Civic technology: A chutes and ladders analysis of transformative potential

Abstract

Smart Cities research has made a significant turn towards a more citizen centered analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of ICT based technology. A key tension exists in the civic technology literature that sets the objective of government efficiency and effectiveness against a more inclusive and potentially transformative objective of citizen coproduction and direct participation in decision making. For the latter outcome to occur, technology must be understood as having the potential to be a non-neutral agent in the formation of a citizen centric imaginary. In this paper, the three major themes of civic technology- e-government, e-engagement, and e-democracy are presented as linearly related in successive stages. Yet, there is a significant risk of breaks in these stages, or even deviations. The discussion identifies the opportunities for transformation of the political system as we know it, and the junctures where the desire to maintain the status quo may eliminate these opportunities.