Trendy trends in civic tech

June 22, 2016

Tin Geber, The Engine Room@tingeber @engnroom

Civic Tech is the use of technology for the public good

What are trendy trends in civic tech?

Civic Tech Field Guide - bit.ly/organizecivictech

- 387 projects

- 33 categories

Trend 1Proliferation

Tool selection research - toolselect.theengineroom.org

- 40 orgs interviewed

- half of them said the tool they created wasn’t used at all

“If you wonder why you don’t see your idea already out there in the world, it’s because your idea didn’t work the hundreds of other times someone tried it.” - Joshua Tauberer

Trend 2Disappointment?

The Three Things You Should Ask Yourself

Who are your USERS?

What is the PROBLEM to solve?

What TECH should you use?

USERS

PROBLEM TECH

USERS

TECHPROBLEM

TrustOrg TransparencyProactive openness

Responsible use of data

Key Takeaways

- Users, Problem, Tech: the seldom-overlapping trio

- Collaboration is vital (and smart)

- Trust is key (and hard)

- Build trust through:

- org transparency

- proactive openness

- responsible data usage

Selected readings:

- This presentation! engn.it/trendycivictech

- Joshua Tauberer “So you want to reform democracy” (@joshuatauberer)

- Lauren McEllen - www.buildwith.org (@elle_mccann)

- Tom Steinberg - “Over-politeness is the fatal flaw in the open data movement” (@steiny)

- Matt Stempeck - “Towards a taxonomy of #civictech”

- Civic Tech Field Guide - bit.ly/organizecivictech

- Responsible Data Program: responsibledata.io

- The Engine Room: theengineroom.org (@engnroom)