As the Internet grows on importance as a forum for political activity, it is necessary to occupy it with proper tools for democratic discussion, dialogue and deliberation. Currently, a substantial part of political debate is conducted on social media inside proprietary networks. Those solutions are flagrantly inadequate to build consensus seeking understandings and to mediate the interaction between the government and the citizenry. This work present EJ, a platform for crowdsourced social participation which uses machine learning based intelligence and gamification techniques to increase engagement and counteract the formation of opinion bubbles and the "echo chamber" effect of social networks.

RESUMEN Los laboratorios de innovación ciudadana están probando nuevas formas de construir conocimiento, reuniendo a personas de diferentes lugares, calificaciones y antecedentes para trabajar por períodos cortos en una iniciativa de interés comunitario. Esta crónica, construida por colaboradores de dos laboratorios, cuenta la historia del proyecto Caixa Mágica, que nace en el LabicBr en el 2015 y se va transformando a lo largo de otras reuniones.  Muestra cómo los principios de la cultura libre, la ciencia abierta y desarrollo ágil, orgánicamente aplicados durante todo el proceso, hicieron posible el desarrollo colaborativo y la continuidad del proyecto después de los eventos.Palabras clave: Laboratorios Ciudadanos; Ciencia Abierta; Cultura Libre; Software Libre; Innovación Educativa.RESUMO Os laboratórios de inovação cidadã estão experimentando novas formas de construir conhecimento, reunindo pessoas de diferentes lugares, qualificações e origens sociaispara trabalhar por curtos períodos numa iniciativa de interesse comunitário. Este relato, construído por colaboradores de dois laboratórios, conta a história do projeto Caixa Mágica, nascido no LabicBr em 2015 e vai se transformando ao longo de outras reuniões. Mostra como os princípios da cultura livre, da cultura aberta e desenvolvimento agil, organicamente aplicados durante todo o processo, possibilitaram o desenvolvimento colaborativoe a continuidade do projetodepois dos eventos.Palavras-chave: Laboratórios Cidadãos; Ciência Aberta; Cultura Livre; Software Livre; Inovação Educativa.ABSTRACT Civic innovation laboratories have been testing new ways of building knowledge, bringing together people from different places, qualifications and backgrounds, to collaborate for a short period in a single initiative of community interest. This report, built by collaborators from two laboratories, recounts the trajectory of the Caixa Mágica (Magic Box) project, which was born in LabicBr in 2015, and was transformed through other meetings. It shows how principles like free culture, open science and agile development, applied in an organic way throughout this process, made possible the collaborative development and continuity of the project after the events were over.Keywords: Civic Laboratories; Open Science; Free Culture; Free Software; Educational Innovation.

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This technical note documents the Continuous Payroll Audit Initiative within Brazils Court of Accounts (Tribunal de Contas da Unio, or TCU), presents its lessons learned, and makes recommendations that could improve its results. This initiative uses digital tools such as data analytics to proactively identify and address incorrect and/or illicit payments in the federal civil service and pension payroll. As of 2021, the initiative had led to savings close to $R 2 billion (US$515 million). The study demonstrates that a small team using the right technology can be very effective in rooting out irregularities in a complex system. However, technological innovation is not sufficient to address these issues. Broader systemic reforms in information collection and compliance are required for the system to fully achieve its goals. Given these results, this case could serve as reference for other supreme audit institutions around the world that are seeking to combat fraud and corruption.