The digital civic infrastructure gap: Why councils are struggling

Fewer than 40% of residents rate their local government positively. That statistic, from Pew Research, should alarm anyone who cares about democratic participation.

The gap isn't about caring—most local government staff I've met are deeply committed to their communities. It's about infrastructure. The digital tools available to councils simply don't match what modern communities need.

The fragmented landscape

Harvard's Ash Center recently published a framework for digital civic infrastructure, and their diagnosis is clear: communities need tools that help people connect with each other, learn about civic processes, and take action. Most current systems do none of these well.

What we have instead is fragmentation. A website for council services. A separate system for planning applications. Another for waste collection. Another for community events. No integration. No unified experience. No way for residents to feel connected to their local government as a coherent entity.

FindIt Cambridge—highlighted in the Harvard framework—shows what's possible. A single platform connecting residents with local resources, programs, and services. Nearly 60,000 users—50% of Cambridge's population. But Cambridge is an outlier, not the norm.

The hybrid challenge

The National League of Cities reports that in 2024, local officials faced increased harassment and threats, with 87% noting a decline in civil discourse during their time in office.

This creates a paradox. Communities need more engagement, not less. But the current tools for engagement—public meetings, online forums, social media—often amplify conflict rather than building understanding.

The solution emerging from leading municipalities is hybrid engagement: combining digital and in-person interactions to reach broader audiences while maintaining the human connection that builds trust.

But most councils lack the infrastructure to do hybrid well. They have either digital tools with no human touch, or human processes with no digital reach.

What communities actually need

Based on my work with local authorities and charities, here's what effective civic infrastructure actually requires:

Multi-channel communication. Not everyone uses email. Not everyone uses social media. Effective civic engagement means meeting people where they are—text, voice, app, web, in-person—and keeping the experience consistent across channels.

Two-way feedback. It's not enough to broadcast information. Residents need to be able to report problems, share ideas, and hear back about what happened. The loop needs to close.

Trusted information. With misinformation spreading rapidly, local governments need to serve as trusted sources of truth. This requires platforms that clearly distinguish official information from speculation.

Sustainable economics. Civic technology can't survive on grants alone. There need to be sustainable funding models that align the interests of communities, businesses, and local government.

The Telford Trails approach

This is why we built Telford Trails the way we did. Not as another app that asks residents to engage out of civic duty, but as infrastructure that creates value for everyone.

Businesses sponsor trails because they gain access to engaged, local customers. Residents use the app because it helps them discover their community. The council benefits because trails are maintained and heritage is preserved. Revenue is sustainable because value flows to all participants.

That's what civic infrastructure should look like: aligned incentives, not just good intentions.

The opportunity

The civic technology market is evolving rapidly. Platforms like CivicPlus, Granicus, and NationBuilder are improving. Government digital services teams—like the Technology Transformation Services in the US—are demonstrating what's possible.

But there's still a gap between what exists and what communities need. That gap is an opportunity for those willing to build infrastructure that's genuinely useful, sustainably funded, and designed for real communities rather than theoretical ones.

Local government modernisation in 2024 and beyond requires prioritising technology investments in reliable, responsive, multi-lingual, multi-channel communication. It requires treating residents as partners, not just service recipients.

The councils that figure this out will rebuild the trust that's been eroding for decades. The ones that don't will continue to see engagement decline and cynicism rise.

This is the civic infrastructure gap we're trying to close. One community at a time.