Kommunale e-Partizipationssysteme. Anforderungen aus der Perspektive der Anbieter sowie Nutzerinnen und Nutzer

Abstract

Over the past two decades, e‑participation has become increasingly relevant as a result of digitization and the evolution of information and communication technologies. Yet the perspectives of providers and users with regard to the requirements on an e‑participation system are not sufficiently considered jointly. This paper investigates the requirements and challenges of users and providers. The study is based on a mixed methods approach with an online survey of those responsible for e‑participation processes in various administrative and planning areas as well as semi-structured expert interviews. In addition, we conducted proband tests to investigate the usability of digital citizen participation tools. The results show that accessibility, retrievability, effectiveness, interaction in the digital arena, security, technical specifications, resources, media literacy and the use of participation as a basis for profound decision-making are key requirements for e‑participation systems. These demands requirements are interrelated and influence the quality and effectiveness of participation processes. To meet these requirements, we propose an e‑participation ecosystem that integrates the different dimensions of digital participation and takes into account the interaction between actors, demands and contextual conditions.