public participation tool collective voice actionable insights

Where collective voices become actionable insights.

A digital tool that transforms citizen testimonies into structured, representative data — so decision makers invest where it matters most.

PublicMatters — a platform developed by Cedra and Domestic Data Streamers
Citizens from above with scalloped mask
Interviewer and citizen in conversation
"It was an immersion into people's lives."
— Field interviewer, 2024

Public solutions that seek progress too often don't represent the real needs of citizens.

Development plans fill with expensive infrastructure that doesn't match what people actually need. Public data is decontextualized, top-down, and rarely includes knowledge from citizens themselves.

Citizens at local market
1

Costly misalignment

Institutions invest in solutions based on assumptions rather than lived experience. The gap between policy and reality wastes resources and erodes trust.

2

Decontextualized data

Public data is often top-down, aggregated to the point where local nuance disappears. The people closest to the problems are the least represented in the datasets that shape their futures.

Citizen surveys tend to fall short.

Oversimplify concerns

Traditional surveys reduce complex lived realities into checkbox answers, losing the nuance that matters for meaningful action.

Require too much time

Obtaining representative results takes months of fieldwork and manual processing — by the time data arrives, the window for action may have closed.

Miss the detail

They often miss the level of detail where potential solutions could actually emerge from collective wisdom. The richest insights stay buried.

A digital tool to listen at scale — and turn what citizens say into what decision makers need.

Public Matters platform on laptop

We created a platform that allows organizations to listen to collective concerns and needs of citizens at large scale — then transforms them into reports and dashboards that let decision makers understand reality in a detailed, representative way.

The goal: help plan and improve the lives of inhabitants by showing where the smallest investments can create the greatest impact.

Explore the tool →

Public Matters is four things at once.

1

Collecting

The tool gathers people's testimonies in an open and oral way, enabling them to express freely around the topic of concern.

Audio recorder in field
2

Listening

Audios become anonymized and processed into transcription, translation and categorization — automatically.

Interviewer with phone
3

Analyzing

A structured database enables exploration of the full level of detail across demographics and domains.

Data database
4

Visualizing

Interactive reports enable decision makers to better understand and plan actions that drive progress.

Charts and data

From voice to insight — the automated processing behind Public Matters.

Every audio testimony goes through a six-step automated pipeline. The system transcribes, translates, and categorizes each recording — then structures it into a searchable database that feeds the final interactive reports. No manual processing. No data loss.

Audio capture Aa Transcription 🌍 Translation Categorization Database Insights Field AI Processing Output
Six automated steps — from field recording to decision-ready data

From audio to data, with the full picture preserved.

Qualitative result sample

"It's impossible to grow food with this shortage of water… There are cuts every now and then and me, for instance, I have to buy water from my neighbour because, luckily he has a well, but it's very expensive. This is not sustainable."
2:32 minutes

Quantitative output — from audio to data

Gender Age Geographical Concern Domain Subdomain
Audio Transcription Categorization Database Insights
Citizens gathered in open-air community space Community members in group discussion

Three phases, from preparation to actionable results.

Preparation

Train the model, define the sample, plan the campaign.

Admin users upload all necessary information to train the model, tailor it to the cultural context of the survey, define the sample, and plan the campaign. The system adapts to each region's language, concerns, and social dynamics.

Platform preparation interface — sample definition
Ongoing

Upload, transcribe, translate, categorize — automatically.

During the campaign, interviewers upload anonymized audio files to the platform, which are then transcribed, translated, and categorized automatically. The system processes testimonies in real time as fieldwork progresses.

Platform upload interface — device recordings
Results

Reports, raw data, and interactive exploration.

Once the campaign concludes, a full report is generated. Users can download it as a PDF, access the raw data, or explore results directly on the platform using filtering options by neighborhood, gender, age groups, domains and subdomains.

Platform report — citizen concerns overview
Four layers of insight QUANTITATIVE Summarized Data Aggregated by neighborhood, gender, age, domain QUALITATIVE Micro Data " Original citizen voices, full context preserved QUALITATIVE Actionable Insights What to take into account for each area of action QUANTITATIVE Transversal Insights Gender, youth, agriculture — cross-cutting analysis
The four complementary layers of insight produced by Public Matters

Tested, measured, validated.

7.91 out of 10
accuracy

After tests in 4 cities of 20,000 inhabitants each, the system achieves accuracy across demographic precision, concern coverage, area classification, statement accuracy, and depth of detail.

95%
Confidence Interval
[7.60 – 8.22]
75%
Time Reduction
3 months → 3 weeks
4
Cities tested
20,000 inhabitants each
8000+
Interviews
processed and analyzed
Children playing in field
"There is a lack of spaces and activities for children and young people in the region."
— Citizen survey, 2025 · 2,542 participants

What changes when you listen differently.

From tools that tell you what to do.

To tools that tell you what to listen.

From inaccurate top-down data for decision making.

To accurate bottom-up data for decision making.

From simplifying citizen needs and investing in costly solutions.

To finding where minimum investments enable maximum progress.

Microphone recording citizen testimony Youth playing basketball in community

Where collective voices become actionable insights.

public participation tool collective voice actionable insights

Get in touch

We'd love to hear about your project
hello@cedra.ai hello@domesticstreamers.com
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