Selecting a digital participation platform
/Selecting a digital participation platform
Now that you know what they can do, it's time to think about which platform(s) you'll use. People Powered has put together a matrix of over 80 digital participation platforms available. It offers a quick overview of each platform’s pricing (if available), features, and point of contact, as well as whether it is open source. (“Open source” means the software’s underlying code can be viewed and, usually, adapted by anyone. The license chosen by the platform developer dictates the rules governing how its code can be used.) To offer further guidance, People Powered’s independent Digital Participation Committee went a step further and chose 30 comprehensive platforms and rated them according to specific features.
This is a lot of information. How do you sort through it all and select the best platform for your needs?
Above all else, any digital platform should support and enhance your broader participatory program. You're opening decision-making up to your constituents, and the tools should enhance that process, not get in the way of it.