Comparison of civic technology platforms explained

Civic technology is technology that enables engagement and participation, or enhances the relationship between the people and government, by enhancing citizen communications and public decision, improving government delivery of services and infrastructure. This comparison of civic technology platforms compares platforms that are designed to improve citizen participation in governance, distinguished from technology that directly deals with government infrastructure.

Platform types

Graham Smith of the University of Southampton, in his 2005 book Beyond the Ballot, used the following categorization of democratic innovations:[1]

Comparison chart

!Platform Name!Founder!Dates Active!Corporate Structure!Geography!Parent Company!Party Affiliation!Technology Used!Open Source!Platform Type!Software License!Primary Funders
CitizenLabWietse Van Ransbeeck, Aline Muylaert, Koen Gremmelprez[2] September 2015[3] - PresentFor profitBrussels, Belgium[4] Proprietary softwareE-democracy innovation, Consultation innovation
Pol.isColin Megill, Christopher Small and Michael Bjorkegren-Present501(c)3Seattle, WAYesDeliberative DemocracyAGPL v3
Countable (app)Bart Myers, Peter Arzintar[5] July 2014 – PresentFor profitSan Francisco, California, United StatesNon-partisan
LoomioBen KnightNov 1, 2012 - PresentFor profitWellington, New ZealandRuby, Javascript[6] Deliberative InnovationAGPL v3[7] Crowdfunding[8]
DemocracyOSPia Mancini, Santiago Siri2012 - PresentNon profitPalo Alto, California, United StatesDemocracy Earth FoundationNet Party[9] JavaScript[10] Direct Democracy InnovationGPL v3[11] Y Combinator, Teespring
VotingWorksBen Adida2018-Present501(c)3San Francisco, CAn/aYesOpen-source voting system
GovTrackJoshua Tauberer[12] 2003[13] - PresentWashington, District of Columbia, United StatesCivic Impulse, LLC[14] Django[15] Crowdfunding
NGP VanMark T. Sullivan, Nathaniel Pearlman1997–presentFor profitWashington, DC, United StatesDemocratic and Progressive CampaignsProprietary softwareE-democracy innovation
OpenGovJoe Lonsdale, Mike Rosengarten, Nate Levine, Zac Bookman2012–presentFor profitRedwood City, California, United StatesJavaScript, Ruby, Java, PythonEmerson Collective
HustlePerry Rosenstein, Roddy Lindsay, Tyler BrockDec 2014For profitSan Francisco, California, United StatesProprietary softwareElectoral InnovationSocial Capital (venture capital)
ResistbotJason Putorti, Eric Ries2017–present501c4Saint Petersburg, Florida, United States[16] Resistbot Action FundNon-partisanPython, Amazon Web Services, RapidPro, Kubernetes, PostgreSQLYesElectoral innovations, Consultation innovations, Co-governance innovations, E-democracy innovationsCC0
LiquidFeedbackAndreas Nitsche, Jan Behrens, Axel Kistner and Bjoern Swierczek[17] November 2009[18] Berlin, Germany[19] Public Software Group, Interaktive Demokratie, FlexiGuided GmbH Lua (programming language), PL/pgSQLDeliberative InnovationMIT License
TurboVoteKathryn Peters, Seth Flaxman2010–present For profitDemocracy Works[20] Proprietary softwareElectoral Innovation
We The PeopleObama administrationSeptember 2011 – PresentGovernment AgencyWashington, DC, United StatesDemocratic PartyJavaScript, PHP, CSS[21] Co-governance InnovationGNU General Public LicenseUnited States Government
VoatzNimit S. Sawhney2014–presentFor profitBoston, Massachusetts, United States[22] Go[23] Electoral InnovationMedici Ventures
Helios VotingBen Adida2008–present[24] Non profitPython, JavaScript, HTML[25] Direct Democracy InnovationApache License
U ReportUNICEF Innovation[26] May 2011 – Present[27] Non profitNew York, United StatesUNICEFPython, HTML, CSS[28] Consultation InnovationGNU Affero General Public License
Maji VoiceWater Services Regulatory Board (WASREB)2012–present[29] Government AgencyNairobi, KenyaWater Services Regulatory Board (WASREB)Open SourceConsultation InnovationGNU General Public License[30] World Bank Water and Sanitation Program
