Civic Tech Field Guide
Sharing knowledge and productively growing the fieldThe Tech > Govtech - (394)
In the Civic Tech Field Guide, we focus on examples of govtech that seek to improve society to make it more just and democratic, not just more digital or efficient. We recognize that this is a subjective, values-based perspective of govtech. There is a much larger government IT industry, and we do not aspire to catalog and curate every instance of governmental technology.
Related resources:
- The 2023 GovTech 100
- Companies Made Millions Building Unemployment Websites That Didn’t Work by Colin Lecher for The Markup (2020)
- Thinking About Govtech (PDF): An introduction to govtech, why it matters, and barriers to adoption (2019)
- Do you know how your country’s state of digital development compares? Find out by exploring the OECD’s Going Digital indicators.
- Building an AI World: a CIFAR Report on National and Regional AI Strategies
- A Digital government reading list (2020)
Showing 394 Results
2021 book edited by Oscar Barberà, Giulia Sandri, Patricia Correa, Juan Rodríguez-Teruel
Connect Humanity published the State of Digital Inequity Report in partnership with TechSoup. The report is based on a survey of 7,500+ civil society organizations (CSOs) from 136 countries who answered questions about the barriers that they, and the communities they serve, face when it comes to digital equity.
![Disclosure logs: a best practice guide for local authorities [in the UK]](https://directory.civictech.guide/images/gray.png)
Disclosure logs: a best practice guide for local authorities [in the UK]
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)Guide that "seeks to explain what disclosure logs are, how to manage them efficiently and why, although they are not a legal requirement, local authorities should seriously consider using one for the benefit of your FOI teams and, more importantly, for citizens."
Individual modules Citizen-Centred Service Design Becoming Citizen-Centric Public Service Delivery Fundamentals Listening to and Understanding Citizens Continuous Service Improvement Becoming an Inclusive Leader Building Service Culture Effective Service Delivery Management
In this article, through vignettes from the United Kingdom and Singapore’s experience, we highlight how digital transformation can be made more participatory for users affected by digital initiatives. In the process, we introduce the idea of Living Digital Transformation (LDT) as a more bottom-up and user-centric alternative that includes those from vulnerable communities, and therefore, can improve the benefits from digital transformation for all.
Executive Order on Modernizing Regulatory Review | The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC, USAIncluding addressing AI generated public comments
Are We Together?
EthiopiaThe findings from our study are intended to provide insights to developers and designers to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of digital platforms from the perspective of language.
This study by Yuya Shibuya empirically analyzes the impacts of open data on behavioral change by investigating the case of Taiwan.
See how publications and data-driven journalists use open source to power their newsroom and ensure information is reported fairly and accurately.
Workshop at CHI'23 on April 28th, 2023 in Hamburg, Germany
A collection of essays edited by Ana Brandusescu and Jess Reia featuring essays from participants of the AI in the City: Building Civic Engagement and Public Trust symposium that took place remotely on February 10, 2022.
Growing & Sustaining African Civic Tech
South AfricaA Playbook for learning about funding and financing options for the African civic technology community.
Data visualization nominated for 2023 Webby Award
HetzJaeger
GermanyA campaign to create hack algorithmic music discovery algorithms to promote an anti-Nazi message and pressure audio platforms to stop hosting Nazi content
Pinterest Climate Disinformation Policy
San FranciscoOur new policy makes Pinterest the only major digital platform to have clearly defined guidelines against false or misleading climate change information, including conspiracy theories, across content and ads.
A Brief but Actionable Primer for Founders
In an era of corporate surveillance, artificial intelligence, deep fakes, genetic modification, automation, and more, law often seems to take a back seat to rampant technological change.
After three decades of working with thousands of companies, we’ve distilled the best of what we’ve learned into a set of practical insights — our “10 Laws of Government Sales and Marketing.”
