Tools like SeeClickFix tap into the capacity of citizens to be ‘intelligent sensors’ of their environment, allowing them to report problems like potholes and graffiti. Can this same thinking, and some of the same technology, allow citizens to gather, track, and analyze data on public participation?

A  team of MPA students from the Maxwell School at Syracuse conducted exploratory research on this question, interviewing a variety of participation and evaluation experts, ranging from practitioners to evaluators and technologists. The team was supervised by Dr. Tina Nabatchi of the Maxwell School. See the report at right.