2. Participa en Andalucía is a web platform for e-Democracy,driven by the Consejería de Innovación, Ciencia y Empresa de la Junta de Andalucía (España) , the Andalusian regional Ministry for innovation, Science and Enterprise. Its is aimed to achieve the digital participation of citizens, local authorities and local associations. Digital participation seeks to involve citizen participation in all aspects of civil and political life through the use of the new technologies and the new systems for local decision-making. FLOSS and the new technologies offer a wide range of communication tools, allowing citizens to communicate, express their opinions, debate, associate and cooperate with leisure, social or political aims. What is it?
3. What is it? Participa en Andalucía is a web platform for e-democracy. Participa en Andalucía was born in 2007 and has already integrated more than 25% of Andalusian towns in the project. The project is developed to promote the digital participation of citizens and local authorities and organizations. It is based on free software, allowing citizens to communicate, think, discuss, join or assist with political or social purposes. EVOLUTION OF THE TOWNS ASSOCIATED IN THE PLATFORM
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5. General organization CITIZENS PARTICIPATION PLATFORM Citizens Associations ® Make proposals, give their opinion, debate, comment in blogs, make suggestions Visitors Make queries and sign up Political Parties Councilllors Local Agents Manage their specific contents Mayor Local Coordinators Technical management Manage membership Función delegada Configure basic parameters Regional follow-up committees ® Moderate according to the terms of use Present proposals in town councils
6. Participators Follow-up committees Technical Management Users (citizens) Coordination Guadalinfo local agents Association representatives Politic Parties representatives Local coordinators Councillors Mayors
7. The users People linked to the town who have passed through the registration process, providing data like their ID card number or e-mail. Level of participation These people may propose improvements regarding their towns, express their opinions, reject or subscribe proposals made by others , all in accordance to the terms of use of the platform. REGISTERED People who have not gone through the registration process. Level of participation These people can observe what happens in the platform, unable to make proposals or express their opinion. UNREGISTERED
8. The Guadalinfo local agents People who work in the network of Public Internet access centres in towns below 20,000 inhabitants. Mission Making the portal known to users of the centre, explaining its values and providing technical support so they can make the best use of it.
9. Association representatives Representatives of local legally established associations with a presence in the portal. Mission They may propose improvements regarding their towns, express their opinions, reject or subscribe proposals made by others on behalf of the association, under the terms of use of the platform.
10. Representatives of political parties and groups Representatives of political parties and groups with a presence in town and in the portal. Mission 1. They may propose improvements regarding their towns, express their opinions, reject or subscribe proposals made by others , under the terms of use of the platform . 3. If they wish, they can call for a survey on their programs and proposals. 2. If they wish, they can make their manifestos and programs available to users and participants.
11. Local coordinators Local coordinators, freely chosen by the mayors of each town. Mission 1. Keeping constant dialogue between the Town Council and the Technical Committee in order to expedite the implementation and maintenance of the town’s website within the Portal. 2. Making the existence of the portal known to citizens, local associations, political parties or groups and local authorities. 3. Maintaining constant contact with the Guadalinfo local agent to obtain information on the use of the platform and include it in the monthly report. 4. Sending a monthly report to the Technical Committee on the development of the website, detailing, where appropriate, obstacles in the town, as well as specific recommendations for better operation of the Portal.
12. Town councillors 1. As registered users of the Portal, they may propose improvements regarding their towns, express their opinions, reject or subscribe proposals made by others , Councillors registered in the web portal. Mission 2. They can give answers to proposals that belong to his/her specific area of the responsibility, always in agreement with the mayor.
13. Mayors Mayors, as presidents of the local authority, can guarantee the commitment of their government team with the aims, terms and procedures of the project. Mission 1. They must p romote the interest of citizens in the use of the portal. 2. They must make, at least, one proposal (directly or delegated) each month. 3. Including in the council sessions any proposal which has reached the set rate of support, discussing and voting it. 4. They must determine whether a proposal raised at the forum must be addressed by the relevant Area Manager. 5. They must moderate, directly or through the Local Coordinator, the proposals and opinions expressed in the forum. 6. If designated, they must attend the meetings of the Follow-up Committee in representation of the towns in their province. 7. They must ensure that information reaches the rest of the mayors of the province and convey, where appropriate, the concerns of the mayors to the Follow-up Committee.
14. Mayors They may: 1. J oin any proposal made in the forum. 2. Allow portal users to access the local budgets and comment on them, thus enhancing the dynamics of “participatory budgets". 3. Allow the publication of manifestos and political programs by political parties and local groups, so that registered users can comment on them.
15. Some data about our users A) USERS BY GENDER B) EVOLUTION OF ACCESS
16. What are the main benefits for mayors? A better knowledge about the real needs of citizens. Updated information about the situation of the town . This allows the Council to act more efficiently on a daily basis
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18. How do we measure the impact of the platform on our society? Measurement tools for the project are aimed at assessing its social and political impact. This is done using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative data : reports are generated with a maximum level of disaggregation through an advanced statistical system online . Qualitative data : are mainly based on human analysis through the collection of information that users provide in their speeches from the platform. General access statistics Citizen participation Political participation Participation of associations Debate triggered by proposals
19. Which are the main benefits already obtained? We arrive directly to 1/8 of citizenry, almost 1,000,000 Andalusians out of 8.202.220 living in the region. 1.046.229 visits to date. 800 proposals made since the begining of the project and an average of 60 active proposals every month.
