Fiorella De Cindio, What after protests? Design issues and software tools toward deliberative democracy

WHAT AFTER PROTESTS? DESIGN ISSUES AND SOFTWARE TOOLS TOWARD DELIBERATIVE DEMOCRACY Fiorella De Cindio Dept. of Informatics and Communication University of Milan & RCM (Milano Community Network) FoundationFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 1

LIC and Foundation RCM 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 the local 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 initiativesFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

Thanks To Gary for inventing ISDT and inviting me in 2000 and 2010 To the organizers of ISDT 2011 for inviting me again Gary’s focus: strongly rooted in CPSR Computer Professional for Social Responsibility what computer scientists and professionals can do Gary, ISDT 2009 to help people we are discussing with in other ISDT talks ?  to develop digital systems that allow people to 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)Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

The informatics perspective K.Nygaard A.Kay The best way privato Settore to forecast Settore pubblico future is to invent it economia, mercato PA, istituzioni Fiorella de Cindio ISDT 2011, Porto 4

The empirical nature of Informatics (Nygaard, 1986)Differently from Mathematics and Engineering,Informatics (not Computer Science) is an empirical science The programmable computerConsists 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, and properties) ex.: Tycho Brahe in astronomy, Lynneus in botany • computability2. comprehension and explanation of phenomena through • complexity models based on an underlying theory • concurrency (properties, concepts, relations,..... anticipation of behaviour) • (regular) ex.: Newton in astronomy, Darwin in botany languages3. Validation of models and theories through experiments • ………. ex.: the experiments at CERN in Physics experiments have to be designed just applicationsFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

Tahrir Square February 18, 2011Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 6

Milan, Duomo Square, May 30, 2011Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

Divergent and polarized opinions “We are the Men of Facebook”Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 8

Rome, San Giovanni Square, June 12, 2011: the Gay Pride Fiorella de Cindio ISDT 2011, Porto

Can ICT help people to shape “their” world ?“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 mobilize to set up a democratic organization ? the request coming from these aggregations of engaged citizens for a more inclusive democracy ? Public institutions which really want to engage citizens, but need to learn how to do it in a sustainable way ………….Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 10

The empirical nature of Informatics (Nygaard, 1986)Differently from Mathematics and Engineering,Informatics (not Computer Science) is an empirical science The network societyConsists 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, and properties) At least ex.: Tycho Brahe in astronomy, Lynneus in botany framework(s), i.e.,2. comprehension and explanation of phenomena through of organized set(s) models based on an underlying theory concepts and tools (properties, concepts, relations,..... anticipation of behaviour) disciplines from various ex.: Newton in astronomy, Darwin in botany3. Validation of models and theories through experiments ex.: the experiments at CERN in Physics experiments have to be designed Case studies in real-life settingsTransparent failure (Kuhn, 1963) to learn from experience:The structure of scientific revolutions successes & failuresFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

A double iteration real-life settings to learn from experienceDa “Web Science” (2008): Tim Berners-Lee et al. Fiorella de Cindio ISDT 2011, Porto

My “lab” is Italy1. it is a well established democracy, with a very good Constitution written after 20 years of the Fascist regime2. it suffers (since ~10/15 years) of a “democratic anomaly” it is governed by Prime Minister Berlusconi who is at the same time a tycoon owner of a large media empire he owns or controls quite directly all (but one ?) national TV channels; indirectly major national newspapers, ….3. the net is more and more the unique channel for gathering and distributing information (against media control), organizing activities, sharing experiences and speaking freely: in summary for sustaining civic engagement and organizing political oppositionA good laboratory for addressing the “after protest” issues  mistakes and opportunitiesFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 13

What about the use of existing platforms  Risk 1  lesson 1 from a “success” story from blogger to political leader  Risk 2  lesson 2 from a failure Facebook (I developed and used these examples to discuss with citizens and politicians)Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 14

A frequent mistakeboth public institutions and grassroots movements, when realize the need 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-based applications/modules:  some discussion boards  a blog area  polls  some social network features both critical in terms of resources and of citizens participationProblems: 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)Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

Bologna, September 8, 2007 Bologna, September 8, 2007 Last posts: - 676 comments - 847 comments - 1043 comments organized through Beppe Grillo’s blogorganized through Beppe Grillo’s blog against the political “caste” http://www.casaleggio.it/against the political “caste” thefutureofpolitics Fiorella de Cindio ISDT 2011, Porto

Beppe Grillo’s blog  The 5 Stars MoVementMany 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’ space of a popular bloggerThe blog is managed by a private company whose mission is to develop the web presence and strategy of customer companies for marketing purposesThey 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 democracyFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 17

