What is Waves?
Waves is a new model for local democratic participation using civic technology that helps local councils make difficult decisions by putting residents at the heart of the process.
Waves works in a distinctive way: we move between scale and depth, repeatedly. We start by reaching a large number of residents to understand the range of views and experiences across a community. We then bring a smaller, representative group together for in-depth deliberation, where they explore the issue properly and develop considered findings. Those findings are tested back at scale with the wider community, and what emerges feeds into a further phase of deeper deliberation where the smaller group refines their conclusions. Finally, those conclusions are shared with the council and wider community.
We created Waves because we believe that it is only through a repeated process of meaningful conversation at both scale and depth that you can produce insights that are both rigorous and legitimate.
Why do we use technology?
Deliberative democracy methods, like Citizens’ Assemblies, are excellent ways of enabling people to get involved in decision making. But they are incredibly expensive (upwards of £250k) and don’t involve many people (usually between 25-100 people). Without technology, running a process that reaches thousands of residents, selects a representative panel, and produces trustworthy analysis would be prohibitively expensive for most councils.
Technology is what makes Waves viable at the scale local government needs.
We use technology to enable residents to engage asynchronously, capture and analyse large volumes of qualitative input quickly and accurately, make participation accessible to people who cannot attend in person, and support councils to run Waves independently over time.
Technology is a means to better decision-making, not an end in itself. We do not adopt tools because they are new or impressive. We adopt them when they help residents participate, and/or because it enables the councils to involve more people more meaningfully in their policy making
Technology ethics policy
Every technology decision we make in Waves is guided by a clear set of commitments. These apply to all tools, digital or AI-powered.
We will choose platforms that are:
- Open-source – or working to become open-source, so they can be audited and no one is locked into proprietary systems
- Purpose-built for democratic purposes – designed for consensus-building and public engagement, not market research
- Accessible to participants and staff – meeting accessibility standards and usable by council teams with varying levels of technical knowledge and skills
- Explainable – we can describe how they work in plain language to participants and councils
- Affordable – viable for councils with limited budgets
Where possible, EU/UK-based – to simplify GDPR compliance and data protection due diligence
What we will and won’t do
| We will
Be transparent about every tool we use. Residents will always be told what technology is operating, what it does, and how their contributions are being processed. We publish our tools and methods publicly. |
| We will
Verify that tools are working as intended before and during use. We actively monitor for errors and performance issues throughout every programme. |
| We will
Assess the tools we choose against accessibility standards. |
| We won’t
Use technology that we cannot explain to participants. If we cannot describe clearly what a tool does and why we are using it, we will not use it. |
| We won’t
Use a feature we cannot verify is accurate. If a tool’s output cannot be checked and validated by the Waves team, we will not use it. |
| We won’t
Let technology replace human judgement. All significant outputs from any tool are reviewed by the Waves team before they inform analysis or reporting. |
Using AI
AI warrants particular attention. There is a lot of public concern around AI and we take that seriously. Unlike most digital tools, AI systems can operate in ways that are not immediately understandable to most people, may reflect biases in the data they were trained on, and can produce outputs that appear authoritative but are not always accurate. For these reasons we apply additional scrutiny to any AI feature used in Waves.
We promise to work closely with any council who uses the Waves model to ensure that it complies with their AI Ethics Policy.
Example
One of our engagement platforms in our first trial included a feature that used AI to predict how participants would vote on ideas they hadn’t seen. The council had concerns about AI making this decision on behalf of participants. We tested it and found the predictions were unreliable, so we didn’t use the feature.
How we assess tools
- We check every tool against our commitments before it is used in any Waves programme, including accessibility compliance, data residency, and the specific features being enabled.
- Where a council’s data protection officer has requirements, these are addressed before deployment.
- Our independent AI Ethics Board, made up of external experts, advises on how best to assess AI tools for use in democratic innovation.
- Decisions are documented and available for review.
Who is responsible?
Ultimate responsibility for technology decisions in Waves sits with Demos leadership. Council officers are responsible for ensuring Waves’ use of technology aligns with their own internal policies and obligations. Our independent AI Ethics Board, made up of external experts, provides advice and guidance and reviews our decision log. This policy is approved by the Waves board, which receives regular updates on technology decisions and incidents.
Each council partner retains the right to approve or reject any tool used in their Waves programme. Where a council’s data protection officer or internal policies impose additional requirements, these must be taken into account. Waves needs to work for councils and residents first and foremost.
How do we use technology?
Waves uses the following tools across its four stages:
Comhairle
A platform developed by CrownShy that brings together a set of open source tools for online deliberation. It uses Pol.is, an open source consensus-mapping tool, to enable residents to share ideas and vote on one another’s contributions. Pol.is uses bridge-based ranking to surface ideas with the broadest consensus across different groups, prioritising ideas that bring people together over simple majority votes.
ECHO
An AI transcription and analysis tool developed by Dembrane used during in-depth deliberation sessions (stages 2 and 4). Echo transcribes discussions in real time and supports thematic analysis, allowing the project team (made up of representatives from Waves and the council) to process large volumes of qualitative input accurately and efficiently.
Video platform (TBC)
We are currently evaluating which video platform to use for the in-depth deliberation stages. We will update this page once confirmed.
How does this affect you?
Waves has been designed to give you a more meaningful say in decisions that affect your area. Every part of the process, including the technology, is there to make your participation count.
Across all four stages of Waves, technology helps us reach more people, capture what participants say more accurately, and identify where there is genuine consensus across different groups. At the at-scale stages it enables thousands of residents to contribute and have their ideas heard. At the in-depth stages it means your deliberations are transcribed and analysed properly, so nothing gets lost.
We are transparent about where and how AI is used at each stage. Any AI involvement in your session will be explained to you before you participate, and human oversight is maintained throughout.
Your personal data is handled securely and will not be shared beyond the council and its Waves partners, except where required by law. You can ask questions about how your data is used at any time contact details will be provided at the start of your participation.