In August 2009, our team from the Brandt School advised the City of Erfurt on their participatory budgeting project. The city had asked their citizens earlier in a survey which areas they find important, and the administration wanted to use the results of the survey as the basis for an internet-based consultation. The next step (and our task) was then to set up an on-line platform to gather ideas, within the areas from the survey. We went ahead and proposed a three-step process (ideation, deliberation and collaboration), set up a message board and accompanied the city’s first e-participation effort. That was my first experience in the area. Participation on the web was not new to me, but introducing modern technology and ideas of openness into public administration is an exciting, new and daunting task.

But let me introduce myself. I am a graduate student at the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy at the University of Erfurt (Germany) and Intellitics’ first intern. Even though my educational background is in international affairs, economics and politics, I have participated in a number of projects in the German “Government 2.0″ sphere, mostly assisting Dr. Philipp Mueller, visiting professor for public policy and public management at the Brandt School, who is currently writing a book called “Shaping Network Society”. The most noteworthy project was to document the first German Government 2.0 Camp in Berlin in August 2009. What started out as a blogging and tweeting mission there ended up as a full-blown documentation website (gov20.cpmg.eu) and an internal expert opinion for the German Federal Ministry of the Interior.

Over the next few weeks, I will support a number of projects such as adding more content to ParticipateDB, producing new episodes of This Week in Participation as well as a trip to the OpenGovWest conference in Seattle later this month. I am writing my master’s thesis on e-participation, and will post a few texts here on this blog about topics from research as well as internship-related findings.

As mentioned a few days ago, the past week saw the first round of the Open Government Dialogue, a three-phased e-participation initiative launched by the White House that aims to gather public input for the crafting of the Open Government Directive. From their May 21 announcement:

Today we are kicking off an unprecedented process for public engagement in policymaking on the White House website. In a sea change from conventional practice, we are not asking for comments on an already-finished set of draft recommendations, but are seeking fresh ideas from you early in the process of creating recommendations. We will carefully consider your comments, suggestions, and proposals.

Here’s how the public engagement process will work. It will take place in 3 phases: Brainstorming, Discussion, and Drafting.

Beginning today, we will have a brainstorming session for suggesting ideas for the open government recommendations. You can vote on suggested ideas or add your own.

Then on June 3rd, the most compelling ideas from the brainstorming will be fleshed out on a weblog in a discussion phase. On June 15th, we will invite you to use a wiki to draft recommendations in collaborative fashion.

These three phases will build upon one another and inform the crafting of recommendations on open government.

The first phase, Open Government Brainstorm, was convened by the National Academy of Public Administration and used IdeaScale, a crowdstorming or idea generation tool for large groups.

Based on my own Open Government Dialogue site activity tracking data from the past ten days, I did the following quick analysis:

1) Activity over time (incl. registered users)

Table: http://www.flickr.com/photos/planspark/3583067924/in/set-72157618585823580/

Graph: http://www.flickr.com/photos/planspark/3582188431/in/set-72157618585823580/

(Note that the “votes” curve uses a different scale in order to make it fit into the graph.)

2) Average user activity over time

Table: http://www.flickr.com/photos/planspark/3583071264/in/set-72157618585823580/

Graph: http://www.flickr.com/photos/planspark/3583198476/in/set-72157618585823580/

(Note that the “votes per user” curve uses a different scale in order to make it fit into the graph.)

What’s interesting is that up until 05/23 (two days into the initiative, at only several hundred registered users) average user activity was very high but dropped sharply over subsequent days as thousands of new — and much less active — users signed up.

For example, on May 23 at 8.32am (about 36 hours into the project), I measured the highest average activity per user:

• 2.5 ideas / user
• 3.0 comments / user
• 82 votes / user

As of today, May 31 at 12.08pm (almost a full 10 days into the project), average activity per user is much lower:

• 0.2 ideas / user
• 0.6 comments / user
• 11.7 votes / user

I see a real potential here how such user adoption and user activity information could be used in real-time to manage and optimize individual as well as overall participation levels, to distribute attention more evenly (e.g. away from the most highly-rated items) or to encourage collaboration among participants.

PEP-NET, another promising e-participation initiative at the European level, launched earlier this month.

From the about page:

PEP-NET will be a European network of all stakeholders active in the field of eParticipation. PEP-NET therefore already includes public bodies, solution providers and citizen organizations as well as researchers and scientists. The network is open to all organizations willing and actively trying to advance the idea and use of eParticipation in Europe.

The project aims to help overcome fragmentation and promote best practice by connecting established and experienced eParticipation players and networks throughout Europe as a critical first step. The objective of this project is to achieve critical mass for the establishment of a Pan European eParticipation Network (PEP-NET). Such a network will act as a repository and disseminator of good practice and exchange of experience, and be a visible resource for all interested parties across the European Union.

PEP-NET will ensure wider access to European eParticipation projects and permit more effective dialogue between eParticipation experts, researchers, practitioners, public administrations, civil society organisations and the interested public with the ultimate goal of facilitating knowledge transfer, encouraging further eParticipation trials and establishing European leadership in this field.

[...]

Already, a number of organizations in the field have signed on as the initial PEP-NET members.

The project is coordinated by Hamburg, Germany-based TuTech Innovation GmbH, who for over a year now have been sharing a steady flow of insights on their blog (mostly in German).