This keynote presentation was given by Guy Grossman from the University of Pennsylvania at the Impacts of Civic Technology Conference (TICTeC2016) in Barcelona on 27th April. You can find out more information about the conference here: https://www.mysociety.org/research/tictec-2016/

1. Mobile civic tech in low-income countries: taking stock
Guy Grossman
University of Pennsylvania
April 27, 2016
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

2. Why Mobile Civic Tech?
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

3. Starting Point: Democratic Theory
To the extent that politicians’ behavior is (also) a function of what
they think are the preferences of their constituents . . .
Then the quality of democratic institutions as a tool of representation
depends on the quality of political communication
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

4. Starting Point: Democratic Theory
To the extent that politicians’ behavior is (also) a function of what
they think are the preferences of their constituents . . .
Then the quality of democratic institutions as a tool of representation
depends on the quality of political communication
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

5. Political Communication
The ability and willingness of voters to communicate their needs and
preferences to their representatives in government.
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

6. The Problem: barriers to articulating interest
1 Weak communication channels from citizens to their
representatives in government → “low equilibrium”
Low quality service delivery
Non-programatic parties
2 Political access is distributed unevenly: women, poor, distant
citizens have far fewer opportunities to raise voice
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

7. The Problem: barriers to articulating interest
1 Weak communication channels from citizens to their
representatives in government → “low equilibrium”
Low quality service delivery
Non-programatic parties
2 Political access is distributed unevenly: women, poor, distant
citizens have far fewer opportunities to raise voice
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

8. The Problem: barriers to articulating interest
1 Weak communication channels from citizens to their
representatives in government → “low equilibrium”
Low quality service delivery
Non-programatic parties
2 Political access is distributed unevenly: women, poor, distant
citizens have far fewer opportunities to raise voice
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

9. ICT Solutions?
ICT revolution sweeping across the developing world:
20% of Africans have used a computer
85% of Africans have access to mobile phones
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

10. Overarching Questions
Can mobile–based ICT innovations be used to:
1 Strengthen political accountability and representation?
2 Flatten political access to marginalized populations?
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

11. Outline
1 What we think we know
2 What we know we don’t know
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

12. Lessons learned: underlying demand
1. There is underlying demand to use ICTs for political communication
‘Citizen voice’ pilot project in Uganda recorded 5% uptake
‘Complaint platform’ in Arua: 58 SMS / village in first 6 months
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

13. Lessons learned: underlying demand
1. There is underlying demand to use ICTs for political communication
‘Citizen voice’ pilot project in Uganda recorded 5% uptake
‘Complaint platform’ in Arua: 58 SMS / village in first 6 months
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

14. Lessons learned: demand does not guarantee uptake
2. But . . . “if you build them, they won’t necessarily come”
Uganda’s parliamentary platform: 1, 946 messages in 6 months
Corruption reporting in Nigeria: 818 messages from 683, 000 blasts
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

15. Lessons learned: demand does not guarantee uptake
2. But . . . “if you build them, they won’t necessarily come”
Uganda’s parliamentary platform: 1, 946 messages in 6 months
Corruption reporting in Nigeria: 818 messages from 683, 000 blasts
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

16. Lessons learned: flattening access
3. ICTs have a real potential to reduce inequality in political access
Share of women and poor among message senders was higher than
their share in traditional forms of participation
Marginalized populations are no-more price sensitive → place high
value on IT communication
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

17. Lessons learned: flattening access
3. ICTs have a real potential to reduce inequality in political access
Share of women and poor among message senders was higher than
their share in traditional forms of participation
Marginalized populations are no-more price sensitive → place high
value on IT communication
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

18. Lessons learned: flattening access
0 20 40 60 80 100
−0.4−0.20.00.20.4
Traditional political engagement given marginalization
Marginalization Index (Percentile)
PoliticalEngagement
0 20 40 60 80 100
0.000.020.040.060.080.10
ICT engagement given marginalization
Marginalization Index (Percentile)
SMStakeup
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

