Apollon - Scenario for eParticipation Final by European Network of Living Labs

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

DELIVERABLE Project Acronym:

APOLLON

Grant Agreement number:

250516

Project Title:

Advanced Pilots of Living Labs Operating in Networks

D.5.3 Scenario for eParticipation through eMedia

Revision: Final version

Authors: Claudio Vandi (UP8) Kristof Michiels (IBBT) Alan Holding (MDDA)

Project co-funded by the European Commission within the ICT Policy Support Programme Dissemination Level P

Public

Confidential, only for members of the consortium and the Commission Services

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

The information in this document is provided as is and no guarantee or warranty is given that the information is fit for any particular purpose. The user thereof uses the information at its sole risk and liability.

Statement of originality: This deliverable contains original unpublished work except where clearly indicated otherwise. Acknowledgement of previously published material and of the work of others has been made through appropriate citation, quotation or both.

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

Table of contents

1. Project Summary................................................................................................................. 5 2. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 7 3. Chosen Approach ................................................................................................................ 7 3.1. An aggregation framework ........................................................................................................7 3.2. Participation through creativity..................................................................................................8

4. Specificity of eMedia for eParticipation ............................................................................. 9 4.1. Hyper local, context specific and Cross-border .......................................................................10

Deployment of National Pilots................................................................................................. 12 5. SMEs and technologies to be tested.................................................................................. 12 5.1. 3D2+/Issy-les-Moulineaux ......................................................................................................12

5.1.1. Real and More ..................................................................................................... 12 5.1.2. Kidnet.................................................................................................................. 12 5.2. Navidis / City of Issy-les-Moulineaux .....................................................................................12

5.2.1. Issy 3D and Urbadeus ......................................................................................... 12 5.3. People’s Voice Media/City of Manchester ..............................................................................13

5.3.1. Community Reports ............................................................................................ 13 5.4. AirGraffiti/City of Brussels .....................................................................................................14

6. France: Issy-Les-Moulineaux............................................................................................ 15 6.1. Use case : The Digital Fort ......................................................................................................15 6.2. A two-step approach ................................................................................................................17

6.2.1. Create awareness and provoke curiosity ............................................................. 18 6.2.2. Stimulate Citizen Involvement and foster Participation and Innovation ............ 18 6.3. Establish a contact and collect feedback..................................................................................20

6.3.1. Communication to attract the users and maintain the contact............................. 20

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

6.3.2. Recording Users feedback during the piloting activity: Co-innovation workshops 21 7. UK: Manchester ................................................................................................................ 22 7.1. Refurbishment of Manchester Central Library ........................................................................22

7.1.1. Use a QR code to link to a blog about the refurbishment ................................... 23 7.1.2. Community reporters work with Library staff to run a blog about the Central Library refurbishment ...................................................................................................... 24 7.1.3. Channels for citizens to discuss and leave comments about the refurbishment . 25 7.2. Manchester Galleries’ Decoding Art project ...........................................................................26

7.2.1. Using AirGraffiti as a channel for citizens to comment about the public art works 27 7.2.2. Providing a ‘city guide’ for the QR coded public art works ............................... 27 8. BE: Brussels: University Campus of the Future ............................................................... 28 9. Technical Requirements for the Pilot implementation...................................................... 29 9.1. Technologies interoperability for content sharing ...................................................................29 9.2. Content production...................................................................................................................31

10. Checklist of issues concerning cross-border testing with citizens .................................. 32 10.1. Language of the user interface / localisation / internationalisation .......................................32 10.2. Popularity of services in a particular geographical area ........................................................33 10.3. Internet Access.......................................................................................................................34 10.4. Cultural differences / ‘sharing’ culture ..................................................................................34 10.5. Corporate firewalls.................................................................................................................34 10.6. Technology availability .........................................................................................................35 10.7. ‘Openness’ of services ...........................................................................................................35

11. Evaluation plan framework ............................................................................................. 35 11.1. Stages of the evaluation plan framework...............................................................................35

12. Final remarks................................................................................................................... 38

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

1. Project Summar y The main issues addressed by APOLLON (Advanced Pilots Of Living Labs Operating in Networks) are the present lack of Living Lab harmonisation and collaboration, and the serious difficulties of SMEs in engaging in cross-border innovation. APOLLON will demonstrate the positive impacts of cross-border domain-specific Living Lab networks, by setting up an advanced pilot composed of 4 thematically focused European-wide Living Lab experiments. SMEs are enabled to take part in cross-border Living Lab experiments beyond their home markets, and are supported by large industrial companies, academic centres and other stakeholders. The APOLLON pilot aims to share and to harmonise the Living Lab approaches and platforms between exemplary European networks as well as the subsequent evaluation results and the set up of sustainable domain-specific networks on a European and global level. APOLLON addresses 4 major domains in which ICT products and services innovation may benefit most from cross-border Living Lab networking. These are: 1) Homecare and Independent Living 2) Energy Efficiency 3) eManufacturing 4) eParticipation The project consortium of the domain 4 is composed of: Issy Media ( France), Université de Paris VIII (France), IBBT (Belgium), Manchester City Council ( United-Kingdom), 3D2+ (France), Navidis (France), and People’s Voice Media (France) The objectives of Work Package 5 are the following:

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

 Sharing and comparing technologies/ methodologies in order to understand to which local, regional, national results can be extended to other contexts and which common technology/methodology can be built for generalization.  Adapting technologies/methodologies to the European context.  Integrating technologies/methodologies to overcome fragmentation of services  Promoting citizens’ innovation to eMedia participation in Europe and evaluating if cross-border user testing can help existing projects to open to the European audience.

