People don't live completely individual lives; we live in communities, interacting with others and moving through public spaces. Civic engagement is the participation in efforts or actions meant to address public concerns and improve communities. These actions or efforts can be done on an individual level, like voting, or on a group level, like volunteering for a community organization.
Research in this area explores how data and technology can be used to understand how people engage in public issues as well as how they can be used to improve public life and the processes by which we engage in it. SCI research in this area includes work on open civic data, electronic voting, public health, and more.
Research Highlights
The Civic Switchboard project is increasing access through its focus on open civic data, community-related data shared by governments and civic organizations. Civic Switchboard aims to foster collaborations among libraries and local data intermediaries to support democratic and equitable access to data and information.
In Pittsburgh, 1 in 5 residents experience food insecurity, and up to 40 percent of food that is produced goes to waste. Food waste and insecurity negatively harm communities and the environment, and SCI faculty member Dr. Ryan Shi is reducing these harmful effects with his research project, “AI-based Volunteer Engagement for Crowdsourcing.”
Dr. Yu-Ru Lin has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to study the online behavior of U.S. officials across major social platforms. The project’s objective is to promote digital accountability among leaders and contribute to a healthier democracy.
