On Friday, July 19th, 2024, at Aga Khan University in Nairobi, CcHUB’s Governance and Elections Unit (GoVote) hosted a workshop titled “Exploiting Civic Tech Opportunities & Strengthening the Resilience of African Communities at the #DataFestAfrica24 Event by Policy. 

The session co-hosted by Ndeye Fatou Diouf Communications and Digital Content Manager at AfricTivistes, Senegal, examined case studies of different civic tech innovations in Africa, and their significance in harnessing critical data for the community to drive government accountability, leadership, and community development. 

Here is what the #DataFestAfrica24 Event by CcHUB & AfricTivistes event had to teach us about Exploiting Civic Tech. 

The insightful event was kicked off by a session with Ndeye Fatou Diouf who gave a comprehensive overview of the African civic tech ecosystem, digital security and data protection, and the role of technology in mobilising for social change campaigns. She additionally underscored the significance of cross-organizational collaboration that would strengthen knowledge exchange and learning. 

Ndeye also discussed the almaring rates at which civic spaces are shrinking especially in countries under military rule, and the increased internet shutdowns. Internet shutdowns in countries under military rule significantly hinder citizens’ ability to utilise technology to share their views, and mobilise for social change. These shutdowns prevent citizens from accessing social media platforms and messaging apps which are more frequently used during election cycles. She also discussed ways to enhance community capacity, open up West Africa’s shrinking civic space, by providing access to adequate training and awareness, proper data visualisation and more collaboration between civil society organisations on campaigns. She went on to highlight tools to combat these barriers such as the AfricTivistes anti-censorship kits for human rights activists and web-activists opposed to censorship, as well as other critical tools the organisation has deployed to strengthen democratic governance and promote digital hygiene in the region. 

Yvonne Eweka, CcHUB’s Project Manager at the Technology and Society Practice, at CcHUB discussed the significant role that civic technology can play in promoting systemic change, the impact of civic tech innovation in fostering civic activism, as well as the role of emerging technology in strengthening community participation in governance processes across the continent. 

“To promote systemic change, there must be strategic partnerships and collective effort of all stakeholders to design solutions to solve the specific challenges of each region, guided by realistic data and research.”- Yvonne Eweka 

Emphasising the role technology plays in promoting citizen engagement and building digitally resilient African communities. Yvonne gave a detailed account of how the CcHUB GoVote platform has contributed in simplifying election information, and bridging the information gap between the electoral commission and the electorates.

The GoVote platform also serves as an effective means for empowering citizens with knowledge of governance, politics, and policy to demand accountability and transparency, while also highlighting other civic tech tools in the West African region. 

She also spoke on the role of data in building resilient communities, and the need to reassess the role of data in advocacy, community engagement techniques, in order to build more digitally resilient communities who can demand accountability and transparency for Africa’s growth.

While discussing several barriers to civic technology advancements in Africa, such as; a lack of adequate funding, ambiguity about tool design, poor internet connectivity, low collaboration amongst innovators and others, She share a comprehensive perspective about strategies required to build resilience in African communities and how harnessing the potentials of existing tools can combat these challenges, which include: building inclusive tools, sustained community engagement to amplify awareness, particularly among marginalised groups/communities, to increase use of digital tools, and leveraging the power of storytelling to deepen impact and engagement.

Furthermore, the workshop discussion addressed the critical role digital technology plays in community mobilisation and engagement, the need to build the capacity of communities and marginalised groups to be equipped with digital skills, and improving citizen usage of civic tools as a means of empowering them to amplify their voices in demand of accountable leadership, transparency, and inclusivity in governance processes. 

In conclusion, the workshop explored how harnessing the opportunities offered by new technologies can strengthen the capacity of communities in Africa, while adapting mechanisms to resist digital threats, because Africa is strategically positioned to harness the potentials in technology for social good. Exploiting civic tech could potentially improve the quality of healthcare, education, infrastructure and quality of life of citizenry.