19. Lessons learned:
4. But participation of marginalized groups is far from guaranteed:
super sensitive to ‘marketing’ channel
increases with personalized invitations (due to low efficacy)
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

20. Lessons learned:
4. But participation of marginalized groups is far from guaranteed:
super sensitive to ‘marketing’ channel
increases with personalized invitations (due to low efficacy)
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

21. Users in the Pilot versus Full Scale Program
uSpeak
Density
0.00.20.40.60.8
Gender: uSpeak Users
Women Men
Pilot
Density
0.00.10.20.30.40.5
Women Men
Gender: Pilot Users
uSpeak
Density
0.000.050.100.150.200.25
Wealth: uSpeak Users
Much Worse Worse Same Better Much Better
Pilot
Density
0.00.10.20.30.40.5
Much Worse Worse Same Better Much Better
Wealth: Pilot Users
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

22. Lessons learned: message recipient
5. The identity of message recipient is very consequential
National parliament vs. local gov → what gov’t does
Politician vs. civil servants → gov’t responsiveness and efficacy
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

23. Lessons learned: message recipient
5. The identity of message recipient is very consequential
National parliament vs. local gov → what gov’t does
Politician vs. civil servants → gov’t responsiveness and efficacy
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

24. Lessons learned: gov responsiveness
6. ICTs don’t make non-responsive politicians, responsive
Politicians can derail an ICT platform by being non-responsive
ICT platforms need to change incentives, not just knowledge
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

25. Lessons learned: gov responsiveness
6. ICTs don’t make non-responsive politicians, responsive
Politicians can derail an ICT platform by being non-responsive
ICT platforms need to change incentives, not just knowledge
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

26. Lessons learned: gov responsiveness
6. ICTs don’t make non-responsive politicians, responsive
Politicians can derail an ICT platform by being non-responsive
ICT platforms need to change incentives, not just knowledge
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

27. Lessons learned: common knowledge
7. Common knowledge is key
“They know that we know that they know . . . ”
but not easy to achieve in G-2 world
Community dialogues can be used to achieve this goal
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

28. Lessons learned: common knowledge
7. Common knowledge is key
“They know that we know that they know . . . ”
but not easy to achieve in G-2 world
Community dialogues can be used to achieve this goal
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

29. Lessons learned: common knowledge
7. Common knowledge is key
“They know that we know that they know . . . ”
but not easy to achieve in G-2 world
Community dialogues can be used to achieve this goal
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

30. Lessons learned: anonymity
8. Sender confidentiality is paramount
There is a social cost for reporting problems with public services
Anonymity is required to minimize those costs
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

31. Lessons learned: anonymity
8. Sender confidentiality is paramount
There is a social cost for reporting problems with public services
Anonymity is required to minimize those costs
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

32. Unexpected benefit of anonymity
9. Senders use ITs to communicate local public goods problems
Impersonal communication is not conducive for personal requests
Almost all messages are about service delivery deficiencies
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

33. We still don’t know many things
1 Are citizen messages thought as complements or substitutes?
2 How important is intra-community coordination?
3 What should be considered “high” and ”low” uptake?
4 How to better involve civil society (e.g. petitions)?
5 How to incentivize governments not to derail ICT platforms?
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

34. We still don’t know many things
1 Are citizen messages thought as complements or substitutes?
2 How important is intra-community coordination?
3 What should be considered “high” and ”low” uptake?
4 How to better involve civil society (e.g. petitions)?
5 How to incentivize governments not to derail ICT platforms?
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016

35. Moving forward
Bridge better the 2G-4G divide (e.g., location information)
Experimenting different models: crowdsourcing vs. seedsourcing
Better analytics of citizens’ mobile “footprints”
Create collaborations between researchers and Tech
Guy Grossman Mobile civic tech April 27, 2016