The research that I am working on examines the use of digital technologies by Filipinos to improve transparency and accountability – including the use of ‘citizen engagement technologies’. The Philippines is a particularly interesting place to study citizen engagement technologies due the very high levels of mobile internet usage and the role played by ‘Generation Txt’ in mobilising political opposition during the People’s Power II uprisings.
This research will consume most of my time over the next three months and is funded by a grant from Making All Voices Count. It seeks to understand why some people use technology to actively engage with government and why others don’t. The programme has funded 14 innovation and scaling projects in the Philippines that involve the use of digital technologies to promote transparency and accountability. Many of these involve the use of mobile technologies to engage citizens in aspects of participatory governance and to hold elected officials and corporations to account. Examples include the local government participatory budgeting programme Bottom-Up Budgeting, the open school data project Check My School, and the extractive industries transparency initiatives of Bantay Kita.