> 500.000Violet People Self-organized through page no support from political parties and trade unionsFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 18

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 Fb needs, 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 movememnt became issues about passwords, permission, time, ….The Violet movement in one year became marginal (disappeared)Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

Candidates at the primary elections of the left coalition for Mayor of the City of Milan To ask a question, a citizen as to click “I like”Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 20

Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

Undemocratic o non democratic? “you are indeed NON DEMOCRATIC” ! Who is non democratic: Pisapia, Boeri, Onida, Sacerdoti…. or Facebook? or the problem is in using Facebook for a wrong purpose [ex. : no permalink  the ‘intelligence’ flows away] Fiorella de Cindio ISDT 2011, Porto

a metaphorIf I have to organize a seminar, a conference or a political forum Spaces and toolsFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

Software System Design is like architecture Software is not just a device with which the user interacts it is also the generator of a space in which the user lives. Software design is like architecture: When an architect designs an home or an office building ... the pattern of life for its inhabitants are being shaped. People are thought of as inhabitants rather than as users of buildings... focusing on how they live in the spaces the designers create Terry Winograd We speak of DIGITAL HABITATS Bringing Design to Software, 1996 24Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

Architects of social changeIssues 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 the movements/initiativeFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 25

OUR design problem 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 the decision-making processneed concepts and tools to design and implement civic/deliberative digital habitats i.e., online spaces created for enabling people’ civic engagementneed a way to organize these conceptsFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 26

The need for a design frameworka collection of (organized) concepts  discussed in the literature  rooted in the democratic tradition  learned by experienceto support conversations among promoters and designers ofcivic/deliberative digital habitatsempirically tested  in our own initiatives  in the analysis of several case studies  in educationFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 27

A design framework for designing civic digital habitatsConsists of 41. to balance 3 dimensions and support different kind of activities (4 spaces)2. to design the osmosis with the Internet3. to involve people in the design/development process4. to design participation over timeContinuously evolving (a wiki ?)Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 28

(1) to balance 3 dimensionsToennis (1887) Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft Technology • tools • features Gesellschaft GemeinschaftThe rules which define the social The “glue” which takes peoplestructure togetherFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 29

The gemeinschaft dimensionparticipation 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 powernever assume sharing of goals, may be interestsEffective metaphor of a win-win game which brings together a set of social actorsFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 30

The gesellschaft dimensionWhat is the participatory contract among the social actors (never users or customers) ? (terms of service)Which identification policy?  AnonymityHow to preserve a civil, civic dialogue?  Galateo (code of conduct)Who is the referee?  Moderation as a service to the communityWho is the ‘guarantor’ of the game?  The role of third parties (My Society, RCM Foundation)Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 31

The Violet People: a case to learnGemeinschaft : a masterpiece a very well identified shared interest mapped into effective logo, slogan, colorGesellschaft &Technology: a disaster an anonymous administrator who bans the other admins as soon as they manifest a divergent opinion Facebook: the rules for managing the page changed several times according to Fb marketing needsFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

The technology dimension: spaces and tools Individual Community participation cultivation interazioni interazioni asincrone sincroneWenger et al. 2005, publishingTechnology for communitiesFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

The technology dimension: spaces and tools Community Space Personal Space free interactions reputation the “pic-nic” space social relationship Deliberative Space purposeful Information interactions Space knowledge sharingFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

the need for dedicated tool E. Wenger et al. 2005 • platform (hopefully, open-source) • tools, rooted in the democratic tradition • features, enforcing ‘good’ behavioursFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 35

openDCN, an open-source platformInspiration from the analysis of offline participatory processes (Agenda 21, participatory budgeting, deliberative polling) a set of different deliberation modalities adapted by observing recent citizens praxisInformed Discussion (asynchronous, several participants) rationale, interactive, responsible, fair,… supported by a georeferential mapDeliberative Meeting (synchronous, not too many participants) regulated by Robert’s Rules of OrderCitizens Consultation (asynchronous, many participants) vote anonimity, secrecy, uniqueness, reliability, ….Problems & Proposals (asynchronous, several participants) a more structured informed discussionThese “democratic” features have to be ‘embedded’ within the toolsFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 36

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 already been said responsible: people should be encouraged to ‘put their face’, while allowing different levels of engagement (styles of citizenship)Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

The design framework for designing civic digital habitatsConsists of 41. to balance 3 dimensions and support different kind of activities (4 spaces)2. to design the osmosis with the Internet3. to involve people in the design/development process4. to design participation over timeFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 38

