Tech tools to empower people
A movement called civic tech uses technology to make it easier for people to access information and services
What can happen when technology meets the human desire for social and administrative change? "Civic tech" is a term that defines itself in service to a public, for the attainment of a public good. And in recent years this tech has played out in myriad ways. Initiatives like amandla.mobi (a petition and campaign organiser) and municipalmoney.gov.za (the National Treasury’s extensive budget data portal) are classic examples of how technology can be used to empower people or support a cause.
Openup is an NGO that produces tools to these ends — it is the tech team behind municipalmoney.gov.za, for example — and many of its initiatives transform data sources for more open interrogation...
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