The Catalyst: Civic Technology- Innovations for Social Change

The Kenyan civic tech community has grown over the last decade and now has over 30 initiatives. The rapidly advancing information and communication technologies have had a profound impact on democracy, providing new platforms for civic mobilization and the dissemination of news and critical information.

As we approach the 2022 Kenyan General Election, these technologies become an even more critical component in our democratic process. So, it’s prudent to get a better understanding of how these technologies are being used, how it is affecting relationships between governments and its citizens as well as any new innovations that could play a significant role in safeguarding our democracy.

The Participating Civic Tech Organizations
Mzalendo - Mzalendo is a Kenyan non-partisan Parliamentary monitoring organization whose mission is to “promote the realization of open, inclusive, and accountable Parliaments across Kenya and Africa” We champion access to Parliamentary information and use technology to make Parliament more accessible.
Ushahidi - Ushahidi is an open-source software application that utilizes user-generated reports to collate and map data. It uses the concept of crowdsourcing serving as an initial model for what has been coined as "activist mapping" - the combination of social activism, citizen journalism, and geographic information. The Ushahidi platform is often used for crisis response, human rights reporting, and election monitoring. Ushahidi (Swahili for "testimony", closely related to shahidi which means "witness") was created in the aftermath of Kenya's disputed 2007 presidential election that collected eyewitness reports of violence reported by email and text message and placed them on a Google Maps map.
Open Institute (Nuru Project) - An initiative of the Open Institute, Nuru allows citizens to document Covid-19-related issues and concerns in their communities. Using live images and location, citizens can report on the socio-economic impact of the pandemic, including the availability of water and sanitation, food prices, acts of kindness, innovations, lost income, and more. The information crowdsourced via Nuru is shared with the government and other stakeholders to support the development of responsive solutions to the unique challenges facing Kenyans during the pandemic.
Code For Africa - Code for Africa is Africa’s largest data journalism and civic technology initiative, operating CitizenLabs across the continent to help fast-track digital experimentation and transformation in newsrooms and other social justice organizations. The supported the (GotToVote Project)- GotToVote is a toolkit of simple web and SMS services that help citizens get to the ballot box informed and ready to vote. GotToVote! Kenya is designed to help citizens find their nearest voter registration center, so that they can ensure they are eligible to vote.

Panelists:
1. Al Kags - Executive Director of Open Institute
2. Gitungo Wamere - Senior Programme Officer at Mzalendo
3. Angela Oduor Lungati - Executive Director at Ushahidi

Click on this link to -> Register for the event