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Meaningful public involvement is becoming increasingly important in planning initiatives, as agencies and organizations across the country are recognizing that constructive public participation helps to strengthen the project outcome. The Web can become a powerful tool for maximizing outreach efforts - and managing the results. As a resource to consider before implementing a Web-based program, we offer you the published article, 10 Tips for Web-based Citizen Participation (Planning Magazine, July 2005).
The IBM - Neighborhood America Public Comment Service provides a standard platform and application to meet the demands of the most challenging planning initiatives. The system is central to building meaningful and sustained communities of interest, and to ultimately achieving successful project results. For efficiently maximizing public outreach efforts and managing project administration, the IBM - Neighborhood America Public Comment Service is unmatched.
Proven Solutions
Planning projects are particularly challenging because they are, by definition, diverse in nature and always changing – issues, people, jurisdictions, conflicting technologies, limited budgets, goals and levels of involvement.
We understand these challenges, and we have designed our technology to provide real world solutions. Neighborhood America’s system has been used in many planning initiatives, including the Metro Future plan in Boston. Our technology was used to promote widespread participation throughout the region, and to collect the public’s “visions” for Metro Boston. The meaningful collaboration resulted in the strengthened communities of interest and greater community consensus.
The Municipal Art Society of New York faced the ultimate challenge soon after the September 11, 2001 attack on its great city: unite members of the public to share their ideas and visions for rebuilding downtown New York City; memorialize the World Trade Center; and respond to the impact the tragedy had on the metropolitan region. In the Imagine New York project, Neighborhood America’s technology enabled the Society and its partners to efficiently collect and analyze over 25,000 public comment submissions, representing worldwide participation.
System Benefits
The IBM - Neighborhood America Public Comment Service provides an on demand application to meet the demands of the most challenging planning initiatives. The system is central to building meaningful and sustained communities of interest, and to ultimately achieving successful project results. This innovative technology is designed to:
- Expand and enhance outreach, education and involvement of the public and stakeholder groups
- Capture, organize and report public comment submitted both electronically and obtained through traditional methods, such as public forums
- Reduce transaction costs of engaging public participation
- Improve public transparency, which in turn creates a spirit of mutual trust
- Enable team collaboration between large working groups in various geographical locations
- Minimize paperwork and the associated costs by providing a secure, central repository of documents, images, drawings and videos – with 24/7 accessibility
- Build an institutional memory, or document of record, which supports learning and the sharing of Best Practices
The IBM - Neighborhood America Public Comment Service is easy to implement, quick to deploy, and simple to use. For more information on this innovative, on demand solution, contact a sales representative.
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