Citizen participation is a key element in modern public management, as it allows people to become actively involved in the design and preparation of public decisions. It also opens up spaces and mechanisms of coordination between public bodies and diverse social stakeholders, promoting a culture of shared responsibility and mutual commitment.

As a way of promoting and guiding citizen participation actions, the Council for Transparency developed a technological tool called"Ideas. Info: Tus ideas en Transparencia" [Your ideas on transparency].

"Ideas.Info" is an online platform that allows people to send in their best ideas, proposals and suggestions for improving transparency and the right of access to information.

This website, which had its début a few days ago, already contains several ideas proposed by citizens. For example, there are some that refer to “Transparent Political Parties”, “Transparency in Political Campaign Financing”, and one that proposes “that transparency be extended to private industry in the area of energy and mining”, among others.

The innovative part of this repository for ideas is that people can present their proposals as “candidates” and promote them on social networks. The ideas that attract one thousand supporters in a period of three months will be taken up by the Council for Transparency, which will issue a statement on the issue.

This means that to the extent that a good idea gains adherents, it is possible to generate a commitment that can be translated into changes in the way things are done in the State. "Ideas.Info" is, in synthesis, a sort of thermometer that can indicate where issues important to citizens lie, and which integrity and transparency standards are being demanded of authorities, thus promoting citizen control.

This platform invites citizens to be actors in the changes required to improve transparency. To access it, simply visit the website of the Council for Transparency of Chile, or click here.

To develop this platform, and thanks to the support of the European Commission's EUROsociAL programme, representatives of the Chile's Council for Transparency in 2014 had the opportunity to learn about different successful experiences implemented in the European Union, such as the British Parliament's HM Government e-Petition, the European Parliament's Committee on Petitions, and the petitions platform of the German Parliament (Petitionsausschusses). By studying these, they were able to understand the nature, operational model and architecture of these platforms. This exchange visit took place within the framework of the Transparency and Anti-Corruption action being coordinated by the FIIAPP and its operational partner, the CEDDET Foundation. 

Christian Anker Ullrich, Head of the Promotion and Customers Unit of Chile's Council for Transparency