“The civic space in South Africa is underserved by technology, yet there are highly skilled technologists and entrepreneurs in the growing tech ecosystem.” — Codebridge
1
Dataquest per month
1
Accountability Workshop per month
November 2015 End date
December 2016
Issue
Around the world, more and more technologists are working in the civic space, but this is very unusual in South Africa.
Local programmers are considered to be among the best in the world, but few are involved in any civic activities because there is little opportunity for payment.
This results in civil society being underserved by technology, and many opportunities to use technologies are missed.
Project
Codebridge is a Cape Town-based hub that focuses on incubating civic startups with the aim of increasing tech innovation in the social and development spaces.
Through this partnership with Making All Voices Count, Codebridge is looking at which technology innovations can be increased in the civic space by connecting actors across civil society, government and technology. Project activities are focused on increasing the number of collaboration events between actors, and increasing the capacity of the hub to facilitate these events.
Capacity-building activities include dedicated community management, improved internet bandwidth and a data journalism school that will increase the uptake of open data by civic actors.
Partner
Established in 2012 in Cape Town, Codebridge is both a physical space and a brand. Known among the developer community as an alternative hackerspace, the Codebridge philosophy is to bring together activists, technologists, journalists, data analysts, designers, programmers and others, to create opportunities for innovations and alternative ways to address some of society's challenges. Codebridge aims to use civic technology to improve lives through efficiency and transparency, connecting citizens to service.