We investigated the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT, namely mobile phones) in support of citizen agency and its potential in calling for authorities’ accountability. We focused on Eastern Africa and we used a mixed methodology, which allowed us to explore the current uses of ICT to strengthen accountability and to forecast the growth of mobile phones’ adaption in that re...

Public institutions, in their efforts to promote meaningful citizen engagement, are increasingly looking at the democratic potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Previous studies suggest that such initiatives seem to be impeded by socio-technical integration barriers such as low sustainability, poor citizen acceptance, coordination difficulties, lack of understanding, a...

BACKGROUND With the rapid growth of technology and its improved accessibility globally, social media is gaining an increasingly important role in health care. Patients are frequently engaging with social media to access information, share content, and interact with others in online health communities. However, the use of social media as a stakeholder engagement strategy has been minimally explo...

We present two examples of citizen science learning activities, with discussion of how these activities align with teaching strategies shown to increase retention of under-represented minorities and improve learning for all students in science. For introductory science students from diverse backgrounds, citizen science provides a unique hands-on opportunity to engage students in the process of ...

BACKGROUND The vision of Canada's Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research is that patients be actively engaged as partners in health research. Support units have been created across Canada to build capacity in patient-oriented research and facilitate its conduct. This study aimed to explore patients' health research priorities in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL). METHODS Eight to...