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

2. Introduction The deliverable 5.3 will define what will be the scenarios to be used for the eParticipation experiment and which protocol will be followed. The eParticipation scenario is declined through three different local scenarios, one for each partner’s country (France, Belgium, and the United Kingdom). Following a common “aggregation approach” (see 2) in each scenario we try to combine the SMEs technologies in different ways in order to answer to local needs and to choose the most adapted and ready to test solution for SMEs. The deliverable is composed of two sections. In the first section, we will first describe the chosen approach for the eParticipation experiment that distinguishes it from the other experiments in APOLLON and from other eParticipation experiments. Then we will discuss the first difficulties we encountered while trying to realize this approach in real-life settings. In the second section we will present the three scenarios for France, Belgium and the United Kingdom.

3. Chosen Approac h Each domain network in APOLLON adopts a different approach for implementing its experiment’s scenario and testing the potential benefit of a cross-border domain-specific network of Living Labs. The approaches diverge in terms of the elements (both on the LLs and the SMEs side) that are being shared and/or transferred cross-border during the experiment.

3.1.

An aggregation framework

In the eParticipation experiment, we decided to adopt an aggregation framework in which locally tested applications are transferred into each of the different Living Labs that are active in the network and are aggregated for the pilot.

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

The different applications are piloted in each of the three Living Labs. During this phase, pilot adjustments will be made based on the permanent monitoring of the services and the various challenges they face. Following the pilot, each Living Lab will evaluate the service in its local context. Finally, the experiment will assess to what extent an integration framework can facilitate cross-border research between different stakeholders as well as to what extent this approach can be used to scale-up existing projects and to explore new markets. A real functional aggregation of the different technologies would require too much development effort and is not possible inside this pilot. What will be tested is thus a “simulated aggregation”. The method used will be to create a simulated aggregation of different technologies that will be perceived as a real integration by the users. This method is inspired by the “Wizard of Oz” paradigm used in human-computer interaction research: an experiment in which users perceive a causal relation between their actions and a computer intelligent response which is actually being manipulated by an unseen human being. Even if the aggregation will not be fully implemented at a functional level it will be real in the User Experience thanks to its simulation in the Pilot scenario. Users will thus experience it as “real aggregation” and be able to evaluate the integration of different technologies. By piloting the aggregation of applications developed by SMEs in all the Living Labs we can test how integrated eMedia technologies can encourage eParticipation and what are the advantages, best practices and limitations of cross-border activities within the network.

3.2.

Participation through creativity

The second element that constitutes the originality of the eParticipation experiment is the fact that we will test how innovative eMedia applications that – at least in some cases - were not conceived for eParticipation can be used for participation activities. Unlike many eParticipation projects (see deliverable 5.1) we won’t focus on platforms and services exclusively dedicated to eParticipation, but we will explore the links between creativity through eMedia and Social Media on one side and eParticipation on the other. This shift in the means through which eParticipation is realized entails also a change in the motivation of citizens who participate in the experiment. Citizens won’t be asked to “participate” directly by 8

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

voting or formulating priorities for political actions, but will be given the means to express their ideas about some aspects of the city life by means of innovative and likeable eMedia applications. What users will be asked to do is to take pictures, express ideas, comments, build community reports, add tags and comments to a map, and express judgements on particular aspects of the City. The result of what they do will create a shared representation of the City that deciders could use as a guide for their decisions. We believe that this creative approach to eParticipation will facilitate the participation of more citizens and in particular of those that wouldn’t take action if they were asked to express an explicit opinion on issues of public interest. Something similar can be found in the emerging“ Open Democracy Challenges and Prizes” (http://mashable.com/2010/05/28/open-data-government) in which local and national administrations give access to public data and create prizes for developing innovative “Applications for Democracy”. Even if this is approach is common in spirit (foster eParticipation through creativity), it is quite different in its target. As can be read in how-to be online documentations, “Apps for democracy” prizes are usually addressed to “developers” or “geeks” and thus focus on the participation of a very specific kind of citizens with more or less advanced coding skills and a good experience in Internet technologies. On the contrary, our target consists in testing how creative eMedia applications can facilitate the participation of citizens that are not tech specialists and wouldn’t otherwise participate.

4. Specif icity of eMedia for ePar ticipation As we concluded in deliverable 5.2 there are no ready-made transferable solutions or one-size fits all platform or methodology for eParticipation. This means that we won’t be able to adopt the exact same scenario for all the participating countries, and that we won’t be able to give recommendations for a cross-border eParticipation methodology before having tested these three scenarios and having analyzed what will (or won’t) work in each of them. We identified two main factors that while being part of the specificity of eParticipation activities and eMedia products can become a problem in cross-border activities.

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

4.1.

Hyper local, context specific and Cross-border

To be successful, eParticipation needs to be Hyper-local. Hyper-local refers to activities and content that: 1. Relates to a well defined local area 2. Is intended to be consumed by local residents 3. Is usually created by local residents Even when dealing with issues with a potential global impact, participation is more easily obtained when citizens are asked to raise their voices on local issues. The main reason for this lies in personal motivation: local issues are those who are best-known by the population, and those for which it is easier to evaluate direct consequences of an action and monitor the outcome of a decision. Moreover, local communities have a sense of place and identity and develop their own social capital. When dealing with a cross-country network like in APOLLON, it is important to consider that local communities produce hyper-local information. Community reporters and social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter) allow these different communities to talk to each other in order create new social networks. A second important issue we encountered while working on eParticipation scenarios is related to the fact that some of the eMedia technologies we are using for the pilot (in particular those involving a 3Dmodel of a city) are deeply connected to the context for which they have been developed and can’t be transferred without further development. In particular, technologies that produce 3D models or media content (movies, documentaries, etc.)can’t simply “export” something but they need to develop context-specific products. These are important challenges for a project on cross-border piloting since this hyperlocal dimension of eParticipation pushes for the development of local solutions, while the cross-border approach favours reusable and replicable products. For this reason we will develop three scenarios that while relying on common technologies, combine them in different ways in order to answer to local needs. During the scenarios implementation the way in which these different combinations are put into act in real scenarios will tell us what can be easily transferred and what on the contrary requires too much effort for a piloting activity and 10

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

should thus be kept local. After the pilot, the results we obtained and the problems we encountered will tell us what are the cultural and technological issues that need to be addressed when trying to upscale from a local to a cross-border reusable product.

