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In this episode, Afua Bruce discusses the connection between technology and social equity and explores the factors beyond technology that contribute towards a more equitable and inclusive society. She emphasizes that technology alone cannot create equity, but it can be used to support and advance equity. Afua also critiques the current development of technology and highlights the importance of involving the people who will be served by the technology in the design process. She discusses the values that should influence the development of technology, such as inclusivity, accessibility, and recognizing the value of lived experience. The book she co-authored, 'The Tech That Comes Next: How Changemakers, Technologists, and Philanthropists Can Build an Equitable World,' provides insights and guidance on using technology to advance equity.
Keywords
technology, social equity, inclusive society, technology development, design process, values, accessibility, lived experience, book
Takeaways
- Technology alone cannot create equity; it requires human involvement and decision-making.
- The development of technology should involve the people who will be served by it.
- Values such as inclusivity, accessibility, and recognizing lived experience should influence the development of technology.
- The book 'The Tech That Comes Next' provides insights and guidance on using technology to advance equity.
Sound Bites
"I don't think that technology alone can create equity."
"Technology can be used to support and advance equity, or it can be used to take us backwards and create a less equitable world."
"What we value is what we build." -
In this episode, the host, Nathi Mcetywa, and guest, Kavisha Pillay discuss the impact of misinformation and disinformation on the democratic process, particularly during elections. They explore the role of social media platforms in combatting these campaigns and the need for ethical development of AI. They also discuss the challenges of identifying and combating disinformation, the importance of digital literacy, and the role of the free press in providing accurate information. The guest shares insights on the work of CODE in exploring the intersection of technology, human rights, and democracy, and their focus on promoting ethical AI and progressive regulation.
Keywords
misinformation, disinformation, social media platforms, democratic process, elections, AI, ethical development, digital literacy, free press, CODE, technology, human rights, democracy, progressive regulation
Takeaways
Misinformation and disinformation campaigns are a significant threat to the democratic process, particularly during elections.
Social media platforms have a responsibility to combat these campaigns and change their algorithms to prevent the amplification of false information.
Developers of AI applications should prioritize ethical development and consider the potential biases and harm that their technology may cause.
Digital literacy is essential for individuals to critically evaluate information and verify its accuracy before sharing.
The free press plays a crucial role in providing accurate information and countering disinformation, but there is a need to rebuild trust and find sustainable funding models.
Progressive regulation is necessary to address the challenges posed by disinformation and ensure the protection of freedom of speech and expression.
Titles
The Role of the Free Press in Providing Accurate Information
The Role of Social Media Platforms in Combatting Disinformation
Sound Bites
"Social media can be used to polarize our societies and spread disinformation to persuade people to vote in particular ways."
"Recommendation systems and algorithms on social media platforms keep users scrolling and can amplify disinformation."
"Disinformation can have real-world consequences, and tech companies need to take responsibility for their role in creating this crisis."
Chapters
00:00
Introduction and the Impact of Misinformation on Elections
02:09
Guest Introduction: Kavisha Pillay and the Work of CODE
04:01
The Role of Social Media Platforms in Combatting Disinformation
08:30
Ethical Development of AI and the Need for Progressive Regulation
15:05
The Importance of Digital Literacy in Identifying Disinformation
35:24
The Work of CODE in Promoting Ethical AI and Progressive Regulation CODE -
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In this episode, Nathi interviews Paul Plantinga, a senior research manager at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in South Africa, about e-participation in governance. They discuss the landscape of participatory governance in South Africa and Africa, the use of digital platforms for public participation, and the challenges of online participation. Paul also shares insights from his work with municipalities and the importance of user-driven approaches and capabilities in e-participation. Their conversation ends with a mention of the HSRC's e-participation and policy modeling platform and the upcoming Civic Tech Innovation Forum.
In the second segment of the episode, Nathi speaks to Jono Bosman. Jono, a program manager at OpenUp, defines user-centered design and discusses its importance in the civic tech space. User-centered design is an approach to product development that focuses on the needs, preferences, and behaviors of users. It involves understanding the user through research and empathy, designing intuitive and useful tools, and constantly iterating based on user feedback. The concept of user-centered design can be applied in various ways, such as using language that is accessible to the target users and conducting interviews with diverse user groups. Co-creation and creating a feedback loop are also important aspects of user-centered design.
