We invited a diverse and independent group of digital participation experts to serve on the technology review committee that evaluated the leading digital participation platforms. Committee members did not directly interact with developers of the platforms as they evaluated the products. Besides their expertise, we prioritized a diversity of gender and geography so committee members would bring different perspectives on what is most important and helpful for people in various contexts. The six committee members are from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, North America and Western Europe.

This year, our ratings include 32 platforms, 26 of which were included in the 2022 edition. The committee voted to include the six additional platforms because they received at least 10 recommendations in a separate user survey. Additional platforms recommended in the developers' survey will be considered in the next iteration of the ratings.

The criteria for each category were applied to the platforms by two committee members. When there was disagreement on the result, the entire committee weighed in. None of the committee members knew the final overall rating until the total score was calculated

User and developer survey

In addition to the expert review, our ratings were informed by surveys of both users and developers. The user survey was conducted online from October 27 to November 25, 2022. It asked users of digital participation platforms to evaluate their experience based on defined criteria. The survey instrument was shared through our newsletter, social media, and our members and networks.. We received 428 responses from 50 countries in Africa, Asia, North America, Latin America, and Eastern and Western Europe. The respondents included staff members from local and national governments, civil society organizations, schools, universities and businesses. 

In addition, we surveyed platform developers seeking to collect useful missing information. The survey was open from November 7 to December 11, 2022, and received 23 responses. 

It is important to note:

• The ratings compare digital participation platforms across a range of criteria to help governments and organizations decide on a suitable platform for their needs 

• Ratings are not based on testing of platforms, but on an assessment of their features, pricing, ease of use, etc.

• Committee members based their evaluations mainly on publicly available information on the platforms’ websites and elsewhere, in addition to their own expertise and responses to the developer and user surveys.

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