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

Deployment of N ational Pilots 5. SMEs and tec hnologies to be tested 5.1.

3D2+/Issy-les-Moulineaux

5.1.1.

Real and More

With Real and More 3D2+ is developing a CROSS MEDIA DOCUMENTARY on the Fort of Issy-Les-Moulineaux. The purpose of this documentary is to transform the fort in a lively and modern district emphasizing the sustainable development and the use of digital technologies. This will involve the reconstruction of the monument as it was in 1850, in real time 3D on the Internet, the creation of a virtual visit that guides the user through this content (a virtual museum). The prototype (short documentary and virtual visit) is expected to be ready for September 2010.

5.1.2.

Kidnet

3D2+ also developed KidNet, a 3D community intended to children. It offers them the opportunity to create a personalized environment in a universe made up by islands. It is a cross media application which matches with mobile phones if they have a 3D card such as an iPhone. KidNet has encountered great success: more than 20,000 children registered in a few months only. This technology has educational objectives and might be used by teachers in the future. The point of this virtual reality is indeed to recreate a link between the real and the virtual world, based on intuitive comprehension.

5.2.

Navidis / City of Issy-les-Moulineaux

5.2.1.

Issy 3D and Urbadeus

Navidis developed URBADEUS: a collaborative platform allowing to live a unique and collective urban experience. By "capturing reality" with his mobile phone by emoticon, photo, 12

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

video or sound - the user reports on his journey. Emotions and contents (text & media) are published in real time and viewed on a 3D model of the city in the form of fountains of media. They constitute a shared memory of the relations with the urban space and contribute to the creation of the collective "perceived city". URBADEUS allows citizens to post with a Smartphone into the 3D Model of the city additional points of information for sharing city experience and provide any feedback relevant, for example to build a memory of the city or to raise any issues that will be monitored by the technical service of the city. Real time: a 3D representation with real time feed Geographic information systems (GIS) generally use static technical territorial data; a significant laps of time passes between the emergence of a piece of information and its integration in the database. With URBADEUS, the data integration takes place in real time, all information being captured and edited with the help of smart phones and published in real time within the 3D representation of the urban space. Collaborative mode: user generated content The GIS data are technical and objective; URBADEUS allows the collection of subjective and « sensitive » data (personal satisfaction, appreciation, humor, etc). The collected data will be processed and synthesized in a sensitive environment reflecting the perceptions of the entire group of users, thereby enabling the creation of an « emoticons’ broadcast » of the city. New usage: a mobile service URBADEUS embeds an interface with mobile phones as well as over the Internet, thus making the service accessible for a large number of users: community agents, associations, companies, citizens…enabling the implementation of new usages and services which benefit the community (citizenship, special events management, privacy, education, leisure activities, etc).

5.3.

People’s Voice Media/City of Manchester

5.3.1.

Community Reports 13

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

The main contribution of People’s Voice Media will be through Community Reporters programmes, which is an innovative way for people to build confidence in the use of social media tools, learn new skills and tell a story about themselves or their communities. Reporters learn how to produce content with new social media tools such as blogs, podcasts, films and wikis, and use everything from mobile phones to video cameras and webcams. Stories are distributed through their on-line networks and through other social network sites such as Twitter and Facebook etc. meaning that those voices can be heard by anyone on-line. The goal is to create a « Reuters of the community ». People’s Voice Media sets up, runs and supports Social Media Centres, which are based in communities and provide drop in facilities, a social space for peer support, informal and formal training programmes and acts as a local communication hub. They maintain a distribution network for community news and information including the MyManchester network of websites, complemented by the community newspaper, a free online magazine (myebook), internet radio, Internet TV and community website. The approach consists in building on what is already there. Concentrate on the people instead of the technology. Traditional communication channels are still important, but they should be blended with online channels. To be successful, Social Media require work to be done in the real world.

5.4.

AirGraffiti/City of Brussels

Air Graffiti is a start-up from IBBT.It is both a context-aware urban mobile service as well as an engine for the emerging Internet of Things (think broadcasted networked objects). People can describe experience and discover (groupings of) objects and locations. The application allows for dynamic in- & outdoor trails and uses GPS, QR-codes, RFID-tags and short-urls. Use cases include: DIY city trajectories, museum guides, mobile quests and urban story telling. Air Graffiti end-user demands: a Smartphone with photo-camera and GPS, interpreting functionality for QR-code (i.e. 2D-barcode system, most smart phones have a specific app for this purpose) and a mobile Internet connection. 14

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

The mobile application behaves as a “Facebook for objects/POI”. This will include a ‘Discovery

mode’,

using

localisation-context

(GPS);

POI’s

will

appear/disappear

dynamically. There will also be an ‘Active mode’, where user requests information about specific POI (via QR, RFID or search). End-users can append content to, or create own POI’s. The application will work cross-platform on all Smartphone’s with an Internet browser, will focus on iPhone and Android (native apps by end 2010) and will be also available on desktop computers. POI’s can be added through all channels, or in bulk through API.

6. France: Issy -Les-Moulineaux The Issy pilot will be managed by Issy Média and will run from September 2010 to September 2011. The proposal is to test the aggregation of Media technologies using 3D, cross-media, community reporting and context aware mobile applications within the framework of the Real and more project of the Digital Fort.

6.1.

