What problem does it solve? We hear frequently from citizens that traveling two hours or more to a “central” location for technical support, workshops and other meetings with State Government is a barrier to their participation. Other barriers, like transportation, language and childcare also prevent participation, support and attendance in government offerings. In response, state workers frequently travel to meetings and workshops. State workers driving contributes to climate change and reduces available time for working What is your solution and who does it apply to? If state agencies had the technology for staff to host and participate in meetings and provide support virtually from their desks and conference rooms, they could hold more meetings, be more flexible with their time, and reduce the traffic, environmental and cost impacts of state employees driving all over the state. It will also invite easier participation from citizens, who won’t need to travel to meet with agency staff. While not every meeting is appropriate for a virtual meeting- many are. Imagine how much more work we can do- how many more interactions and service supports we could provide, with the same number of people and smaller travel budgets, if state employees didn’t need to spend hours of their workday traveling to attend meetings outside of the State Capital. Additionally, citizens being able to access meetings and technical support from state agencies virtually will increase participation and engagement in our support offerings, workshops, and meetings. What is the anticipated impact? Providing the technology for virtual meetings will allow for increased participation from the public in state agency meetings, workshops and public support offerings, reduced costs in employee travel and lowered traffic and environmental impact from cars on roads. Additionally, state employees will be more productive, as they will be able to accomplish more and increase their time on task, when hours of travel time to attend meetings are eliminated from their workday. There are numerous software options to include language translation to virtual meetings, so citizens who prefer other languages can participate in their language of choice.
This is a great idea! I fully support it!
Avoids traveling, will achieve larger participation and will not leave room for discrimination.
This content is created by the open source Your Priorities citizen engagement platform designed by the non profit Citizens Foundation