What Is Civic Tech?

Tech has managed to pervade so many areas of modern life that it should really come as no surprise that it’s making its way into governance.
“Civic tech” is a term that’s all abuzz now, and can be defined as technology that “enables engagement or participation of the public for stronger development, enhancing citizen communications, improving government infrastructure, and generally improving the public good.”
There are so many examples of civic tech that even if you’ve never heard the term before it’s highly likely that you’ve interacted with it in some way. In 2016, the field is set for significant growth, with Omidyar Network’s internal analysis estimating that $285 million was raised in capital for U.S. civic tech companies in the previous year.
However, some involved in the field argue that it should be called “civic engagement”, as the emphasis is really on getting people to use tools that are already at their disposal—such as smartphones and social media accounts—to engage more meaningfully with government at the local level all the way up to the national level. Often what happens when civic tech is focused this way is is that the quality of a service already provided by the government is enhanced without a massive injection of resources or capital. This means that citizens not only feel their needs are being better met, but they also feel more engaged with their local or elected officials.
One of the leading mantras of this civic tech movement is “build with, not for”. This means that governments, innovators and developers shouldn’t presume to know what their communities and stakeholders want; instead they should involve them in the entire creation process, from brainstorming to design to development. This ensures that the finished product properly and compassionately serves the community it’s meant to, and that the users themselves have a stake in the final product, and thus are more likely to use it. Indeed, assuming you know what your end-user wants is very often a waste of time when it comes to civic tech projects and is even more likely to damage the relationship between government and citizen.

Here are some examples of inspiring civic tech projects that are improving governance and the lives of ordinary citizens:
Change Politics: This is a new election platform from the people behind the popular petition site change.org. It encourages voters in the US to submit questions which can be posed directly to candidates, and also provides a platform for voters to create a personalized ballot guide so they can go to the polls informed and organized on election day.
Citymart: Citymart is a platform that turns the urban solutions model on its head. Instead of asking city managers and vendors to think about the specific products and technologies the city needs to procure to get things done, it shifts the focus to the problem that needs to be solved, whether it’s noise in the neighborhood or re-appearing potholes on a street. Putting out a call for new ideas on how to solve a specific problem, rather than hiring someone who’s offering a narrow solution, opens up the potential to solve existing problems in new and more effective ways. The method has seen success, having solved more than 100 challenges in 50 cities around the world.
JustFix.nyc: A winner of New York City’s BigApps challenge late last year, JustFix.nyc is focused on helping tenants figure out how best to fix get issues or problems in their apartments by providing a tool to “document, organize, and take action in resolving your housing issues.” Access to information is one of the best responses to scrupulous landlords and tenants who know their rights, and their options are far more likely to see resolutions to problems and thus have better-quality housing.