Use case : The Digital Fort

The Digital Fort in Issy-les-Moulineaux is a new Green and Hi-Tech district that is being built in the place of the old Issy Fort (constructed between 1840-1845 and nearly destroyed in the war of 1870). The city’s objective is to transform the Fort in a lively and modern district, emphasizing the sustainable development and the use of digital technologies. During the construction phase, local inhabitants will suffer from several inconveniences related to construction works; it is therefore necessary to inform them about work progress in order to ensure them and let them understand what is happening in their neighbourhood, inviting them to participate in the re-appropriation of the Fort's history and the foreshadowing of its future. In order to support these needs, a digital device giving access to the History of the Fort, will be created, a visual museum that falls perfectly with the digital ambition of this renovated area surrounded by preserved battlements. Issy-les-Moulineaux’s virtual museum is based on 3D reconstruction of the Fort as it was in 1850, an audiovisual documentary that presents the Fort today (with its 3D reconstruction), 15

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

and describes its role during the war, with iconographical support illustrating its rich history. This cross-media guided tour of the Fort of Issy virtual museum will be experienced simultaneously throughout documentary on a TV screen and 3D re-construction via Internet. The 3D representation of the place could be accessed via Internet from a computer or a mobile device such as a Smartphone. The use of this program can be done on each support independently: The documentary proposes a guided visit of the place enriched with documents such as video sequences, engravings, sounds, pictures… It has the originality to alternate between the “real” filmed place and the virtual place from which the guide, real when the image is real, or 3D guide when the image is from the 3D reconstitution of the place, presents the complimentary documents to the viewers. The3D reconstruction of the place allows the user, in the form of an avatar or a subjective camera, to go around and make a tour as one pleases in a free visit. The complementary resources in the documentary are available from this universe. The user can choose the guided visit, he has just to move his cursor on the resources and click to open them. In this case, his visit will be made by following the 3D guide and the documentary sequences. Even if the user did not follow a guide he can hear his commentary. The user lives the experience of the group visitor who can get left behind or anticipate the guide. This virtual tour can be made by computer and mobile phone such as Smartphone with a 3D card as in the iPhone currently.

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

6.2.

A two-step approach

In order to create awareness and provoke citizens' curiosity on the proposed subject, a crossmedia documentary on the rich history (i.e. the context of Franco-Prussian war) of the fort will be created. This will be complemented by a 3D Urban Plan which will allow citizens to have an aerial view of the Fort on the City plan. RFID tags, 2D-barcodes and geo-localization will be used to link content (images/text) on the Fort to objects and places around the city, in order to provoke citizen’s curiosity. Moreover, citizens will be invited to contribute to the Documentary creation via their memories, pictures and testimonies using a context aware mobile application and through community reports. Personal participation will help people to appropriate the new Fort as a part of their everyday life. The content provided by the citizens will be shared across the different technologies to create a coherent platform for participation and content exchange. Loosely-coupled data links (API’s) between the applications involved will facilitate dynamic information flows and establish a context of sharing within the pilot ecosystem. In the next paragraphs we describe the steps through which the scenario will be implemented. 17

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

6.2.1.

Create awareness and provoke curiosity

In order to take action, citizens need to have an interest in what they are participating to. Therefore, it is important to create awareness on the object of the participation activity and to provoke the citizens' curiosity on the proposed subject. In this phase, the following technologies will be used to create awareness and provoke the citizens' curiosity. 3D2+ will create a cross-media documentary on the history of the Fort, to raise citizen’s interest and make them aware of the place of the Fort in Issy's history. A3D Urban Plan provided by Navidis will be used as the entry level for the documentary to help citizens visualize the Fort on the City plan. AirGraffiti would be used to distribute context-aware content (geo-localized, 2D-barcodes) regarding the Fort’s history around the city. The Fort played an important role in the FrancoPrussian War of 1870-71 and references to that era are still to be found across other parts of Issy and the wider Parisian area (e.g. museums in Paris). The goal of this approach is to provoke curiosity among the citizens. The target audience is not only the inhabitants of Issy-les-Moulineaux, but also people from the wider area or short stay tourists. Besides consuming content, QR codes will also allow interaction and contentcreation by interested citizens, who will be able to leave comments, ideas and thoughts about the Fort (from its history or the present) using AirGraffiti.

6.2.2.

Stimulate

Citizen

Involvement

and

foster

Participation and Innovation In this phase, citizens will be able to participate to the reconstruction of the Fort's past and to the foreshadowing of its future. They will be invited to contribute to the Documentary creation via their memories, pictures and testimonies using AirGraffiti context-aware mobile application and through community reports. Personal participation will help people to appropriate the new Digital Fort as a part of their everyday life. 18

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

People's Voice Media will work with and train Issy Media’s staff as well as recruit members of the public to act as community reporters. They will create and upload content on the social media (e.g. YouTube, Flickr). The content will be geo-localized using AirGrafitti and projected via Navidis’s Urbadeus onto the Issy 3D plan. AirGrafitti and Urbadeus will also be used to geo-localize content from the 3D2+ product Documentary and enrich it with geo-localized user-generated content. The main difference is that in AirGraffiti the content's location will be represented on Google Maps, whereas in Urbadeus it will be represented on the 3D model of the Fort. In addition, AirGraffiti will be used to diffuse content related to the Fort outside Issy in order to attract citizens’ attention to the Fort. Community-produced content can also be used to inform users that don't live in Issy (inhabitants of nearby communities, tourists, etc.). The content produced during the Community will be shared across the different technologies to create a coherent platform for participation and content exchange, proving the cross-border interoperability between the different technologies used. More possible interactions between the technologies will be explored during the pilot activities and following users’ suggestions and wishes.

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

6.3.

Establish a contact and collect feedback

The French Living Labs (IUL and ISSY MEDIA) will be in charge of the communication for attracting the users and maintain the contact and for recording the users feedback during the pilot activity.

6.3.1.

Communication

attract

the

users

and

maintain the contact ISSY MEDIA will be responsible for the first task. As we underlined in deliverable 5.2 this is a fundamental task for all the pilot phases, all the more since the level of communication and interaction between the city of Issy les Moulineaux and its citizens is extremely well developed. The inhabitants of Issy are generally proud of their city’s image as one of the most advanced cities in France and proud of being an active part of it; thus, the majority of Issy’s citizens will voluntarily participate in the experimentation of new services and products. In order to introduce citizens to the aims and activities of the Issy pilot project Issy Media will carry out the following actions: 1. Create a poster presenting the Digital Fort, with a focus on the Virtual Museum 2. Create an eye-catching flyer presenting the Virtual Museum, its purpose and expectations 3. Organize workshops to explain how the different technologies used in the pilot work (QR codes, Urbadeus, cross-media documentary) 4. Run user-adapted sessions (for young public, teenagers, adults) 5. Organize discovery walks, urban serious games All these activities will be broadcasted on the city’s local Web TV channel (www.issy.tv) and relayed on the city’s local magazine, local social network (www.i-folio.fr), and on the city’s Web page (www.issy.com), a cornerstone of Issy’s national dissemination activities.