How Cities Make Software Together
Cornell TechMunicipal governments are riding a volatile wave of economic, ecological, and social change. But one thing is constant—the accelerating spread of digital technologies. More specifically, municipal governments are learning how to use software to measure, analyze, and optimize service delivery. But even as cities rely more on software to function, they struggle to obtain and maintain software. Traditionally, code is procured from the private sector, or—less often—produced in-house by cities. But both of these approaches are slow, costly, and often fail to deliver innovation. Software vendors often fill in these gaps, locking in costly dependencies on inflexible products. Open Source Software (OSS) presents a possibility for cities to fulfill their software needs. It also offers the potential for greater autonomy and lower cost. However,OSS requires enormous effort to create, and even more to deploy and maintain. These processes are just as important as the final product. The growing base of code and processes are the basis of a specialized class of digital infrastructure, known as municipal digital infrastructure. A report by Written by Nneka Sobers and Dr. Anthony Townsend.
This white paper seeks to unpack the use of Indigenous or non-majority language in the existing digital landscape.
Because OpenStreetMap is a crowd-sourcing project where everyone can freely contribute to the map, the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team has devised measures to support high-quality crowd-sourced OSM data.
Book edited By Adrian Bua, Sonia Bussu
An open guide promoting participatory urban planning
Sustaining and Scaling Civic and Government Technology
Washington, DCA report by International Republican Institute "synthesiz[ing] core challenges and lessons learned from practitioners, funders and government to help answer the questions of why civic and govtech initiatives struggle long term and what can be done about it."
Building a Culture of Innovation in Government
United States of America (the)This brief is the compilation of the findings from of a series of workshops on creating a vision for how our [US] government can build and foster a culture of innovation over the next 20 years.
Paper: LocalView, a database of public meetings for the study of local politics and policy-making in the United States | Scientific Data
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USAA paper published in Nature introducing a database of public meetings in the US
"Findings from this study presents a developed model that can support community engagement for urban innovation by specifying factors that influences community engagement for smart sustainable city development." by Bokolo Anthony Jr.
This report from Katharine Lusk and Azer Bestravos of Boston University evaluates of the state of the field across the 43 academic institutions that make up the Public Interest Technology University Network as of the summer of 2021, providing insight into the ways in which PIT-UN members are investing in its five priority areas, and sheds light on the state of the field more generally.
A research article in the Journal of Deliberative Democracy by Espen Leirset
In this groundbreaking work, Haochen Sun analyzes the ethical crisis unfolding at the intersection of technology and the public interest.
A series of articles interrogating the concept of rigor in the context of impact evaluation in our work, by Keira Lowther
A report: How can stories help us change systems?
A report by the UK Humanitarian Innovation Hub
After the 2022 midterms, the Cooperative Impact Lab published initial findings for the Digital Innovation Fund, telling the story of how, in just four months, we stood up and administered one of the most extensive research-grant programs focused on TikTok’s uses for progressive politics and social good.
A Reuters special report investigating global supply chains and sustainability programs
Audible reckoning: How top political podcasters spread unsubstantiated and false claims
Washington, DCBrookings report: Using a combination of analytical methods – including natural language processing, machine learning, and manual classifying – this research provided the first overarching assessment of the role that popular political podcasting plays in spreading unsubstantiated and false claims.
All Tech Is Human’s Tech & Democracy report addresses key issues and best practices in the field, and highlights a diverse range of individuals working in the field (across civil society, government, industry, academia, and entrepreneurship).
Core science and tech policy trainings open to US government staff
What builders in Germany, India, Kenya, and the United States need to know when experimenting with new approaches to data governance
A webinar by Bethnal Green Ventures
First AI-written speech delivered by US congressman
Capitol HillRepresentative for Massachusetts Jake Auchincloss used ChatGPT to help introduce legislation supporting AI research
Beirut Built Environment Database
Raymond Ghosn Building, American University of Beirut, Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture PO Box. 11-0236 Riad El Solh 1107 2020, Beirut LebanonThe Beirut Built Environment Database is a platform gathering geolocalised social, environmental, and economic information on building activity in the Greater Beirut Area.
Book edited By Adrian Bua and Sonia Bussu
An article tracking the development of pro-social deepfakes, despite the vast majority consisting of pornographic images of women
This NDI report includes a list of interventions that technology platforms, governments, civil society organizations, and the media can take to make meaningful progress towards ending online violence against women in politics.
OECD Guidelines for Citizen Participation Processes
Paris, FranceThe OECD Guidelines for Citizen Participation Processes are intended for any public official or public institution interested in carrying out a citizen participation process.
MTA.ME
New York City, NY, USAAt www.mta.me, Conductor turns the New York subway system into an interactive string instrument.
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