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The Politics of Civic Tech Platforms!
FrontlineSMS!Sean McDonald!
Civic tech started as an idea. !!That became a community.!!Then became a buzzword.!!Now, it is a market.!
What defines civic tech isn’t just about value.!!!!It’s about values.!
In a connected world,!community values begin!with!!relationships in context.!
Relationships begin by meeting people
where they are!
So, Mobile?!7.2 billion active mobile subscribers!3.6 billion unique users!!SMS is the only platform that reaches them all!
Interna(onal Telecommunica(ons Union, 2010
The world’s most accessible data channels !!!!are still offline.!
Defining civic tech will require us to design systems for more than one platform!!and ask a few hard questions. !
What is Minimum Viable Usability? !!!!For who?!
Governments can’t design for one user.
Tech systems do. This is a BIG difference.
How solutions scale!
0! 20k!downloads!
The Scale of Simple Usability !
Data ≠ Usability!!
Usability ≠ Engagement!!
Engagement ≠ Impact!
Data is not an output, it defines the entire process.!!Digital access defines representation.!Indicators define priorities.!Routing defines power.!Algorithms define decision-making.!Visualizations define understanding.!Reporting defines accountability.!!Every decision about data is a !decision about power.!!!!!
Open !Is!!!!Not !Enough!
Is civic tech good business?!!A complement to business?!!Good branding for the same old business?!
The Non-Profit Business
Can venture capital help governments and communities build !equitable relationships or will it lead to !trickle down democracy?
Often, we don’t need more platforms or products, we need better connections. !
Ci(zens Ci(es & Coun(es State
How Connected Systems (could) Communicate
Na(onal
civic tech isn’t about individual platforms or people, it’s about the structure of the information relationships between them
Relationships are Networked Communications Infrastructure!
Most governments (and people) simply aren’t designed to listen at scale. !!Listening requires shared understanding. And shared context.
Frontline Connects Platforms and Systems
#The Value of Connected Civic Text!
Message-powered healthcare! Zimbabwe Ministry of Health!St. Gabriel’s Hospital, Malawi!
Pa(ents book appointments with remote hospitals and clinics.
Community health workers monitory and report symptoms, enabling officials to recognize outbreaks earlier.
St. Gabriel’s handles twice as many pa(ents at half the cost. Disease repor(ng in Zimbabwe improves by 400%, covering 75% of the country.
Interactive radio! Search for Common Ground, Ghana!
SFCG used Frontline to enable community radio sta(ons to take ques(ons from listeners via SMS.
Listeners can text in their ques(ons and get them answered live on the air.
Enabling sta(ons to halve the cost of listener engagement.
Message-powered banking! Honey Care, Kenya!
Community based savings organiza(ons (SACCOs) use Frontline to enable members to remotely deposit into their accounts.
Deposit processing (me was reduced by 85%, and average account balance improved by 50%.
Message-powered education! VSO Int’l., Papua New Guinea!
VSO Interna(onal used SMS to deliver stories to schools in remote areas where books were scarce.
Stories and lesson plans were delivered daily, and based on a structured phone(cs curriculum.
Students in the program were twice as likely to meet literacy standards for their age.
NETWORKED LAND TITLING! Mercy Corps, Bolivia!
Mercy Corps incorporated Frontline into a digital land (tling process for rural farmers.
Land (tles were delivered 40% faster and cheaper under the program.
Land boundary loca(ons, agreement statuses, and (tling agency reports were transmi\ed over SMS.
The most powerful civic technology we have is finding!!!!better ways to work together. !
DESIGN Not for some People. !Not by some People.!With All the People.!