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Issy-les-Moulineaux Facebook1 and Twitter2 pages will also be used to raise awareness on the Virtual Museum within the framework of cross-border Apollon experiment.

Furthermore, a blog will be setup in order to:

• Introduce citizens to the aims and activity of the pilot project • Demonstrate the SMEs products being used during the pilots • Explain how related technologies work (e.g. what a QR code is and how they work, how does a 3D model get made, etc.) • Show photos of events, products, people, etc. related to the pilots • Introduce the SMEs and other partners involved in the pilots •

Document Living Labs testing activities – such as physical meet ups where the products are tested – and the feedback they generated via text, videos, etc.

6.3.2.

Recording Users feedback during the piloting

activity: Co-innovation workshops One of our findings in deliverable 5.1 and 5.2 was that eParticipation projects often miss data citizens’ participation and citizens’ feedback on the proposed services. To overcome this problem, during the pilot we will conduct Open Co-innovation workshops to record and analyze users feedback during the piloting activity.IUL will be responsible for this second task that will be carried out using an established methodology that we describe briefly. These workshops are intended to bring together technology providers (SMEs or city representatives) and end users and guide them through a participative innovation workshop in which:

1 2

http://www.facebook.com/IssylesMoulineaux

http://twitter.com/issylesmoul

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A) Users can express their needs giving new ideas for technology development; they can test and highlight what they like/don't like; B) SMEs can collect input on what is needed to improve acceptability, to make the learning curve less steep, to adapt their tools to a group of users, to extend the potentials of their tools. An important conceptual tool we will been using in this process is that of the formulation of counterfactual hypothesis ("what if", "what if not") that help people collaborate on innovation by building narratives about the use of technology in scenarios that are alternative to the current one. The outcome of these workshops (one for each step of the pilot) will be made available as a tool for tracking the evolution of citizens’ participation throughout the project.

7. UK: Manc hester The Manchester pilot will be managed by MDDA and will run from September 2010 to September 2011. The proposal is to use IBBT’s Air Graffiti application and Peoples Voice Media’s community reporter’s model to support and enhance the work of two existing projects being run by Manchester City Council – the refurbishment of Manchester Central Library, and Manchester City Galleries’ Decoding Art project.

7.1.

Refurbishment of Manchester Central Library

Manchester City Council closed Manchester Central Library – the main public library for the city – in June 2010 for three years of refurbishment and renovation. The work will restore the building and create an adjoining, ultra-modern city centre community library3. Though a replacement City Library located at Elliot House in city centre Manchester will be open during the renovation period4, the facilities provided at City Library will not be as comprehensive as those at Central Library. As such, there is a need to engage with citizens about these changes, raise the profile of the City Library to ensure citizens continue to use the 3 4

http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500138/central_library/4580/central_library_temporary_closure/2 http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500136/local_libraries/4734/city_library

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library facilities, and to keep citizens informed of what is happening to the Central Library building and associated library facilities during the renovation work. The Apollon Manchester pilot will seek to support these needs through the following activities.

7.1.1.

Use a QR code to link to a blog about the

refurbishment A QR code5 will be generated that will link to a URL for a dedicated blog about the refurbishment of the Central Library building and associated library activities and services. The QR code for the blog will be displayed prominently on a large display board outside the Central Library building. The display board will be of a similar size as those used to publicise activities that previously took place in Central Library, as shown in the mock up below. (Source photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephen_douglas/269475620/.) (Note that the QR code may point to a proxy URL in order to collect statistics on the number of visitors who visited the blog via the QR code display board itself.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

The display board will also include clear information on how to use the QR code – software to download on to a phone, what a QR code is, etc. – which will also be supported by smaller posters placed nearby which will also explain that the QR code is part of an Apollon pilot project. A short video will be produced by MDDA that will explain what the QR code is and how to use it to gain access to the online materials about the refurbishment.

7.1.2.

Community reporters work with Library staff

to run a blog about the Central Library refurbishment Peoples Voice Media will work with MDDA and Manchester Libraries to recruit members of the public to act as community reporters on the blog about the Central Library refurbishment. Social media channels – such as Manchester Libraries Facebook6 and Twitter7 pages – as well as existing channels used by Peoples Voice Media will be used to raise awareness of the Community Reporters programme and the opportunities to contribute to the Central Library refurbishment blog.

6 7

http://www.facebook.com/manchesterlibraries http://twitter.com/MancLibraries

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

Citizens selected to become Community Reporters will receive training from Peoples Voice Media and work with Library and MDDA staff to: • Add content to the blog – text stories, short video interviews with staff involved in the refurbishment work, photos, etc. • Work with Library staff to identify stories to add to the blog • Liaise with citizens via the blog to identify questions to be asked during interviews, and to identify content to be added to the blog – interviews with specific people involved in the refurbishment project, a live webcam showing the interior of the Central Library building as it is being renovated, etc. • Develop additional interesting content around the Central Library building that will continue to engage the public during the pilot – such as using Microsoft Photosynth8 as a basis for ‘photo safari’ events whereby citizens who are not normally engaged via technology can record activity in and around the building over time as it is renovated. The blog will be a separate website from the main Manchester City Council website for the following reasons: • The blog will also bring in content from existing online resources produced by Libraries – RSS feeds from Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Flickr, the library blog, and similar – and display using a similar technique • The blog will also be an opportunity for Libraries staff and managers to experiment with alternative methods and techniques of engaging with citizens, and will present an environment separate from a city authority website where more time can be taken to explain the reason for the library refurbishment.

