Sociological studies, expressly conducted by the universities of Pisa and Rome, have provided the basis for the innovative means developed in the project for involving citizens in online participation in government. The result of the work is the open source software application 'Quimby' released under the GPL license. The main features implemented in Quimby are: reporting problem issues and possible solutions, pinpointing problems on road or satellite maps, transmitting additional documentation on problems or proposals for solutions, rating specific proposals, displaying graphic illustrations of the administrative procedures and status of proposals.