A guide to when and how to build technology for social good Massachusetts Institute of Technology

A worldwide organization that supports civic tech is the Open Government Partnership (OGP). Countries involved are located mainly in America (North and South), Europe and South-Asia (Indonesia, Australia, South Korea). Only a few African countries are part of the OGP, though South Africa is one of the founding countries. Pakistan’s civic tech ecosystem is characterized by a collaborative approach between citizens, tech communities, and government bodies.

Improving democratic relationships

Accela, which offers governments a platform for organizing data, has 2,000 customers worldwide. OpenGov has raised a total $27 million and now has 300 customers in 39 states. Balaji Srinivasan, a Board Partner with Andreessen Horowitz who sits on OpenGov’s board, says that civic tech is creating economic and social value.

Benefits and Impact of Civic Tech

During this six-week challenge, teams worked together to find creative uses for the data. The challenge attracted people with diverse backgrounds – from professional developers to high school students who each made valuable contributions to the conversation. Interactive and fun initiatives like this challenge help build civic involvement with government, encourage experimentation, and collaboration within governments.

• The White House wants our ideas on how to improve public participation and community engagement with the federal government.
• How useful do governments find feedback provided through civic technologies compared to traditional feedback channels?
• And that’s important because while this is feels like new branch of the technology center — it’s not.
• Cities like New Haven, Minneapolis and Sausalito are using the platform to identify overspending and show where the cities need to spend more money.
• The two groups rely on each other to promote more efficacious and equitable governance.

Many governments are still hard pressed for cash and the Civic technology procurement process rewards patience and tenacity above whiz bang features. That critical mass is important because as governments see a technology working for other municipalities, they are more likely to embrace that technology themselves. “Vertical is appealing because if you have the knowledge in that space better than anyone else you create a very sticky kind of recurring revenue,” says Blackman. But while there’s always a positive side to failure, we’d like to help you avoid the pit falls we’ve already faced so that you don’t need to start from square one when setting off on your civic tech endeavors.

Of course, nobody writes a news story about somebody cutting vegetables — using a knife only makes the news when something bad happens. A group of mapping volunteers are now working to ensure all crises spots are covered. While civic-directed technologies hold great promise, they also face several challenges and considerations. Although the program originated in the UK, the idea has caught on and is gaining traction in municipalities around the world. There’s even a GitHub platform for those who want to start such a program in their local community.

Report back from #TICTeC 2017, where GOV/LAB presented on a suite of civic technology research projects in collaboration with the Omidyar Network. The journey toward a more participatory and innovative democracy is paved with the transformative power of civic and government technology. If you’re considering a run for office or you just want to learn more about our mission to break the two-party stranglehold on democracy, join our growing network of independent and civic-minded individuals and organizations. The technology is only valuable when properly applied and used to promote social justice and political discourse and participation. Local and state government will spent an estimated $25.5 billion on information technology this year. But spending on civic tech is growing 14 times faster than spending on traditional technology.