MBC wraps up Digital Democracy Training for LGUs and CSOs
Last April and May 2022, MBC organized a workshop series entitled Digital Democracy: Technology for Community-Building and Decision-Making for LGU and CSO officers.
Digital Democracy is an online consultation process that local governments and civil society organizations can use to get feedback from their constituents and communities. This benefits the organizations by improving civil discourse, tailoring actions to match citizen sentiment, and providing data to inform decision-making. The initial run of the MBC Digital Democracy project last year touched on policies ranging from car-less roads to boost restaurant and retail businesses, to improving the over-all mobility of the city, to pro-MSME regulations.
With the aim of fostering more data driven policies and empowering more LGUs and CSOs to conduct their own Digital Democracy initiatives, MBC gathered a total of 134 representatives from 17 LGUs and 20 CSOs for a workshop series to discuss how they can embed digital democracy in their organizations.
The two-day workshop sessions on April 27-28, 2022 and May 4-5, 2022 welcomed LGU employees from Luzon (Batangas, Bulacan, Calauan, Intramuros, La Union, Legazpi, Makati, Muntinlupa, Malabon, Manila, Pasig, Taguig, and Intramuros), Visayas (Kalibo), and Mindanao (Bangsamoro Government, and Davao).
The last workshop session on May 16-17, 2022 was attended by employees/staff and advocates from different CSOs including ERDA Foundation, Inc., The Samdhana Institute, Pamulaan Center for Indigenous Peoples’ Education, Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners, Move Metro Manila, Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc., etc.
On the first day, participants learned about the six (6) steps to the Digital Democracy Process, and identified issues such as data privacy for paperless transactions, digital literacy for the elderly, boosting internet connectivity in Makati City, streamlining the accreditation process for NGOs, and LGU policies and interventions for safe F2F set up in schools. On the last day, participants formed smaller groups and crafted together a Digital Democracy action plan for their chosen issues which could serve as their guide to conducting their own Digital Democracy projects.
MBC’s Digital Democracy projects will continue in the coming months to help and assist LGUs in holding citizen assemblies in their own cities.
Watch the session recordings here: