E-Totem, Digital Locative Media to Support E-Participation in Cities

The relationship between governments and their citizens has changed with the rise of ICTs. Even if these changes can strengthen the active role of society in the control and participation of public administration, there is a risk that this process can increase exclusion especially in developing countries, mainly because a large part of the population does not have access at all times to the facilities and services provided by ICTs. This article describes e-Totem, a software and hardware platform produced to support inclusive e-participation in large cities. It is also described three popular participation initiatives implemented using the platform, from which hundreds of thousands of citizen interactions were obtained from the platform. e-Totem is customized to be inclusive and suitable for use in such a wide variety of scenarios as well as being used by such a significant volume of people.