Civic Tech Surgeries
As part of the TICTeC Labs programme, in 2021-2022 mySociety hosted six Civic Tech Surgeries, to diagnose, dissect and address Civic Tech dilemmas — and unlock impact. These were the precursor to subsequent TICTeC Actions Labs, where community members got together to commission a paid piece of work to tackle common challenges raised at Surgeries.
Browse Civic Tech Surgeries
Civic tech in hostile environments – how can we thrive in challenging contexts?
October 17, 2022
This surgery discussed the challenges of running civic tech initiatives in conflict settings and other difficult contexts. The panellists brought their experiences to the questions of how best to support the civic tech community in hostile environments; and what is – and isn’t – helpful when we are doing so.
Panel members were Teona Tomashvili of ForSet in Georgia; Yolanda Booyzen of the global organisation HURIDOCS; and Julie Hawke from the international Build Up.
Learning from climate action – how can civic tech drive impactful societal change?
July 14, 2022
This discussion centred around the opportunities and challenges in using civic tech to encourage people to change and coordinate their behaviour in ways that can cause significant changes in society, specifically through the lens of climate action.
Panel members were Laura Brown, Chief Marketing Officer of ISeeChange, Jacopo Ottaviani, Chief Data Officer at Code for Africa and Laurence Watson, Head of Technology at Subak.
Storytelling and reach: how can we amplify our successes beyond the civic tech community to evidence our impact through mainstream channels?
May 12, 2023
At this Civic Tech Surgery, the discussion was around the challenges of amplifying civic tech projects and their successes through mainstream channels, as well as their solutions and ideas to tackle these. The panel comprised Daniel Carranza of DATA Uruguay, Attila Juhász from K-Monitor in Hungary, Amy Leach of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data and mySociety’s Communications Manager Myfanwy Nixon.
Accessing quality information for civic tech success: how can we overcome barriers to accessing good data and documentation?
March 24, 2022
At this Civic Tech Surgery, the challenges of accessing quality data and information for civic tech projects, as well as ideas of how to tackle them, were discussed by Khairil Yusof from Sinar Project, Laura Zommer from Chequeado, Nati Carfi from Open Data Charter, Sym Roe from Democracy Club and Nehemiah Yelu Attigah from Odekro PMO, as well as Surgery attendees.
Ensuring civic tech is accessible: how can we lead and popularise best practice?
February 3, 2022
At this Civic Tech Surgery, the challenges of ensuring civic tech is accessible, as well as ideas of how to tackle them, were discussed by Mark Renja at Code for Africa, Laura Nelson-Hamilton at Public Digital, Oluseun Onigbinde of BudgIT Nigeria and Bonnita Nyamwire at Pollicy, as well as Surgery attendees.
Public-private collaborations: how can civic tech work effectively with public and private institutions?
October 28, 2021
At this Surgery, the challenges of public-private civic tech projects, as well as possible solutions to tackle them, were discussed by Aline Muylaert of CitizenLab; Amanda Clarke, of Carleton University; Gabriella Razzano of OpenUp in South Africa and Ebtihaj Khan from Code for Pakistan, as well as Surgery attendees.
The Surgery also featured reflections from civic tech researchers, to give perspectives on any existing evidence or research ideas on the topic that might be beneficial, that can then be elaborated on in subsequent TICTeC Action Labs.