A field guide to civic tech
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This document provides an overview of civic tech, including: 1. A top-line definition of civic tech as the use of technology for the public good. It distinguishes public good from personal or private interests by dealing with shared public challenges. 2. A list of over 30 common types of civic tech tools and their functions, such as crowdfunding platforms, issue reporting platforms, and sensors. 3. Examples of common social processes in civic tech like convening groups, informing the public, building projects, and codifying best practices. This illustrates that civic tech involves both tools and people working together. 4. Different ways civic tech can be organized based on the degree of change sought,
A field guide to civic tech
- 1. WHAT IS CIVIC TECH: TOWARD FINALIZING A BASIC FRAMEWORK SO THAT WE CAN MOVE ON WITH IT ALREADY MICAH SIFRY, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CIVIC HALL MATT STEMPECK, DIRECTOR OF CIVIC TECHNOLOGY, MICROSOFT ERIN SIMPSON, PROGRAM DIRECTOR, CIVIC HALL LABS
- 2. It helps to have a map if you want to know where you’re going.
- 3. WHAT WE’RE GOING TO COVER IN THE NEXT 20 MINUTES 1. TOPLINE DEFINITION - WHAT IS IT 2. COMMON TOOL TYPES - WHAT IS ITS FUNCTION 3. COMMON SOCIAL PROCESSES - HOW DOES IT WORK 4. WAYS TO ORGANIZE - WHY, WHO, WHAT
- 4. CIVIC TECH IS THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD TOPLINE DEFINITION
- 5. RE THE PUBLIC GOOD: IT IS CULTURALLY AND HISTORICALLY SUBJECTIVE. WE USE PUBLIC TO DISTINGUISH FROM PERSONAL AND PRIVATE. “PUBLIC GOOD” DEALS WITH SHARED PUBLIC CHALLENGES.
- 6. PHIL ASHLOCK, NICK GROSSMAN, ANDREW MCLAUGHLIN →
- 12. COMMON FUNCTIONS Crowdfunding platforms Benefit navigation tools Campaign organizing platforms Check-in tools Constituent to Government communication tools Crowdsourced data collection Data schemas and standards Data Visualization tools and Platforms Event organizing tools Freedom of Information tools Government to constituent communications Group communication tools Group decision-making tools Ideation tools Issue reporting platforms Legislation engagement platforms Mapping platforms Marketplaces and Clearinghouses Neighborhood forums Online Petition sites Open data publishing platforms Opinion matching platforms Resource matching/sharing sites Sensors Service alerts Watchdogging and Transparency projects
- 13. COMMON FUNCTIONS Crowdfunding platforms Benefit navigation tools Campaign organizing platforms Check-in tools Constituent to Government communication tools Crowdsourced data collection Data schemas and standards Data Visualization tools and Platforms Event organizing tools Freedom of Information tools Government to constituent communications Group communication tools Group decision-making tools Ideation tools Issue reporting platforms Legislation engagement platforms Mapping platforms Marketplaces and Clearinghouses Neighborhood forums Online Petition sites Open data publishing platforms Opinion matching platforms Resource matching/sharing sites Sensors Service alerts Watchdogging and Transparency projects
- 14. CONSTITUENT TO GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATION TOOLS
- 15. COMMON FUNCTIONS Crowdfunding platforms Benefit navigation tools Campaign organizing platforms Check-in tools Constituent to Government communication tools Crowdsourced data collection Data schemas and standards Data Visualization tools and platforms Event organizing tools Freedom of Information tools Government to constituent communications Group communication tools Group decision-making tools Ideation tools Issue reporting platforms Legislation engagement platforms Mapping platforms Marketplaces and Clearinghouses Neighborhood forums Online Petition sites Open data publishing platforms Opinion matching platforms Resource matching/sharing sites Sensors Service alerts Watchdogging and Transparency projects
- 17. Crowdfunding platforms Benefit navigation tools Campaign organizing platforms Check-in tools Constituent to Government communication tools Crowdsourced data collection Data schemas and standards Data Visualization tools and Platforms Event organizing tools Freedom of Information tools Government to constituent communications Group communication tools Group decision-making tools Ideation tools Issue reporting platforms Legislation engagement platforms Mapping platforms Marketplaces and Clearinghouses Neighborhood forums Online Petition sites Open data publishing platforms Opinion matching platforms Resource matching/sharing sites Sensors Service alerts Watchdogging and Transparency projects COMMON FUNCTIONS
- 18. SENSORS
- 19. Crowdfunding platforms Benefit navigation tools Campaign organizing platforms Check-in tools Constituent to Government communication tools Crowdsourced data collection Data schemas and standards Data Visualization tools and Platforms Event organizing tools Freedom of Information tools Government to constituent communications Group communication tools Group decision-making tools Ideation tools Issue reporting platforms Legislation engagement platforms Mapping platforms Marketplaces and Clearinghouses Neighborhood forums Online Petition sites Open data publishing platforms Opinion matching platforms Resource matching/sharing sites Sensors Service alerts Watchdogging and Transparency projects COMMON FUNCTIONS
- 20. BUT ISN’T CIVIC TECH MORE THAN JUST TECH? It’s, even more importantly, the people and how they do things together.
