How can digitalization be leveraged to innovate new modes of community governance?
如何顺应信息化时代进行社区治理创新？

Governance of community development in China has witnessed two major perennial problems: lack of residents' participation and low effectiveness. This case is derived from Gantang Compound of Gantang Town of Huangshan District of Huangshan City in Anhui Province. The Compound has attempted to address the two problems by innovating a new mode of social governance that leverages its WeChat public account "Gantangweicun", the account as set up on "WeCounty" (i.e., a public benefit service platform provided by China's tech giant Tencent).
为切实解决社区发展治理长期存在的群众参与不广、治理效率不高、热心发展不够等突出问题，黄山区甘棠镇甘棠社区创新社会管理模式，通过“腾讯为村”公益服务定制了社区微信公众号“甘棠为村”，吸引了村民的广泛认证和参与，有效激活了干群互动共治热情。

With 15 menu items fitting into 4 major categories, the WeChat public account has become a platform for community governance. For example, online management of Party members are carried out by two menu items: "Dangjianzhijia" (or "Home of Party Building" in English) and "Dangyuanjiaoyu" (or "Party Member Education"). The menu item of "Shujixinxiang" (or "Mailbox of Secretary of Village Party Branch Committee" in English) facilitates secretary's communication with other Party members and villagers. The menu item of "Cunweiriji" (or "Journal of Villagers" Committee' in English) provides a space for village leadership to disseminate information and ideas related to governance issues. Transparency has been increased particularly by the use of two menu items: "Cunwugongkai" (or "Village Affairs Openness" in English) and "Caiwugongkai" (or "Financial Disclosure" in English). Villagers can have quick access to information about legal aid and agricultural assistance under "Falvzixun" (or "Legal Advice" in English) and "Nongjizixun" (or "Agricultural Skills Consulting" in English). The menu item of "Huodongxinxi" (or "Activity Information" in English) has particularly motivated villagers to participate in community building activities (e.g., questionnaires).
甘棠社区的“甘棠为村”微信公众号开通了4大类15个功能栏目，打造属于社区自己的智慧村庄平台。建立党员学习教育资源库，通过党员实名认证，完善党员信息，建立“党建之家”“党员教育”栏目，对党员进行在线管理。依托“村委日记”村干部发布心得体会、活动信息，构建和谐线上治理氛围；“书记信箱”搭建村级事务治理平台，党委书记能及时收集到党员、居民的意见建议并进行反馈；“村务公开”“财务公开”，对村级事务进行公开公示，提升信息透明度；“法律咨询”“农技咨询”提供法律援助、农业科普，为居民提供快速途径；“供求信息”为村民提供顺风车、招聘求职、房屋出租等，拓宽了宣传渠道；“活动信息”可发布报名活动、问卷调查等，强化了居民参与度，引导党员、群众积极参与社区发展治理，动员外出经商的流动党员返乡创业，带动家乡产业发展。

In this case, the WeChat public account of "Gantangweicun" has played a constructive role in two aspects of community governance. By promoting transparency, it has empowered villagers to pay more attention to, supervise and even participate in the governance of village affairs. This, in turn, can increase their trust in and satisfaction with the government. The WeChat public account has also enabled community governance to become more targeted and more effective by leveraging various menu items to improve interactions between village leadership and villagers. Here, it deserves noting that "WeCounty" has been used as a platform to develop new mode of community governance in this case. A promising line of further development is how to make this platform more adjustable to local needs and more friendly to the user.
甘棠为村的作用主要体现在：第一，设置了很多干群互动版块，极大的增强了村民和社区工作者之前的互动性，村民只需通过手机按键就能表达诉求、交流互动、反馈评价，社区工作效率也更加精准和高效。第二，建立了村务、党务、服务公开制度，坚持“能公开的都公开”。这种互联网公开方式，改变了过去落后的固定栏公开方式，极大提高了群众对社区事务的关注度，同时用落实群众的知情权、监督权换来群众对社区治理的公信度、满意度提高。值得注意的是，“为村”只是一个平台，如何借助这一平台打造更精细化、更人性化、更本土化的社区治理是社区工作在信息化背景下应该努力的方向。