Keywords
e-participation, governance, digital platforms, public participation, challenges, municipalities, user-driven approaches, capabilities, HSRC, Civic Tech Innovation Forum
Takeaways
E-participation in governance is a complex and evolving field, with a mix of traditional and digital processes being used.
While there is a growing trend of government agencies using technology to engage with citizens, the majority of participation still happens through traditional methods.
Challenges in public participation include process literacy, access to information, and the over-politicization of processes.
The HSRC is working on a project to support e-participation in municipalities, focusing on user-driven approaches and specific capabilities.
The project aims to provide a toolkit for municipalities to assemble different ideas and capabilities based on their specific needs.
The upcoming Civic Tech Innovation Forum will be an opportunity for municipalities and the civic tech community to share experiences and learn from each other.
User-centered design is an approach to product development that focuses on the needs, preferences, and behaviors of users.
Understanding the user through research and empathy is crucial in user-centered design.
User-centered design can be applied by using language that is accessible to the target users, conducting interviews with diverse user
Titles
Challenges in Public Participation
Exploring E-Participation in Governance
Sound Bites
"We're talking about e-participation in matters of governance across the African continent, and more specifically about what happens when government agencies embrace digital technologies as a way to connect with their constituents."
"What's possibly more interesting in recent times is your kind of governance experimentation, your engagement experimentation more from the bottom up. So your civil society-led initiatives, those kinds of things that a number of organizations are doing in the country and that are part of the civic tech network."
"To what extent the digital processes and platforms are supporting any form of meaningful engagement. And I'm not sure there's clear evidence for that at a significant scale yet, even in any kind of specific population groups."
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Overview
01:20 E-Participation in Governance
08:30 Challenges in Digital Participation
11:31 Chaotic and Organized Participation Processes
26:07 E-Participation and Policy Modeling Platform Human Sciences Research Council · e-participation Toolkit -
In this episode, the host, Nathi Mcetywa introduces the new feature of the podcast, What in the Civic Tech?, and discusses the possibility of moving Africa's election process from a paper-based voting system to an electronic voting system. The guest, Dr. Maxwell Masago, talks about the readiness of South Africa and the African continent for e-voting. They explore the benefits and challenges of e-voting, including issues of trust, digital divide, infrastructure, and political will. While South Africa is seen as ready for e-voting, the readiness of the rest of the African continent varies.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made significant strides in various fields such as agriculture, technology, and digital health, and it has now made a grand entrance into government systems. Considering the current state of democracy in Africa, African governments cannot afford to lag behind in adopting this innovation. The introduction of AI in government systems stems from the growing demand for participatory and deliberative forms of democracy, including budget tracking, social audits, and transparent online voting systems.
In today’s episode, we spoke about something that’s not necessarily new but has been grabbing the headlines for a great part of this year. We will be looking at how Artificial intelligence can be used as a tool for good governance on the African continent.
This season we spoke briefly about initiatives that have used technology to keep governments accountable, and today I want us to get into some specifics around how Artificial Intelligence can be useful as a tool for accountability and transparency in government.
Olasupo Abideen has written about how this can be done and today we talk to him about a recent article he wrote for the Civic Tech Innovation Network. The article is titled ‘Exploring Artificial Intelligence Technologies for Enhanced Deliberative Democracy’. -
Yosr Jouini is an interdisciplinary researcher studying emerging technologies and their social implications in the global South. She is the director of Technoloxia, a technology & innovation centre based in Tunis. She is also the host of the 'Digitally Yours podcast', which specialises in digital rights. Technoloxia is a North African-based collective with a mission to provide community-centered perspectives on the region from the region.
Technoloxia is the newest member of the Regional Ambassador Programme (RAP). The Regional Ambassadors Programme (RAP) founded in 2022, is a programme aimed at strengthening regional connection and participation in the civic tech space.
Yosr joins Nathi Mcetywa to talk about the growth of civic tech in Tunisia and more generally in North Africa. She reflects on the impact that collaboration has had for North African civic tech organisations in Tunisia. She also reflects on another level of accessibility that innovators need to think about and what that means for innovators. Read more about accessibility from this 'Accessibility ABCs guide'. Technoloxia Website · Digitally Yours Podcast -
Financing and funding civic technology activities take up a significant portion of most organisations’ worry hours. Often, when there are shortages of funds, this is viewed as an organisational failure. But instead of looking at funding and financing as a reflection of innate value, it should rather be viewed as one of the tools that allow us to reach our social impact. It is a strategic tool that should be considered alongside all of an organisation’s other strategies as well.
