In this episode, Nathi Mcetywa interviews Paul Plantinga, a senior research manager at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in South Africa, about e-participation in governance. They discuss the landscape of participatory governance in South Africa and Africa, the use of digital platforms for public participation, and the challenges of online participation. Paul also shares insights from his work with municipalities and the importance of user-driven approaches and capabilities in e-participation. Their conversation ends with a mention of the HSRC’s e-participation and policy modeling platform and the upcoming Civic Tech Innovation Forum.
In the second segment of the episode, Nathi speaks to Jono Bosman. Jono, a program manager at OpenUp, defines user-centered design and discusses its importance in the civic tech space. User-centered design is an approach to product development that focuses on the needs, preferences, and behaviors of users. It involves understanding the user through research and empathy, designing intuitive and useful tools, and constantly iterating based on user feedback. The concept of user-centered design can be applied in various ways, such as using language that is accessible to the target users and conducting interviews with diverse user groups. Co-creation and creating a feedback loop are also important aspects of user-centered design.
Keywords
e-participation, governance, digital platforms, public participation, challenges, municipalities, user-driven approaches, capabilities, HSRC, Civic Tech Innovation Forum
Takeaways
– E-participation in governance is a complex and evolving field, with a mix of traditional and digital processes being used.
– While there is a growing trend of government agencies using technology to engage with citizens, the majority of participation still happens through traditional methods.
– Challenges in public participation include process literacy, access to information, and the over-politicization of processes.
– The HSRC is working on a project to support e-participation in municipalities, focusing on user-driven approaches and specific capabilities.
– The project aims to provide a toolkit for municipalities to assemble different ideas and capabilities based on their specific needs.
– The upcoming Civic Tech Innovation Forum will be an opportunity for municipalities and the civic tech community to share experiences and learn from each other.
– User-centered design is an approach to product development that focuses on the needs, preferences, and behaviors of users.
– User-centered design can be applied by using language that is accessible to the target users, conducting interviews with diverse user
Sound Bites
“We’re talking about e-participation in matters of governance across the African continent, and more specifically about what happens when government agencies embrace digital technologies as a way to connect with their constituents.”
“What’s possibly more interesting in recent times is your kind of governance experimentation, your engagement experimentation more from the bottom up. So your civil society-led initiatives, those kinds of things that a number of organizations are doing in the country and that are part of the civic tech network.”
“To what extent the digital processes and platforms are supporting any form of meaningful engagement. And I’m not sure there’s clear evidence for that at a significant scale yet, even in any kind of specific population groups.”
