Grantee:  PlaceMatters

Country:  U.S.A.

Contact:  Ken Snyder, Susan Crow, Chris Haller

       (ken at sign placematters.org,  susan at sign placematters.org, chris at sign placematters.org )

Website: www.placematters.org

Project Summary:

As a result of our public engagement work at PlaceMatters, we have identified an opportunity to enhance stakeholder participation in decision processes by integrating existing keypad polling and online survey technologies. Keypad polling is a decision support tool commonly used in public meetings to obtain anonymous feedback from participants at key decision points. This feedback is important in public processes as it allows the group to confirm whether consensus is reached or it may inform the process facilitator that additional information or discussion is required. Such technology consists of hand held keypads (similar to TV remote controls) that communicate via radio frequencies with a base station. Participant responses are recorded anonymously by the base station when each participant selects a number on his or her keypad corresponding to a multiple choice answer or preference along a scale (for example, “Enter 1 if you strongly disagree and 5 if you strongly agree”). Polling results are displayed on the projection screen seconds after each question is asked.

With the advent of the internet, online surveys and eVoting have become commonly used to maximize meaningful public participation in local decision-making processes. Following the convergence of communication media, as well as diverging habits of communication within different target stakeholder groups, there is a need to offer multiple channels of participation in civic engagement projects. Until recently, combining keypad polling and online feedback channels was not feasible because of software restrictions and differences in the methods applied. Now, however, to remain current with the convergence of communication media, web-enabling keypad polling represents an important step forward in public participation methods. The proposed tool would bridge the gap between these technologies and could help to make civic engagement and ecosystem-based decision processes in coastal communities more inclusive and better informed.

The challenge at hand is to bridge various feedback channels in order to gather coherent results.  Our approach to this challenge is to build a web platform that synchronizes keypad polling with online polling and in addition enables participation via handheld devices like smartphones and PDAs. Participants will be able to take part in the decision-making process whether they attend the meeting or participate remotely from home or work. The software will support both simultaneous participation if the meeting is broadcast via webcasts or local television, and asynchronous participation if responses are collected over a longer timeframe.