In this episode we spoke to Razzano and Amy Mutua about some of the best ways civic tech organisations can go about financing their initiatives.
Gabriella is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of OpenUp, a civic tech lab based in Cape Town. She is also a board member of the Civic Tech Innovation Network. Senior Atlantic Fellow in Social and Income Equality; and an Expert on AI and Democracy for the African AI Observatory.
Amy Mutua is the Research Assistant for the Tayarisha Centre for Digital Governance.
This project is the culmination of ongoing dialogues and research conducted by the Civic Tech Innovation Network (CTIN) which have aimed at exploring financing issues, strategies and models appropriate and applicable for the African civic tech innovation ecosystem.
African civic tech plays a significant role on the continent, but many innovators in the space still struggle with their funding and financing options. In some ways this mirrors challenges in other non-profit and social innovation work, but we think that there are also new, unique challenges.
They created this project to provide a platform for civic tech innovators and organisations across Africa with access to resources, information, and the co-learning networks they may need to help grow and sustain their practice and impact. This site is intended as an interactive, ever-growing space and we encourage you to own, engage and interact with its resources and tools.
And of course (as co-owners!), also let us know how we can improve it so that it is as useful as possible to you and your civic tech peers.
This work contributes to CTIN’s core mission by connecting people and organisations with diverse knowledge, skills, experience and expertise and providing relevant information and insights on civic tech from the African continent and elsewhere. In this way, the innovation network aims to contribute to growing the civic tech community, improving practices and outcomes.
This project was initially funded by CIVICUS – supported by the CHARM project. The microsite ... -
The Ushahidi Platform helps communities turn information into action with an intuitive and accessible crowdsourcing and mapping tool. By enabling the rapid collection, management and analysis of crowdsourced information, Ushahidi empowers everyone—individuals, community groups, governments, activists, organizations—to create meaningful change.
In this episode, we spoke to Daniel Odongo from Ushahidi. Daniel is the director of implementation at Ushahidi. We spoke to Daniel about their development and growth in civic tech in Africa and across the world -
Parliamentary monitoring sites allow citizens to keep an eye on the people in power. They make it easy to find out who represents you, what’s being debated, and how members have voted. Mzalendo Trust, located is a non-partisan entity that keeps an eye on Kenyan Parliament with a mission to facilitate public participation in Parliamentary processes through Information Sharing, Research and Networking.
In today’s episode we are talking to Philip Gichana about this tool. We are going to look at how effective this tool is, how the public responds to it, how the media benefits from information shared on this platform, but most importantly we will talk about the interesting processes of data collection and visualisation that happen in the background.
Mzalendo Trust are one of the grantees in the Charter Project Africa initiative. The Charter Project Africa is a three-year pan-African initiative supporting civil society to promote the continental commitments contained in the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG). This charter is a central African Union policy document that aims to advance democratic governance in African Union member states.
Website Link: https://info.mzalendo.com/ Mzalendo Trust -
YouLead is Africa’s flagship Youth Leadership Program working to unlock youth leadership potential for a prosperous continent by identifying, recognizing, connecting and fostering cooperation among Africa’s vibrant and influential young leaders and their initiatives.
A joint initiative of MS Training Centre for Development Cooperation (MSTCDC) and the East African Community (EAC) in Arusha, Tanzania. H.E. Jakaya Kikwete, former President of Tanzania is YouLead Africa’s current Patron.
YouLead Africa as one of the beneficiaries of the 2022 AGA Civic Tech Fund Award implemented the upscaled ‘Africa Unplugged Series’, a convergence of social media platforms and high-definition audio-visual streaming, to provide relevant content and engagement for African youth with their leaders.
Noting the lack of civic spaces for African citizens, especially young people, to meaningfully participate in governance spaces at the national, regional and continental level, YouLead modeled Africa Unplugged as a continent-wide space for precisely that.
For African youth to plug into policy and programming processes and build solidarity on key emerging issues to create awareness on issues specific to youth participation, and voice in governance.
