The definition of what constitutes civic technology is contested to a certain extent,[4] especially with regards to companies engaged in the sharing economy, such as Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb.
For example, Airbnb's ability to provide New York residents with housing during the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy could be considered a form of civic technology.
This graph will enable more opportunities for access by governmental institutions and corporations to discover these innovators and use them for progressing society towards the future of technology and civic engagement.
Individuals from over 100 countries have contributed to the documentation of technology, resources, funding and general information concerning "tech for social good".
[10] Technology that is designed to benefit the citizenry places the governments under pressure "to change and innovate the way in which their bureaucracies relate to citizens".
[14] With more governments attaining a grasp on these technologies, it is paving the way towards more progressive and democratic political systems, for the concerns of future society and for those of the citizens of these nations.
[19] Grassroot is a technology platform that supports community organizers to mobilize citizens, built for low-bandwidth, low-data settings that allows for smart-messaging through text message.
UNICEF takes these responses and provides members of parliament (MP's) a weekly review of these results, acting as a bridge between government and Ugandan youth.
[16] Taiwan is highly ranked internationally for its technological innovations including open data, digital inclusivity, and widespread internet participation.
The online platform called "Join," for example, was created in 2015 to give Taiwanese citizens a way to discuss, review, and propose governmental policy.
This sandbox was created to support industry creativity by enabling entrepreneurs and companies to experiment freely with new technologies without legal constraints for a year.
[34] Big data analytics and QR code scanning also were used in Taiwan's response to the pandemic, which enabled the government to send out real-time alerts during clinical visits and track citizens' travel history and health symptoms.
Policy Advisor of the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs, Naoki Ota, who is a promoter of Code for Japan's civic tech projects.
[39] A different citizen-led project led by JP-Mirai is working to release an app that allows migrant workers to file complaints and address issues regarding items like visas and taxation.
[42] While civic technology initiatives in Japan had mostly been citizen-led, the inception of the coronavirus pandemic encouraged the Japanese government to transition to digitization.
[43] The government plans to focus on the digitization aspect of its functions: the implementation of more sophisticated systems in the central and local governments in order to increase the security of private and personal information and the transference from the primary use of Hanko –– a seal used in lieu of a signature on printed documents –– to digital verifications and documents in order to increase efficiency.
Key areas of focus include open data initiatives, digital platforms for citizen services, and tools for civic participation.
The ongoing efforts in this sector aim to empower citizens, improve governance, and address critical societal issues through innovative technological solutions.
[63] In 2002, MindLab an innovation public sector service design group was established by the Danish ministries of Business and Growth, Employment, and Children and Education.
[64][65][66] In Denmark, design within the public sector has been applied to a variety of projects including rethinking Copenhagen's waste management, improving social interactions between convicts and guards in Danish prisons, transforming services in Odense for mentally disabled adults and more.
The platform was created with the goal of enabling Estonian citizens to engage in collaborative decision-making, encouraging users to initiate petitions and participate in meaningful discussion on issues in society.
Several open-source, non-profit web platforms have been launched nationwide to support citizen's direct involvement: Communecter.org,[78] Demodyne.org[79] as well as Democracy OS France (derived from the Argentinian initiative).
[97] FixMyStreet.com is a website and app developed by mySociety, a UK based civic technology company that works to make online democracy tools for British citizens.
[99] Along with the platform itself, mySociety released FixMyStreet, a free and open-source software framework that allows users to create their own website to report street problems.
[104] Democracy Club is a community interest company, founded in 2009 to provide British voters with easy access to candidate lists in upcoming elections.
[139] And OpenGov creates software designed to enable public agencies to make data-driven decisions, improve budgeting and planning, and inform elected officials and citizens.
[147] An online simulation was created by taking the four presidential candidates in that election cycle and each were given policy issues based on the Mexican national agenda that they had to come up with a solution to.
[160] Fundación para el Desarrollo de la Libertad Ciudadana (English: Foundation for the Development of Citizen Freedom) is an organization founded in 1995.
[2] Knowledge of how to use computers is equally important when considering factors of accessing civic technology applications online, and is also generally lower in low-income households.
[176] Public Schools have taken the lead in ensuring proper technology access and education in the classroom to better prepare children for the high-tech world, but there is still a clear difference between online contributions from those with and without experience on the internet.