Democracy 2.1Karel Janeček2013–presentPrague Municipal District, Czech RepublicProprietary softwareDirect Democracy Innovation
Secure VoteMax Kaye, Nathan Spataro[31] 2016–presentNew South Wales, AustraliaPython, HTML, Shell,[32] BlockchainDirect Democracy InnovationMIT License
BrigadeJames Windon, Jason Putorti, John Thrall, Matt Mahan, Miche CaponeJun 11, 2014[33] - May 1, 2019[34] For profitSan Francisco, California, United States[35] Brigade MediaProprietary softwareElectoral Innovation, Deliberative InnovationMarc Benioff, Ron Conway, Sean Parker[36]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Beyond the ballot: 57 democratic innovations from around the world. Smith. Graham. 2005. westminsterresearch.wmin.ac.uk. POWER Inquiry. en. 2018-04-18.
  2. Web site: CitizenLab. www.forbes.com. 2018-05-14.
  3. Web site: CitizenLab. www.facebook.com. en. 2018-05-12.
  4. Web site: About us - CitizenLab. citizenlab.co. 2018-05-14.
  5. Web site: Countable Wants To Make Politics A 'Continual Conversation'. TechCrunch. 16 July 2014 . en-US. 2019-12-31.
  6. Web site: loomio/loomio. GitHub. en. 2018-04-02.
  7. Web site: loomio/loomio. GitHub. en. 2018-04-02.
  8. Out in the Open: Occupy Wall Street Reincarnated as Open Source Software. WIRED. 2018-04-02. en-US.
  9. Web site: A Conversation With DemocracyOS, The YC Non-Profit That Built A Latin American Political Party – TechCrunch. techcrunch.com. 17 April 2015 . en-US. 2018-04-02.
  10. Web site: DemocracyOS/democracyos. GitHub. en. 2018-04-02.
  11. Web site: DemocracyOS/democracyos. GitHub. en. 2018-04-02.
  12. News: Web site a pork hunting ground / It joins others aiding analysis of bills for 'earmark' signs. SFGate. 2018-04-02.
  13. Web site: Joshua Tauberer's Homepage. razor.occams.info. 2018-04-02.
  14. Web site: govtrack/civic-impulse-llc. GitHub. en. 2018-04-02.
  15. Web site: govtrack/govtrack.us-web. GitHub. en. 2018-04-02.
  16. Web site: Resistbot. resist.bot. en. 2019-12-31.
  17. Web site: Etopia News L.A. talks with Andreas Nitsche Interaktive Demokratie. www.interaktive-demokratie.org. 2018-04-22.
  18. Web site: Information Kit (PDF).
  19. Web site: LiquidFeedback - The democracy software. liquidfeedback.org. en. 2018-04-22.
  20. Web site: Democracy Works: Democracy Fund. www.democracyfund.org. 2018-04-11.
  21. Web site: WhiteHouse/petitions. GitHub. en. 2018-04-23.
  22. Web site: Voatz. angel.co. 2018-04-19.
  23. Web site: blacktreebird/voatz. GitHub. en. 2018-04-19.
  24. Web site: Electing a University President using Open-Audit Voting: Analysis of real-world use of Helios. Adida, Marneffe, Pereira, Quisquater. Ben, Olivier, Olivier, Jean-Jacques.
  25. Web site: benadida/helios-server. GitHub. en. 2018-04-23.
  26. News: U-Report: Ilhasoft's application for Unicef - Ilhasoft. 2016-01-12. Ilhasoft. 2018-04-23. en-US.
  27. News: U-report application revolutionizes social mobilization, empowering Ugandan youth. UNICEF. 2018-04-23. en-US.
  28. Web site: rapidpro/ureport. GitHub. en. 2018-04-23.
  29. Web site: WB Maji Voice Policy Note.
  30. Web site: CustomerFeedbackSystem/code. GitHub. 15 August 2015 . en. 2018-04-23.
  31. News: SecureVote. 2017-04-26. Techboard. 2018-04-19. en-AU.
  32. Web site: muminoff/securevote. GitHub. 18 May 2016 . en. 2018-04-19.
  33. Web site: Sean Parker's Brigade Media Acquires Causes In Its Quest To Revitalize American Democracy. TechCrunch. 11 June 2014 . en-US. 2019-12-31.
  34. Web site: Sean Parker's Brigade/Causes acquired by govtech app Countable. TechCrunch. May 2019 . en-US. 2019-12-31.
  35. Web site: Follow Brigade on Index.co. Index.co. en. 2018-04-02.
  36. Web site: Brigade Media Raises $9.3M From Sean Parker To Shake Up American Democracy. TechCrunch. 14 April 2014 . en-US. 2019-12-31.

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