- 21. COMMON SOCIAL PROCESSES CONVENE Civic hacking meetups Backchannels Roundtables Working Groups Physical gathering places, hubs Tech translators & intermediaries Talent Pipeline Peer networks Partner networks Datapalooza Conferences INFORM Journalism, books, podcasts, blogs Educational programs and courses Online Forums Research Centers and Projects Digital Literacy groups Workshops Data analysis for public good BUILD Innovation teams, Labs Open source projects Social impact design groups Foundation initiatives Accelerators Incubators Tech companies with civic teams Behavioral economics programs Open governance initiatives Data sourcing Civic & social good hackathons Civic tech competitions
- 22. AGITATE Politics (electoral + activism), campaigns Artistic interventions Investigative journalism CODIFY Field Definition and Governance Playbooks and design principles Toolkits SUPPORT Accelerate public sector work Fellowship programs COMMON SOCIAL PROCESSES
- 23. CONVENE Civic hacking meetups Backchannels Roundtables Working Groups Physical gathering places, hubs Tech translators & intermediaries Talent Pipeline Peer networks Partner networks Datapalooza Conferences INFORM Journalism, books, radio shows, blogs Educational programs and courses Online Forums Research Centers and Projects Digital Literacy groups Workshops Data analysis for public good BUILD Innovation teams, Labs Open source projects Social impact design groups Foundation initiatives Accelerators Incubators Tech companies with civic teams Behavioral economics programs Open governance initiatives Data sourcing Civic & social good hackathons Civic tech competitions COMMON SOCIAL PROCESSESCOMMON SOCIAL PROCESSES
- 25. CONVENE Civic hacking meetups Backchannels Roundtables Working Groups Physical gathering places, hubs Tech translators & intermediaries Talent Pipeline Peer networks Partner networks Datapalooza Conferences INFORM Journalism, books, radio shows, blogs Educational programs and courses Online Forums Research Centers and Projects Digital Literacy groups Workshops Data analysis for public good BUILD Innovation teams, Labs Open source projects Social impact design groups Foundation initiatives Accelerators Incubators Tech companies with civic teams Behavioral economics programs Open governance initiatives Data sourcing Civic & social good hackathons Civic tech competitions COMMON SOCIAL PROCESSESCOMMON SOCIAL PROCESSES
- 27. CONVENE Civic hacking meetups Backchannels Roundtables Working Groups Physical gathering places, hubs Tech translators & intermediaries Talent Pipeline Peer networks Partner networks Datapalooza Conferences INFORM Journalism, books, radio shows, blogs Educational programs and courses Online Forums Research Centers and Projects Digital Literacy groups Workshops Data analysis for public good BUILD Innovation teams, Labs Open source projects Social impact design groups Foundation initiatives Accelerators Incubators Tech companies with civic teams Behavioral economics programs Open governance initiatives Data sourcing Civic & social good hackathons Civic tech competitions COMMON SOCIAL PROCESSESCOMMON SOCIAL PROCESSES
- 28. INNOVATION TEAMS
- 29. CONVENE Civic hacking meetups Backchannels Roundtables Working Groups Physical gathering places, hubs Tech translators & intermediaries Talent Pipeline Peer networks Partner networks Datapalooza Conferences INFORM Journalism, books, radio shows, blogs Educational programs and courses Online Forums Research Centers and Projects Digital Literacy groups Workshops Data analysis for public good BUILD Innovation teams, Labs Open source projects Social impact design groups Foundation initiatives Accelerators Incubators Tech companies with civic teams Behavioral economics programs Open governance initiatives Data sourcing Civic & social good hackathons Civic tech competitions COMMON SOCIAL PROCESSESCOMMON SOCIAL PROCESSES
