As we move toward 2025, online public engagement is continuing to evolve rapidly. The way governments, organizations, and communities interact in the digital space is changing, driven by technological advancements of the past year and shifting expectations for the ways that we gather. At 76engage, we have the privilege of working with a diverse range of organizations globally, partnering to advance public participation and stakeholder engagement. This breadth of experience provides us with meaningful insights into engagement strategies and outcomes across government, not-for-profit and private sectors, allowing us to identify key trends shaping digital public engagement for 2025.

Here are two trends that we anticipate will shape digital public engagement in the year ahead:

AI-Enhanced Engagement

With Artificial Intelligence (AI) leaders like OpenAI and Hugging Face offering open access to their models, AI is quickly being incorporated into software applications across industries. Public engagement software is no exception and in 2025, we’ll see AI increasingly used to personalize content, analyze feedback and even facilitate discussions. For example, 76engage’s AI-powered chatbot can help guide participants through complex consultations, making engagement more accessible to a wider audience.

AI will also help in data analysis, turning mountains of feedback into actionable insights faster than ever before, allowing governments and organizations to respond more quickly to public input. 76engage’s analytics module, 76insights, uses IBM Watson Natural Language Understanding to process participant data, analyze unstructured text, extract sentiment and emotions, and identify key themes and keywords. This enables deeper insights and a more comprehensive understanding of participant feedback.

In 2025, we also expect to see AI tools support inclusive engagement by providing real-time translations and accessibility adjustments, making it easier for people of different languages and abilities to fully participate.

Hybrid Engagement Models

As in-person open houses and other public engagement events have returned, hybrid engagement models, which combine the best of face-to-face interactions with the convenience of online tools and data collection, are becoming the new norm. This form of public engagement also offers flexibility for participants, allowing those who may not be able to attend in person to still have their voices heard. 76engage’s Live Meeting module enables public engagement practitioners to stream in-person meetings directly to their project page on the platform, while also facilitating the sharing of relevant materials and gathering of participant feedback through webforms, polls, discussion forums, and other input methods.

Often, hybrid events involve in-person meetings where facilitators wish to set up a digital input form in advance and and collect feedback via a tablet or other shared device during the event. 76engage offers a Kiosk mode to accommodate this, allowing facilitators to collect feedback from a large group of participants on a single device. In 2025, we expect to see more events that seamlessly integrate virtual and physical participation, ensuring broader reach and more inclusive participation.