Guiding Principles for Successful Online Consultation
Promise and Problems of E-Democracy CHALLENGES OF ONLINE CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT
Guiding Principles for Successful Online Consultation
1. Start planning early
Start planning an online consultation exercise early on. Define what information should be provided to the target group, and in what format. Decide how long the online consultation should be run, who will be responsible for it and how the input received will feed into existing timetables for decision-making.
2. Demonstrate commitment
Ensure leadership and visible commitment to the online consultation at the highest level and communicate this clearly from the outset. Explain the purpose of the consultation (e.g. scoping new policy issues, developing draft legislation, evaluating policy implementation), where the results will be published and how they will be used.
3. Guarantee personal data protection
Guarantees for the protection of personal data must be provided for participants in online consultations. The implications for personal data protection will vary with the form of data collection chosen (e.g. anonymous submissions, online registration or password access for restricted groups).
4. Tailor your approach to fit your target group
Identify the participants whose opinions are being sought (e.g. general public, experts, youth) and adapt the online consultation to their capacities and expectations (e.g. language, terminology). Provide additional support to enable
participants with special needs (e.g. physical disabilities, social exclusion) to participate.
5. Integrate online consultation with traditional methods
Consider the use of traditional methods in association with online consultations (e.g. public roundtables plus dedicated websites). An approach based on multiple channels is likely to be more successful in reaching and engaging citizens than reliance upon a single medium.
6. Test and adapt your tools
Before launching an online consultation exercise, ensure that the tools chosen (e.g. software, questionnaires) have undergone pilot testing. Adapt the tools on the basis of feedback from participants and identify promising information and communication technologies (ICTs) for future consultations (e.g. mobile phone messaging).
7. Promote your online consultation
Invest adequate effort and resources to ensure that potential participants are aware that an online consultation will be launched and know how to take part (e.g. press conferences, advertising, links to websites, emails). Identify external partners who could help raise awareness and facilitate participation (e.g. NGOs, business associations).
8. Analyse the results
Ensure that sufficient time, resources and expertise are available to provide thorough analysis of the input received in the course of the online consultation. The use of closed or multiple choice questions will allow for automatic processing, while free text replies will require a far greater investment in human resources. Such considerations should be taken into account from the outset when designing the online consultation.
9. Provide feedback
Publish the results of the online consultation as soon as possible and inform participants of the next steps in the policy-making process. Ensure that participants are informed of how the results were used in reaching decisions.
10. Evaluate the consultation process and its impacts
Process evaluation aims to identify the main problems encountered, whether the consultation reached the target group and the level of participant satisfaction. Evaluating the impact of consultation requires an estimation of whether participants’ input had an identifiable impact on the content of the final policy decision. Evaluation results should be communicated widely and may, in turn, prompt fruitful public debate on the benefits and drawbacks of online consultation.