Website: https://www.youlead.africa/ -
This podcast episode is co-funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of The Charter Project Africa and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union
The Charter Project Africa is a pan-African initiative supporting civil society to promote the continental commitments contained in the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) – the central African Union policy document to advance democratic governance in African Union member states. The project is led by six organisations and lasts for three years, starting in the course of 2021. It has a dedicated secretariat based in Addis Ababa which creates linkages between pan-African civil society and African Union policymakers.
SIVIO Institute (SI) is an independent organisation focused on ensuring that citizens are at the centre of processes of socio-economic and policy change. It aims to contribute towards Africa’s inclusive socio-economic transformation. It is borne out of a desire to enhance agency as a stimulus/catalyst for inclusive political and socio-economic transformation.
In this episode, we spoke to Andrew Songa, the Civil Society Secretariat Coordinator at The Charter Project Africa who outlined the Charter Project Africa's Objectives. We also spoke to Eddah Jowah from the SIVIO Institute, one of the grantee organisations participating in the Project. Eddah Jowah is currently the Programs Manager at the SIVIO Institute.
Eddah spoke to Nathi Mcetywa about what the SIVIO Institute's vision of a citizen-led democracy looks like and spoke about the measures they are taking to ensure that citizens are able to take the opportunity to get involved in democratic processes in Zimbabwe SIVIO Institute · Charter Project Africa · African Citizens Watch · SIVIO Institute Annual Barometer Report -
The Civic Tech Innovation Network (CTIN), in partnership with the South Africa Centre for Evidence (SACE) invites you to join us as we launch the Civic Tech in Africa Evidence Map, where we will present key findings of the Evidence Map. Yasmin Shapurjee joins host, Nathi Mcetywa for this episode.
The aim of the Evidence Mapping project is to create a common, up-to-date evidence/ knowledge base about civic tech in the African context, to improve support, decision-making and advocacy in relation to civic tech (including more broadly civil society innovation, tech for good and digital governance). At CTIN, we define civic tech as the “appropriate and effective use of digital innovation in connecting government and citizens, in public participation, in transparency and accountability and in delivering public services”.
The launch event will present an opportunity for participants to engage with the map, ask questions and to provide feedback.
Event Details:
Date: Wednesday 8 March 2023
Time: 10.00 AM -12:00 PM
Venue: Tshimologong Precinct and Online
To RSVP to attend the in-person launch email Yasmin Shapurjee at [email protected]
To join online: https://wits-za.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEkdu6prDIoHtHpofEZ4BZWflxvORtyDlhV Join Launch Event Online -
When the printing press was invented more than 500 years ago, it was certainly done with good intentions. However, one of the unintended side effects of that innovation was its use to incite people.
In our times, the story of the Internet may sound similar. The internet, and in particular social media, has become the main theatre of manipulation and incitement. Our online spaces are home to negative commentary and reviews, manipulation and incitement, resulting in dire consequences for individuals, corporations and even nation states.
But what if these negative features of manipulation and incitement aren’t going away and are going to stay as part of our life in the digital world?
Today’s episode look at how we can counter misinformation and manipulation, and whether there is Anything Civil Society Organisations can do?
Joining us for this conversation are Simone Toussi, Melyn McKay and Valerie Khan -
Dear South Africa is a non-profit organisation that facilitates public participation to help shape legislative policy at a municipal, provincial and national level. DEARSA Website · DearSA on Twitter
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Have you come across any stories reported using data visualation tools lately. That's the work of a data journalist using data to explain complex stories of public interest. Africa Data Hub seeks to lower the barriers that African journalists face to access and use data in their storytelling around health and development.
The Africa Data Hub (ADH) is a collective of data organisations operating across three African countries that work together to provide local journalists with verified accurate up-to-date data, tools, training, mentoring and support to tell the stories that matter with the data they need. We believe that access to quality data not only has the potential to challenge power and the status quo, but also to have a direct impact in addressing vulnerability, inequity and exclusion.
