My attention was recently attracted by my friend Simone Ravaioli (@psykoreactor) to an article published in 2013 by Marco Bani et Stefano De Paoli on Ideas for a new civic reputation system for the rising of digital civics: digital badges and their role in democratic process (link).

While this article contains a wealth of useful information and ideas, I would like to explore further the relationship between Open Badges and civic engagement, in particular the process of badge design, delivery and consumption.

The “civic reputation” aims to give a trace of actions performed online through digital civics, to give a shared framework to the various processes of participation and transparency. The life of a community is based on mutual trust and the digital public sphere should aim at simulating the dynamics of offline participation. […]

Our position is that digital badges can constitute the kernel of a reputation system for civic initiatives fostering e-democracy. To this end a civic media badge framework could be deployed.

For Bani et De Paoli:

Digital civics platforms, in our model, are the primary issuers of digital badges.

Badges of civic engagement vs. badges for civic engagement

In the article, there is civic engagement on the one hand, and badges on the other. Badges are treated as a recognition of civic engagement, something that comes post facto (or as a possible extrinsic motivation). They are delivered by an authority who knows what civic engagement is. Continue reading →