Summary:
- This paper interrogates the emerging (‘civic tech’) in the southern African democracy and governance landscape and explores possible futures and policy implications of civic tech in the region in the run-up to 2030.
- The study’s key findings point to strong though unequal growth in civic tech across the southern Africa region, with a strong focus on democracy and governance, notably web-based applications.
- While the study revealed numerous visions, potentials and examples of strong civic tech-enabled futures that could be more ‘organic, shared and positive’, it also identified numerous disablers and challenges to the effective embedding of civic tech in the region.
- An emerging question is which of two observable pathways for civic tech is likely to dominate: civic tech as an extension of or accompaniment to the role of government, or civic tech as a more independent, community-driven, emancipatory development approach?
- Recommended approaches to civic tech arising from the study are two-fold: an innovation-focused approach, which is based on deepening democratic engagement and securing more sustainable funding models, and a government-focused approach, which seeks to better understand and leverage civic tech, while also supporting healthy digital ecosystems in which civic tech can independently thrive.
- The study’s findings have important implications both for governments, which are broadly looking to deliver on promises of participatory democracy, and innovators who are well placed to support the public good through digital applications in various modes across the budding civic tech community.
- Further research should more deeply examine the roles of other, non-state actors in determining the prospects for civic tech and its new roles in democracy and governance.