Featured in this episode is Sarah Findlay. Sarah is 'Africa Data Hub' Project Lead at Open Cities Lab. Africa Data Hub Website · Facebook Page · Africa Data Hub Twitter Page -
Pollicy is a feminist collective of technologists, data scientists, creatives and academics working at the intersection of data, design, and technology to craft better experiences for tech users Pollicy Website · Pollicy on Twitter · Pollicy on LinkedIn
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The Civic Tech Innovation Network (CTIN), in partnership with the International Civil Society Centre (ICSCentre), hosted a discussion titled ‘Making Data Accessible’ as part of its #DigitalDialogues Series.
In our current digital age and what is often termed as a ‘data-driven’ world, civic tech organisations, civil society organisations (CSOs) and similar advocacy organisations have played and continue to play an important role in either collecting and providing the public with access to data or fighting government institutions for access to open data that is accessible and comprehensible.
Considering the evolution of the data landscape, massive amounts of digital information is created daily and when analysed, has the potential to help society understand how to perform better in the future. Civic innovations have thus been leveraged as a means to access data so that we may solve social problems.
Big data is often used as the catch-all term for large, diverse sets of information and while this concept has gained traction within the civic tech field, it has to some extent generated an unintended consequence of making data less open and accessible. Without the sophisticated knowledge in Artificial Intelligence tools used to analyse big data, the use of data in communities for social impact has been significantly limited.
In this session, moderated by Tolulope, we spoke to civic actors that will share insights and lessons from their experiences in making data accessible and comprehensible through partnering with the government. This session is intended to shed light on some of the victories and challenges associated with partnerships of this nature and whether they truly are able to make data open and accessible to the public. -
This year marks 15 years since the adoption of the African Charter on Democracy Elections and Governance (ACDEG). The ACDEG is a framework whose main objective was for African States to adopt good democratic and governance principles.
In this episode, we talk about an initiative aimed at boosting civic participation in issues of democratic governance on the African continent. Justin Arenstein spoke to us about the recently launched Charter Project Africa initiative. We talk about how the Civic Tech landscape in Africa and some initiatives doing great work on the continent.
Jason Bygate joins us as co-host for this episode. Jason is the Head of Innovation, Tech, and Data for Development at Capacitate Social Solutions, and he’s recently launched the YoMobi platform in partnership with PwC and UNICEF. He spoke to us briefly about this initiative as well.
Get in touch:
Visit https://civictech.africa/
Follow @CivicTechAfrica on Twitter
Follow Civic Tech Innovation Network on Facebook
Follow Civic Tech Innovation Network on LinkedIn
Share your civic tech initiative with us Charter Project Africa Website · CodeforAll on Twitter · The Charter Project Africa on Twitter · YoMobi Website -
The global reach of international civil society organisations (ICSOs) allows these organisations to develop, scale-out, and tailor innovative approaches and novel use of technology across borders and in different countries and settings. They may also have sufficient resources to influence the policies and operational and resourcing environments for the development and adoption of innovation and technology in some national contexts. While pursuing their own broad digital innovation and transformation strategy, they invest in their operations and internal functions, and data management.
These organisations operate with technological partners and outsource the development and maintenance of specific digital functions. Data is often stored and processed by commercial partners. There are ICSOs investing in start-ups. At the same time, there is considerable digital innovation from grassroots groups, civic tech networks, local NGOs, and social enterprises, generating effective data and digital solutions and new ideas for using tech for social good in the areas and with the communities, they support and represent. Initiatives that demonstrate proven impact and innovation can attract interest for wider applicability and replication, beyond the operational or resourcing mandates and constraints of where they originated.
Get in touch:
Follow @CivicTechAfrica on Twitter
Follow Civic Tech Innovation Network on Facebook
Follow Civic Tech Innovation Network on LinkedIn
Share your civic tech initiative with us
Visit https://civictech.africa/ -
In this episode, we are talking about innovation hubs and their importance as an ecosystem for entrepreneurs and innovators to build on their knowledge and be empowered while also having a societal impact in the broader sense. We also talk about the entrepreneurial nature of innovation hubs and how they help in creating sustainable tech innovations.
Co-creation Hub (CcHUB) is Nigeria’s first open living lab and pre-incubation space designed to be a multi-functional, multi-purpose space where work to catalyze creative social tech ventures take place. The HUB is a place for technologists, social entrepreneurs, government, tech companies, impact investors, and hackers in and around Lagos to co-create new solutions to the many social problems in Nigeria. Co-Creation Hub - Visa fler
