Today, PlaceSpeak announced its integration with NationBuilder, a community engagement software used by organizations worldwide. With elections looming in Canada and the United States, potential candidates are beginning to think about the most effective methods for engaging with the public, building strong relationships, and ultimately turning people out to the polls.

In 2018, the concept of “bots” and “trolls” became seared into public consciousness. Beyond miscreants harassing others online, the public became starkly aware that well-funded and coordinated efforts on social media had the power to shape political outcomes, fundamentally changing the nature of online civic and political participation. It was also a turning point for concerns around data privacy, both for the public and for governments.

The upcoming year will see innovations which seek to empower communities and enable meaningful, respectful online dialogues, all while putting individual privacy at the heart of the process. These innovations will push back against advertising-based, algorithmic models which have empowered bots and trolls and emboldened those who seek to manipulate political outcomes.

In our recent white paper, we discussed the challenges that cities face when regulating home-sharing and short-term rentals (STRs). Faced with competing interests and perspectives, regulations need to balance the priorities and concerns of homeowners, renters, industry or business groups, and more.

The City of Yellowknife recently embarked on a multi-phase community and stakeholder engagement process to create a framework for regulating STRs. In Yellowknife, STRs are currently only allowed in hotels and bed & breakfasts (B&Bs). Despite these rules, there has been a rapid growth of nightly rentals in Yellowknife on platforms such as AirBnb in recent years. City staff set out to draft a framework which maximizes the benefits of STRs while managing impacts on neighbourhoods and providers of licensed accommodation.