TICTeC stands for ‘The Impacts of Civic Technology Conference’, and since 2015 mySociety has convened an international mix of researchers, practitioners, policymakers, philanthropists and tech giants to examine how civic technology is shaping society.

This event is the third in a series of TICTeC Show & Tells where speakers from across the world will each have 7 minutes to share their real and in-depth research and lessons learnt related to the use and impacts of civic technology. You can see other upcoming events in this series over on the TICTeC website.

TICTeC is a safe place to honestly examine what works, what doesn’t, what can be improved, what to be aware of etc, so ultimately, better digital tools are developed.

During this event, we'll hear energetic and to-the-point Show & Tells from the following speakers:

#PlanTech and the geospatial ecosystem

Ben Fowkes (Delib)

The climate crisis and the pandemic have shown that we have to modernise the places we live and work, and the means by which we get between them, if we’re to be ready for the future. Every local policy decision now has a spatial consideration, from how we reduce our transport systems’ impact on the environment to how our cities adapt to more people working from home.

Delib's new PlanTech product, Citizen Space Geospatial, incorporates interactive mapping and geospatial data throughout the digital engagement process, with broad-reaching implications for the field of public participation.

What are the effects of OpenStreetMapping on the mappers themselves?

Aishworya Shrestha (Kathmandu Living Labs)

We all understand the benefits of OpenStreetMap to society as a whole — but new research indicates that the very experience of contributing to the crowdsourced geospatial database has quantifiable long term beneficial effects, increasing the skills, wellbeing and self-belief of those who volunteer.

Aishworya talks through an extended study which examined the skill-based and emotional effects on a cohort of interns who contributed to maps in Nepal.

Open data for local self governance: learnings from five Ukrainian cities

Nadiia Babynska (OpenUp Ukraine)

Nadiia, who project managed the GIS for Integrity cities project, discusses how to improve data and assets governance at the local level, how digitalisation can allow access to public information and the development and launch of (geo)information systems.

Using examples from five Ukrainian cities she discusses implementation, problems and barriers. Open data, open source and open by default/by design principles are at the core of these projects.

Digital Champions: community led development monitoring in Tanzania

Janet Chapman (Tanzania Development Trust/Crowd2Map)

In another vivid demonstration of the power and versatility of OpenStreetMap, Janet presents Crowd2Map's activities in Tanzania, which include countering female genital mutilation and gender-based violence, plotting access to water and health facilities and surveying villagers' SDG priorities.

This volunteer project trained first time smartphone users in all 87 villages of Serengeti District to become digital champions, with positive results.

Disfactory: mapping and reporting illegal factories in Taiwan

Yun Chen (g0v.tw community, Taiwan)

Taiwan is home to an estimated 55,000 illegal factories, situated on farmland across the country. Thanks to the Disfactory platform, a crowdsourced project born from a hackathon, anyone can now report a factory they suspect of operating illegally.

The project has changed government policy, opened up data and brought about the investigation — and even demolition — of more than 150 factories. Here is a real example of where civic tech has brought positive change to society.

Visualising the future: how 3D imaging helps residents understand proposed changes

Peter Kemp (Planning at the Greater London Authority)

London needs housing: that is clear. But when construction is planned in a local neighbourhood, it's understandable that existing residents might not fully comprehend the changes that are proposed — and evidence suggests that 45% of the UK's population are unable to read a plan.

What if game engine technology could be repurposed to give people a realistic image of how their neighbourhood would look, should plans be passed? With everyone better informed, any objections would be based on facts rather than assumptions. When 3D Repo brought this idea to the Mayor of London’s Civic Innovation Challenge, it won the award.

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Who is this event for?

Anyone interested in how geospatial technology has been used to involve citizens in planning and monitoring projects. We think the event will be of particular interest to elected government representatives, civil servants, civic tech practitioners and researchers, funders and software developers.

Further info

There will be ample opportunity for attendees to ask questions during the discussion, and speakers will get back to them straight after the event; so do come along armed with questions you may have!

Joining instructions (we'll be using Zoom) will be sent with your confirmation email once you register. Please direct any questions about this event to Gemma Moulder at gemma@mysociety.org.

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