Monday, October 26, 2015

SeeClickFix-Case of Kosovo

About Lokalizo

When we think about developing countries, having a tool/system that allows citizens to efficiently and effectively report issues to government is crucial. One such case is Kosovo. Kosovo is a developing country with the majority of population between ages 17-35. In efforts to bring an efficient and tech-savy system such as SeeClick Fix to the young population to engage in reporting, the Prosperity Initiative in Kosovo (PIKS) created the project Lokalizo.

Lokalizo  is a project implemented by PIKS and  supported by the UNICEF Innovations Lab Kosovo and Voices of Youth Mapping Initiative. The aim of the project is to utilize a digital mapping platform made available by the VOICES OF YOUTH MAPPING Project. This platform allows the citizens in the capital city, Pristina, to report issues regarding waste management, walking hazards and others. The web site as well as phone application allows youth to produce a realtime portrait of their community through geo-located photos and videos, organized in thematic maps. The use of the GIS technology for generating reports allows to automatically update, organized, and rank reports based on urgency.

Voices of Youth Map: Lokalizo

Further, as part of the project, the experience of the youth taking part in the project as participants is shared in the global youth forum at the Voices of Youth website.

Challenges Faced

The goal of Lokalizo was to create a new way for communication between community members, government representatives, and the civil society to increase the awareness about social and environmental issues which affect the community. In addition, it aimed to mobilize resources from institutions and the civil society to solve the reported issues.

However, as of today, the tool has not been used by any governmental agency. Despite the presentation of the system by PIKS to local and central agencies, they have failed to employ it. The main reason they state: We do not have the time and capacities to respond to all the issues that might be reported through this system in an effective and timely manner. As such, this system might harm rather than improve the perception of government by the citizens.

As a result of these challenges, PIKS has shifted the goal of the program. We are allowing youth to use the app and learn how they can report issues through the system. Further, we are presenting the project at different conferences as a way to raise awareness regarding the availability of this tool.

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