One of the primary advantages of citizen engagement is that it can counteract the influence of powerful interests.
FREMONT, CA: Citizens are a critical component of governance. Some believe that focusing on citizen engagement will slow things down at the municipal level. The reality is that citizen engagement occurs at various levels and capacities. Citizen engagement is most effective when it is collaborative, and thus the primary objective is to work collaboratively to plan for significant community development.
Security, engagement with citizens, innovation, efficiency, and transparency all contribute to developing trust between citizens and their local governments.
Engagement with citizens does not have to be complicated. The fear that citizen involvement will cause things to slow down is a complete myth. Indeed, public policies are more effective and well-received when citizens have an opportunity to participate. When citizens can participate effectively and promptly, things run more smoothly and predictably. Citizens frequently suggest excellent ideas that council members have not considered, which may help avoid costly errors and save time and money in the long run.
Top Benefits of Citizen Engagement
Easy for Local Governments to Maintain Citizens' Personal Data: While people live in an age of cybersecurity, many local governments continue to rely on obsolete equipment that is increasingly difficult to maintain or replace. Additionally, older technologies frequently do not work with newer technologies, resulting in security gaps or even rendering them obsolete. Additionally, outdated equipment is hackable, posing many problems for local governments, including liability issues and associated costs, system shutdowns, and reputational damage.
Local governments amass a great deal of personal information about their citizens to provide them with services. This is a significant responsibility for local government employees, as it requires the highest level of confidentiality. Citizen engagement applications contribute to the reduction of human error that can occur when dealing with sensitive data.
Application for Citizen Engagement Addresses the Innovation Challenges: Mobility is another issue that citizens care about. Almost everyone owns a mobile phone, and they've grown to rely on them as a necessity in their daily lives. Citizens can interact with their local governments just
as easily via mobile phones or other devices as they can via a laptop with a citizen engagement application.
Digital innovations are constantly evolving. Local governments will be able to more easily adapt the technology for automation, artificial intelligence, data collection, analytics, security, and IoT-connected cities by implementing a citizen engagement application.