7.1.3.

Channels for citizens to discuss and leave

comments about the refurbishment The QR code will be used to enable citizens to leave comments, ideas and thoughts about the Central Library building and the refurbishment work using AirGraffiti. The content generated via AirGraffiti will be monitored by Community Reporters and Library staff to obtain ideas for content to be placed on the blog.

http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=9d7bcf39-886e-4c1f-a989-3a66073cb128

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

MDDA will work with Peoples Voice Media and Library staff to run two sessions where members of the public are encouraged to use AirGraffiti as a channel for comment, and provide feedback to aid the further developer of the application. MDDA would organise a workshop with members of the local digital communities (such as the Manchester Digital Laboratory9) to engage with local ‘experts’ and businesses interested in QR codes, augmented reality and similar technologies. The workshop would test AirGraffiti and provide feedback to IBBT. This will help to assess how such as product could be developed, marketed and sold in the UK, and would identify and strengthen links between digital and business communities in Apollon partner countries. The QR codes would also be used to provide access to a 2D map with a 3D model of Central Library provided via Navidis’s Urbadeus application, which would show content produced for the blog.

7.2.

Manchester Galleries’ Decoding Art project

Manchester Galleries is running a pilot project called Decoding Art. The project will affix QR codes to twenty public art works in the city. Each QR code will link to a web page about that art work, and the page will include text about the work and an MP3 audio clip of the text. A mobile phone formatted version of the Decoding Art website10 is automatically shown when viewing site on a mobile device, such as an iPhone. The project is due to be active from August 2010, and Manchester Galleries is using the project to investigate how to widen access to and increase participation in the arts by citizens and visitors, and develop new audiences by providing access to public art works using new methods.

http://madlab.org.uk/ http://www.manchestergalleries.org/decodingart/

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

The Apollon Manchester pilot will seek to support these needs through the following activities.

7.2.1.

Using AirGraffiti as a channel for citizens to

comment about the public art works As with the work to use AirGraffiti to support the work of the Central Library refurbishment, this activity would ‘match’ the QR codes used for the twenty public art works to AirGraffiti so that citizens could comment on the public art works.

7.2.2.

Providing a ‘city guide’ for the QR coded

public art works AirGraffiti would be used to provide a ‘city guide’ for the public art works, including links to the existing Decoding Art website, and provide directions to nearby public art works in the Decoding Art project. 3D2+ products would be used to enable users to interact with the public art works online via a ‘digital art gallery’, a location / room in a 3D game environment where users could discuss 27

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and leave comments about the artworks. (Please note that a better pilot for the 3D2+ products is currently being investigated.)

8. BE: Br ussels: University Cam pus of t he Future The campus of the future project would be a more than welcome exercise in thinking about the future of the university as an institution and the campus as a physical social space. The pilot would focus on the Vrije University Brussels campus, but the process could be used for other physical environments that are subject to change: streets, neighborhoods, enterprise processes, societal institutions, etc. The purpose would be, in collaboration with as many stakeholders as possible, to conduct an open envisioning exercise. The outcome would be to define a computer-assisted methodology that, by using future scenarios wrapped into a context-aware application, helps to define possible ways to record scenario’s for change of a certain entity involving the users of that entity. To support this process: Based on Urbadeus, Navidis could construct a 3D map of the campus. Certain elements (elements that need discussion within the context of the proposed change) of the map are clickable and context can be added by the user. Based on KidNet, 3D2+ could provide a 3Dvirtual gallery in which different ideas on the campus of the future could be presented and discussed. This would be a place where students and other stakeholders can meet virtually. If possible, we collect and display input and thoughts on the Campus of the Future-exercise. AirGraffiti could be used to collect context-stamped ideas and visions of the stakeholders regarding the campus: (manipulated) photos, movies, texts, etc. When users access certain areas they are confronted with certain scenarios and/or questions, to which they can respond by providing an open response or with a poll answer (the trigger will be both geo-localization and the presence of a QR-code tag).

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

People’s Voice Media will help us with motivating and empowering the student community to take part in the exercise (2-3 days of training). Also they can help with developing the general change recording/steering methodology. In the same way as in the Issy pilot, user-generated content created in one of the channels should be able to flow towards the other channels. Other ideas that could be further explored: a competition using game-mechanics used as an incentive to let people participate in the pilot, exploring the potential of geo-locative digital art that people can place on the campus, and finally: interlinking the pilot with the smart student card (RFID) that is being implemented on the campus by the end of this year. Using this card on certain RFID-readers on the campus could then have consequences in the virtual campus of the future. The end-result will be a multi-channel (2D-3D-virtual-mobile) envisioning of the campus of the future that will be used as a showcase for other potentially interested parties in Belgium. Like in the other cases, a blog can be setup on the university web site in order to introduce students and other stakeholders to the objectives and activity of the project, demonstrate the SMEs products being used during the pilots, explain how related technologies work, introduce the SMEs and other partners involved in the pilots, and finally, show photos of events, products, people, etc. related to the pilot. The Brussels pilot has a particular focus on content sharing across the different technologies. For this to be possible we need to check and solve a number of technical requirements that are presented in the next session. These requirements are common to all the pilots.

9. Tec hnical

Req uirements

for

t he

Pilot

im plementation 9.1.

