstantial problems: capability to undertake even simple forms of deliberation democracy sustainability of the movement/initiative possibility of increasing level of participation (Laura’s scale)
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Carisolo, 10 febbraio 2011
access
education
e-gov services be informed (transparency)
to inform
be heard
Active participation
The rainbow of digital citizenship rights
Adapted from:OECS (2001) Citizens as partners:Information, consultationand public participationin policy-making
A. Clement and L. Shade (2000),The access rainbow: conceptualizing
universal access toinformation/communications
infrastructure.
“the net”
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Still holds the characterization of online communities adapted in(De Cindio e Ripamonti, 2004 → 2010) from Jenny Preece, 2000
Communities: Designing Usability, Supporting Sociability
A set of people who freely interact over time as they1. recognize a common interest that holds them together and
lead them to share knowledge, experience, rituals, a commonstory, ….
dimensione gemeischaft2. agree to define and follow implicit or explicit policies for
regulating their interactionsdimensione gesellschaft
3. (also) through an ICT-based communication environmentdimensione tecnologica
Digital Habitat
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