- 30. WAYS TO ORGANIZE Degree of Change Conformist Reformist Transformist Who Pays (Customer) Government Philanthropy Private Who Uses (User) Gov Organization Individual How Civic Civic Feature Civic Product Civic Externality
- 31. WHO:
- 34. DEGREE OF CHANGE *Tony Roberts made this up! Conformist Reformist Transformist
- 35. HOW CIVIC Civic Feature Civic Product Civic Externality
- 36. FAILS FAILS
- 37. BREAK ME. ONLINE: http://bit.ly/organizecivictech IN PERSON: IN THE HALLWAY! AT PERSONAL DEMOCRACY FORUM, JUNE 9 AND 10 IN NYC
- 38. YOUR EXPERIENCE WILL VARY
- 39. THIS IS THE BEGINNING, NOT THE END. THANKS
Editor's Notes
- #2: MICAH We’re presenting these four things to you today. Micah introduces Matt and Erin Micah: Been tracking this for dozen + years, PDF, Civic Hall, etc. Matt: representing cross-sector experience of the fields converged into civic tech Erin: Microsoft, thesis on digital equity and community institutions, White House, CGI and now Labs
- #10: Continuation of conversation
- #13: Our methodology took the approach of going from the specific to the general: we looked at what tools and companies actually existed and then worked to group them by technical function. We chose to stay out of domains -- like ed tech, or smart cities -- and instead focus on what the technology enables, making most of these categories domain agnostic. . So you’re seeing here our list of common functions, each identified through analysis of a couple of hundred civic tech tools and companies. These are not mutually exclusive or collectively exhaustive. Part of our purpose in being here today is to gather additional data from you and get your criticisms on our work in order to improve it. Now, we’re going to go through and talk about three categories that we think are representative. We didn’t pick these out for any critically important reason, there are dozens of verticals to populate, we just want to show you how it works.
- #14: Digital communication channels between constituents and representatives, trying to improve the feedback loop.
- #15: PopVox, Countable, Write to Them, Neighborland, Citizen Budget Digital communication channels between constituents and representatives, trying to improve the feedback loop.
- #16: Platforms that enable residents to notify their government(s) of items in need of attention, often municipal.
- #17: SeeClickFix, Ushahidi, FixMyStreet, PublicStuff, Repara Platforms that enable residents to notify their government(s) of items in need of attention, often municipal.
- #19: Public Lab, I See Change, Street Bump, WayCount, Heat Seek Technology that quantifies the physical environment, such as traffic or environmental factors.
- #20: Just three of dozens of functions
- #31: We view this work as a prerequisite to asking more critical research questions. Thus, we’ve also developed a handful of suggested horizontal ways to organize the field that, together with our categories, can be particularly useful to researchers, funders, and wonks seeking to understand the space.
- #37: Old growth dies, leaving room for new growth. We intentionally included failed products in our review. It’s important to be able to track longevity and growth of efforts in this space in order to learn more about success and failure. It also helps us make --different-- mistakes, and point entrepreneurs who come into the space trying to recreate a failed effort to the past attempts and lessons learned.
- #38: This is flawed. We only speak English really. We welcome your input now and your late night rants later in our google sheet