Technologies interoperability for content sharing

To test the aggregation of content gathered within each of the technologies during the pilot, the purpose will be to find a pragmatic way to let the data streams flow from each of the 29

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

applications into the others (and vice-versa). Ideally each application would be able to provide an Application Programming Interface (API) that makes interoperability possible in a loosely coupled manner that does not require far-reaching integration work. After years of standards development more and more businesses and their applications are starting to adopt Service-oriented Architectures (SOA) to integrate disparate data by making them available as separate Web services. Web services provide open, standardized protocols to provide a unified means of accessing information from a diverse set of platforms (operating systems, programming languages, applications). These Web services can be reused to provide completely new services and applications within and across organizations, providing business flexibility. A good working practice within this context (eParticipation) is provided by the current generation of Social Media applications (also referred to as ‘Web 2.0 applications’). Social Media applications often use REST-ful web services and are equipped with API’s that allow developers to re-use or restructure content streams (or just plain functionality) from within their own applications. A well-known example is social media micro-blogging/-messaging platform Twitter.com. Twitter aims at becoming the real-time content message bus of the future, a utility service around which a rich eco-system or 3rd party services exists that consume or update its content in real time using Twitter’s API. AirGraffiti has been developed with an API present (following the REST architectural principles). This mechanism can be used to let other applications 1) request POI’s for a certain geo-graphical context or 2) even create or alter points of interest (POI’s). Of course requests to the application need to be authenticated by the application before they can succeed. Within the context of the pilot, from time to time (e.g. every half hour), calls to the AirGraffiti application can be made by 3D2+ and Navidis’ Urbadeus to see if the application has (new) information for Issy and its environment. If this is the case the requesting application can then add this information to its own database. If information about a certain POI has changed, then the requesting application can make the same changes in its own database. The other way around, AirGraffiti can request information from the other applications involved in the pilot.

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

As described above, synchronizing the data between the different platforms can happen from each of the individual applications involved (minimal scenario). This is one possible approach. Another feasible scenario could be the implementation of a single centralized service that makes all the necessary API calls, maintains its own POI database and keeps the three applications involved synchronized. Risk These two scenarios are only possible if each of the applications involved in the pilot provide their own way of accessing (and manipulating) the data. Proposed solution: If the other applications do not have an API that allows for dynamic and real-time data exchange, and there simply is no time to develop such an API, we can simulate this process using the “Wizard of Oz” paradigm described in section 2.1 by using temporal data exchange and import using text-files (csv, or database files).

9.2.

Content production

Another issue we presented in the opening of this document is related to the creation of cityspecific 3D models. In order to replicate the same pilot in the three cities we would need to have the same products in all of them. While this is not a big problem for two SMEs working with already existing social media and using public APIs (People Voice Media and Air Graffiti) this is more an issue for SMEs like 3D2+ and Navidis that develop mainly 3D models and ad hoc solutions for specificity. In the latter case the product (methods and techniques) can of course be exported, but to do so involves going through a development process that can encompass the purpose of the pilot: testing the interest of developing product abroad with minimum cost. However, testing different ways of aggregating innovative eMedia technologies for eParticipation is the purpose of the APOLLON WP5 on eMedia and eParticipation and even if we won’t be able in APOLLON to develop a full 3D model of Manchester and Brussels as the ones existing for Issy Les Moulineaux we will nevertheless ask SMEs to adapt (where possible) and develop (if needed) a minimum 3D model of the parts of the city that are involved in the pilot. Namely, the City Library in Manchester and the University Campus in Brussels. Risk: SMEs don’t have enough budget for developing even a small-size 3D model of the Cities. 31

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

Solutions: 1. Find 3D models that have been developed locally in the two cities and check how they can be adapted in order to make them usable for Navidis and 3D2+. This solution should be viable since Living Labs have already checked the existence of partial 3D models including some buildings in the areas concerned by the pilots. The compatibility of these models is still to be checked. 2. Work on a 2D scale and use 3D models only for key buildings, thus limiting development costs. The best solution would be a combination of 1 and 2 where 2d maps are used to represent the whole city and 3D models are developed for key buildings, integrating existing models where possible.

10. Chec klist

issues

concer ning

cross-border

testing wit h citizens A number of issues may need to be considered when replicating or adapting an existing ‘hyper local’ e-Participation project for use as a cross-border pilot project. In this section we present what we believe to be the most important issues. In section 10 we will present an evaluation framework that will be used to assess the problems associated with these issues and propose solutions during the development of the pilot.

10.1. Language of the user interface / localisation / internationalisation The ‘native’ user interfaces of tools and services used by existing ‘hyper-local’ e-Participation projects may only be available in a limited number of languages. As such, there is a risk that a service may not be usable ‘natively’ by people in a particular geographical area. By ‘natively’ we mean directly using a service via its own website, not using that service via an interface built on top of an API. 32

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

For example, at the time of writing, Twitter only provide sits ‘native' user interface in six languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Italian, selectable via the account settings http://twitter.com/settings/account (see screen shot below):

Though the languages used by Twitter are ‘popular’, they are limited. Twitter is an extreme example as it has only recently started to promote a ‘community led’ user interface translation campaign (seehttp://www.multilingual-search.com/dear-twittera-five-person-localisation-team-is-huge/12/10/2009/

and

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/why_has_twitter_been_lagging_it_just_got_spanish_l .php). Facebook (see: http://www.facebook.com/editaccount.php?language), Wikipedia and most Google services fair better. The availability of user interfaces provided in ‘less popular’ languages – either natively by a service or via a language-specific interface using a service’s API – should be considered as part of any review process for including them in pilot projects.

10.2. Popularity of services in a particular geographical area

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

If an existing-eParticipation project is built around a particular service (e.g. Facebook), we should check that the service is as popular in the area we want to run the pilot – or if a more suitable ‘local’ service should be used. For example, this article http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/post_2.php gives an overview of statistics from Alexa and Google about the popularity of social networking sites by country.

10.3. Internet Access Again, just a check to ensure that any services used are appropriate to the level of internet access in the areas we want to run pilot projects. If a project is heavily reliant on HD video but internet access is not fast enough or bandwidth not big enough the other projects should be considered.

10.4. Cultural differences / ‘sharing’ culture We need to be aware of any geographical / cultural differences. Will people be comfortable / uncomfortable using social media tools, sharing, contributing & making videos?

10.5. Corporate firewalls Some ‘citizen journalist’ projects are focused on ‘citizen activism’. There could be an issue whereby people who work for large organizations such as schools, government agencies, enterprise level businesses, etc. are unaware of or unable to access the resources produced by ‘citizen journalists’ due to corporate firewalls / internet filtering policies. This could mean that the campaigns being run by ‘citizen journalists’ are not as effective as they could be as they are unable to engage decision makers directly via the online resources they create.