(2) to design the osmosis with the Internet Community Space Personal Space free interactions reputation social relationship Deliberative Space purposeful Information interactions Space knowledge sharingFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

(2) to design the osmosis with the Internet YouTube Facebook ….... Flickr ……. Twitter Community Space Personal Space free interactions reputation social relationship Deliberative Space purposeful Information interactions Space knowledge sharing the websites of public institutions, political parties and movements, of single politicians, ……. It is not matter of APIs, but regards 40 role of the the different online environmentsFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

The 2 remaining guidelines(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)Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 41

Two iterations To validate the framework Participatory design through iterationsDa “Web Science” (2008): Tim Berners-Lee et al. Fiorella de Cindio ISDT 2011, Porto

Designing and cultivating 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 managerFiorella de Cindio 43ISDT 2011, Porto

A case studyThe compairison among similar initiatives: allow citizens to use a map 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 toolsFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

Fiorellade Cindio Fiorella De Cindio, ALPIS 2011 45 ISDT 2011, PortoCarisolo, 10 febbraio 2011

Fiorellade Cindio Fiorella De Cindio, ALPIS 2011 48 ISDT 2011, PortoCarisolo, 10 febbraio 2011

Progetto IRIS: Venezia 2.0 zero commentsFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

Delegation: to fix the problem in my neighborhood is your jobFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

ePart: the social network of the citizens who participate but comments are disabled ! a service: Udine municipality promote it as “active listening”Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

• most are anonymous (but those with citizens name are published in the ePart home page)• complains about moderationFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

SicureSicurezza Stradale (all’interno di partecipaMi)Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto 53

Sicurezza Stradale (Road safety)Promoted by no profit bodies: Ciclobby and RCM Foundation  Ciclobby obtained from the City gov to set up a forum to discuss 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 issuesFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

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 reports 142 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 now part of the gov: will the new gov consider citizens reports ?……… citizens continue to report ……..Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

Sicurezza Stradale is deliberativeThe course of the forum is documented in a thread opened by the President of the promoting nonprofit association (Ciclobby) with posts from the Alderman and two influential members of the City Council seating in the opposition http://www.sicurezzastradale.partecipami.it/infodiscs/view/5it contains all the relevant documentation, which would allow the new gov to consider citizens remarksThe 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 videoFiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

Sicurezza Stradale: threads that is worth considering1. Citizens organize a petition to ask the Alderman the change of a decision http://www.sicurezzastradale.partecipami.it/infodiscs/view/13732. Citizens designs new solution providing ‘simulations’ http://www.sicurezzastradale.partecipami.it/infodiscs/view/1548 see “Materiale informativo”3. After the remark by a citizens http://www.sicurezzastradale.partecipami.it/infodiscs/view/1636 a Member of a District Council, presents a formal question http://gen2007- mag2011.partecipami.it/?q=node/11159/20516&single=1&# and keep citizens informed on the course of her question: the problem is going to be solved http://gen2007- mag2011.partecipami.it/?q=node/11159/20645&single=1&#4. Citizens inform that a problem has been solved http://www.sicurezzastradale.partecipami.it/infodiscs/view/1155#b ody_1646Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

A framework for designing Deliberative Digital HabitatHow 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 are considered in the design as their underestimation can create substantial problems:  capability to undertake even simple forms of deliberation  democracy  sustainability of the movement/initiative  possibility of increasing level of participation (Laura’s scale)Fiorella de CindioISDT 2011, Porto

The rainbow of digital citizenship rightsAdapted from: A. Clement and L. Shade (2000),OECS (2001) Citizens as partners: The access rainbow: conceptualizingInformation, consultation universal access toand public participation information/communications infrastructure.in policy-making Active participation be heard to inform e-gov services be informed (transparency) education access “the net”Fiorellade Cindio Fiorella De Cindio, ALPIS 2011 59 59 ISDT 2011, PortoCarisolo, 10 febbraio 2011

Digital HabitatStill holds the characterization of online communities adapted in(De Cindio e Ripamonti, 2004 → 2010) from Jenny Preece, 2000Communities: Designing Usability, Supporting SociabilityA 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 common story, …. dimensione gemeischaft2. agree to define and follow implicit or explicit policies for regulating their interactions dimensione gesellschaft3. (also) through an ICT-based communication environment dimensione tecnologicaFiorella de Cindio 60ISDT 2011, Porto

Fiorella De Cindio, What after protests? Design issues and software tools toward deliberative democracy

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Fiorella De Cindio, What after protests? Design issues and software tools toward deliberative democracy — Presentation Transcript