The struggle to foster transparency and engagement between citizens and their representatives knows no international boundaries. Co-Founder and Outreach Director of the newly launched CitizenBridge, Richard Pietro, sat down with Chris Dorobek of the DorobekINSIDER to discuss how their team of internet savvy citizens is helping bridge the communication divide.
CitizenBridge connects citizens to their elected representatives on a one-to-one level, establishing a civil forum for constituents to discuss issues (see the list of issues). Each user has the ability to follow a specific issue, or issues, and can sign-up to receive notifications when relevant news about their own issues is published.
Pietro says the key to their success on CitizenBridge will be keeping the conversations local in scope, and focusing attention on local districts (called “ridings” in Canada, as Pietro points out). There is also an emphasis on making sure citizens have access to impartial knowledge that will allow them to make informed decisions.
Understand –> Connect –> Accountability. This is the system for success that their team has laid out. Once the problems have been identified, citizens are encouraged to think about what their own potential role in solving the problem will be, then log off, and take their action out into the community.
To listen to Pietro’s full interview you can catch the full radio show at GovLoop Insights or you can subscribe to our itunes channel.
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