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

10.6. Technology availability This is becoming more of a non-issue given that devices such as mobile phones are basically running into complete ‘citizen journalist’ toolkits. However, not everyone in Europe has access to this level of technology yet, and I just think we should check that technology used by people to access the pilots should be close to ubiquitous in the geographic area the pilot is being run. Seems obvious, but I think we should ensure we do some checks on the best ‘access channels’ to use for each pilot – be that phone, laptop, etc.

10.7. ‘Openness’ of services We should try to ensure that any services we build pilot projects on have APIs, use wellknown machine readable data formats (XML, JSON, etc.), allow access to historical data and allow us to not only import / upload data but easily export it as well.

11. Evaluation plan framewor k In order to evaluate and test the products that are part of the three pilots, to tackle the issues related to cross-border testing that we presented in the previous sections, and to engage and participate with users, the following evaluation plan framework will be used. Though each product / SME will use the same overall plan, the types of users will differ for each product. This is because each product may be targeting a different user base.

11.1. Stages of the evaluation plan framework The framework will consist of six stages, as outlined below. It should be noted that though this plan was written specifically with the Manchester pilot in mind, it can be used for the other pilots being carried out from September 2010 as part of Work Package 5 of the Apollon project. 35

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

The six stages of the framework are:

No. 1.

Stage

Description

Time

Understanding the products

The 3 LLs pilots learn as much as possible about each the products that will be tested / evaluated during their pilots.

1 month in total.

The 3 LLs pilots staff obtains / create documentation / training materials about each of the products that can be used in initial testing sessions (see Stage 2).

To be completed before pilots start in September 2010.

The 3 LLs pilots staff clarifies the users / markets intended for the products. The 3 LLs pilots staff formalizes the SMEs expectations of this process. 1. Finding local specialists

The 3 LLs pilots find local specialists who can help to evaluate and test the products in their respective pilot. The local specialists will include other SMEs in similar marketplaces, business support organisations who can carry out initial assessments of products, and ‘user groups’ who can be involved in the user testing stages.

2. Initial review / test of each product with local specialists

The 3 LLs pilots work with the local specialists identified in Stage 2 to carry out initial reviews and testing of each product involved in the respective pilot. The sessions will produce a feedback report focusing on:

1 month in total. To be completed before pilots start in September 2010 and in parallel with Stage 1. 2 months in total. 1 September 2010 – 31 October 2010.

usability market readiness language / localisation / culture differences scenarios for testing the products with users in the target market software / hardware requirements 3. Online meetings to

Online meetings (ideally via Skype as this will keep costs down) will be arranged between the 36

2 months.

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

discuss feedback from initial reviews

responsible of the respective pilot, the local specialists and the SMEs involved in each pilot to discuss the initial feedback reports generated from Stage 3.

1 November 2010 – 31 December 2010.

The discussions will be used to clarify: findings from the reports software / hardware developments required to support further testing localisation / language / culture differences legislation that may impact the development of the product The discussions will also clarify: audience for next user testing sessions scenarios for those sessions methodologies to be used during the testing sessions 4. User testing / feedback

Based on the outcomes of Stage 4, a programme of a maximum of three user testing sessions per product will be arranged.

6 months. 1 January 2011 – 30 June 2011.

The sessions will also build on the points from the initial testing done as part of Stage 2. The testing sessions will also be used to refine and document the testing methodologies that were defined in Stage 4. Where possible, a representative from each of the SMEs involved in the pilot will physically attend at least one testing session. 5. Development of a forward plan for each product

A forward plan / exploitation plan is developed for each of the products tested. The forward plan will clarify: What worked / what didn’t work for the product in the marketplace – e.g. crowded market vs. gaps in the market, product can easily be adapted 37

2 months. 1 July 2011 – 31 August 2011.

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

to new technical standards vs. product too focused on national technical standards, etc. Any work required to exploit the product in a marketplace – e.g. language, ‘culture changes’, links to existing business networks, links to business support organisations, etc. similarities between the SMEs own marketplaces and the marketplace Opportunities for business partnerships Opportunities for ongoing contact with business networks identified during Stages 2-5. The contents of the forward plan will also be used as supporting materials for the production of Deliverables 5.6 (Recommendations for a cross-border network of Living Labs) and 5.7 (Strategy for setting up cross-border pilots in eParticipation domain).

12. Final remar ks The 3 pilots that we propose are very similar and very different. We elaborate our pilot in this way so that we can efficiently and really find out what are the cultural and technological issues that need to be overcome in order to set up a cross-border eParticipation platform. Indeed the 3 pilots are similar, we use the same technologies but we adapt them in order to cope with our locals needs. But each pilot is unique as each pilot has its own purpose Issy Fort, Manchester Library, Brussels Campus, each pilots focus on different aspects of crossborder testing. All Living Labs will work with SMEs and local users (citizens, stakeholders, local authorities) but starting from the same technologies and the same framework (user steered urban development) each pilot will bring new insights in how Living Labs can work in cross-border activities on three issues: -

Finding local business opportunities for SMEs

Facilitate the uptake by the users 38

Apollon Deliverable 5.3

Test the technical compatibility of independently developed technologies

All the pilots will work on these aspects. However, each national pilot focus more on one of these aspects ISSY already has the technologies and will test a better integration and transfer to the community of citizens. The goal is to collect feedback from end users to facilitate the uptake by the citizens. To do that: use social media to attract the users, carry out co-innovation workshop on usability and services. Manchester already works with local communities and will test the introduction of new technologies. The goal is to find business opportunities. To do that: mainly work with local experts and communities of users. Brussels has an already defined user group and will test the aggregation of different technologies on various levels (APIs, data sharing, simulated integration). To do that: will work mainly on identifying technical requirements for the integration of technologies and organize testing campaigns.