Innovation isn’t about inventing something new. Innovation happens when you improve upon an existing technology, or process, in order to make a difference for the person who is using it or needs it.
Engaged California is the state’s new deliberative democracy program that is designed to amplify the voices of Californians. It’s been touted by the governor as the “modern town hall.”
Starting in March, we opened up the first-in-the-nation pilot program, in response to the LA wildfires that burned Altadena and Pacific Palisades in January. Engaged California is designed to create a new conversation opportunity for those who survived and were impacted. A civil conversation and policy-informing space. A new community.
The Office of Data and Innovation (ODI) and the Government Operations Agency are working in partnership with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in this effort.
Building an action plan
Happening now, survivors are being invited into the Ethelo platform to help build an action plan, with other survivors, in real time. This experience was designed for those who were impacted by either the Eaton or Palisades fires.
They will weigh in on 19 options that were taken from more than 1,300 comments provided by the community in the first phase of this discussion. The platform will create a list of their top 5. Questions will include recovery efforts focused on rebuilding, utilities, community and financial support, building permits, and fireproofing.
“This is truly a community action plan that is happening in real-time,” said ODI Director Jeffery Marino. “As a participant is weighing their options, other members of the community are doing the same. At the end, they will see how their choices compare to the overall Action Plan. That plan represents the top 5 policy actions with the highest consensus across the entire community. And the final report we deliver to government leaders will be directly driven by this platform.”
During the first part of this discussion, ODI analyzed and synthesized the results, using data science. Our work turned comments into data points. Key categories emerged. Those were shared with elected officials across state, city, and county jurisdictions. Subject matter experts looked at the data as well.
Members of the public opt in to participate via engaged.ca.gov. From there, they are invited into the Ethelo platform. It is anonymous and moderated. People who enter must agree to a civility pledge.
The program has been applauded by Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s first Digital Minister, and a close partner on the program.
California already has a lot of very effective forms of democracy at all levels. You have town hall meetings, you have the city planners meetings, you have all sorts of public meetings. I think what digital democracy offers is tech on tap, not on top, so that if we can help people to voice better, to summarize better, and to communicate in a non-violent way and so on, we should deploy that in all different levels.
The goal isn’t consensus for the sake of consensus. It’s to make the best decisions, informed by those who lived through the disaster.
Here’s a video that shows what you can expect.
To get involved in the rebuilding conversation, visit engaged.ca.gov to sign up.