Place Speak Claimed

PlaceSpeak began in 2011 as a research project supported by the National Research Council of Canada IRAP. Subsequently, it became the subject of the Founder's PhD thesis in Applied Innovation at the University of British Columbia. Initially, it was developed to solve the problem of how to consult with people online geospatially. It uniquely combines online proof of residency and Privacy-by-design in its data architecture, enabling evidence-based decision-making. Its initial use was at the local government level, where land-use change involved citizen engagement. Once participants were authenticated, it enabled a citizen-centric model, where users could be notified of an participate in future consultations. This led to the development of a Civic Network approach. Its impact has been in building trust in the online engagement process, and as a deterrent to trolls, bots and other forms of online manipulation. In 2021, PlaceSpeak was certified as a BCorp and in 2022 was recognized in the top 5% Globally in the Governance category in recognition of its mission to 'make democracy real online'.