Reinforcing citizen participation in shaping urban digital ecosystems - Recommendations from the Cities Coalition for Digital Rights
The Cities Coalition of Digital Rights is proud to present its advocacy paper titled "Reinforcing citizen participation in shaping urban digital ecosystems - recommendations from the Cities Coalition for Digital Rights".
Cities, as primary interfaces for digital services, must lead in adopting rights-respecting technologies, with citizen participation central to these efforts. Engaging citizens enables their voices to shape technology, aligns innovations with public values, and ensures diverse needs are reflected.
While facing several challenges related to a lack of trust between residents and governments or the complexity of digital technologies, cities can adopt several solutions and strategies that ensure inclusivity, accesibility, transparency and adaptability.
A priority for the Cities Coalition for Digital Rights is to ensure full representation on the internet for citizens and their ability to engage with cities through participatory processes. This also means having pluralistic debates on the use of technologies in public administrations while preserving residents' digital rights and including them in the process from the beginning.
To support cities in their efforts towards participatory design of digital services at local level, the CC4DR is providing recommendations in the following fields:
► Ensuring that no one is left behind in the participation process.
► Increasing transparency and rebuilding trust between citizens and public administrations.
► Empowering public administrations with skills to understand the link between digital technologies and public participation
► Updating existing policies and rules on citizen participation.
► Implementing sandbox environments and unblocking public innovation.
This paper was released by Mission 1 of the CC4DR, which aims to boost transparency and participation in the governance of digital technologies, led by the cities of Amsterdam and Barcelona. This is one of several position papers that will be released as a series leading up to the International Digital Rights Days (IDRD) on 10 and 11 December 2024.
Stay informed for our campaign ahead of the IDRD and follow our Coalition members' activities on our dedicated IDRD website: https://internationaldigitalrightsdays.com/
Find the full advocacy paper with our recommendations on participatory digital services in cities here:
