Data sovereignty is no longer a future concern. It is a clear and present danger.

In April 2025, PlaceSpeak worked with five BCIT students in the Computer Systems Technology program as part of the Industry Sponsored Student Projects program (ISSP).

Public feedback matters—but making sense of it all can be overwhelming. That’s why PlaceSpeak has harnessed the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform how governments and organizations analyze public input. Whether it’s a quick poll or a 500-comment discussion thread, PlaceSpeak’s AI tools turn raw data into real insights.

The Future of Civic Engagement is Canadian As Canada navigates an increasingly complex digital landscape, the need for homegrown, privacy-first solutions has never been greater. Municipalities, businesses, and organizations must take a stand—protect citizen trust, safeguard data, and support Canadian innovation. The future of civic engagement starts here, at home, with PlaceSpeak.

BN2 is a whole new way of organizing communities at the grassroots level. PlaceSpeak and the Center for Democracy Innovation at the National Civic League are partnering to build out BN2. We will offer free assistance to three communities who want to pilot the process, including a PlaceSpeak platform for their neighborhood.

In May, 2024, PlaceSpeak undertook three (3) separate intensive work projects with BCIT Computer Science Students. The students worked for 5 forty-hour weeks on R&D to produce a prototype in each of these three areas of focus: On May 30th, the teams made their final presentations at BCIT’s Burnaby Campus. PlaceSpeak CEO, Colleen Hardwick was […]

Simplifying the qualitative analysis process for reporting purposes: Using PlaceSpeak engagement tools, organizations accumulate large amounts of both qualitative and quantitative feedback data.  AI makes it possible to sort through all that data, and create reports and insights in real time.  Currently, PlaceSpeak has AI Reports in Beta featuring a Summary distilled from Discussion comments […]

PlaceSpeak CEO, Colleen Hardwick, travelled to Bucharest in May to participate in the 2024 Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy.   

For the first time ever, the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy is heading to Eastern Europe! From 15 to 18 May 2024, the world’s largest conference on direct democracy will convene in Bucharest, Romania. This is the first time a democracy conference has been held behind the former Iron Curtain! The 2024 Global Forum […]