EMAIL DETAILS

I thought you would be interested in the following report on a new NDI
initiative to help develop a global network of technologists who can
enhance the efforts of democratic governments to better deliver for their
citizens in the face of rapid technological change.

With best regards,

Ken


Kenneth Wollack
President
National Democratic Institute
455 Massachusetts Ave., NW, 8th Floor
Washington, DC 20001
202-728-5500 (Tel)
888-875-2887 (Fax)
email: ken@ndi.org
website: www.ndi.org


The National Democratic Institute (NDI) is proud to announce a partnership
with Code for All, a global network of civic technology organizations, to
support the network in sharing their learning and experiences and bringing
the Code for All model to additional parts of the globe.

This week’s New York Times Magazine
<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/13/magazine/design-issue-code-for-america.html?_r=0>
features the work of Code for America <https://www.codeforamerica.org/> and
the story of technology fellows working with local government in California
to simplify and improve the application process for food stamps in the
state. This feat was a surprisingly impressive one, which was alluded to by
the article’s subtitle: “Why is it so hard to make a website for the
government?”

Code for America was founded in 2009 with the simple idea that improving
government use of technology can improve the lives of citizens. Silicon
Valley has championed “user-centered” design—building technologies and
interfaces that are intuitive to use regardless of the complexity of the
system. Code for America believes that user-centered design isn’t just how
we should design technology, it is how we should design government. Since
its creation, Code for America has placed fellows in local governments and
engaged groups of volunteers called “brigades” all over the United States
to help make government more user friendly.

The Code for America model has proved successful and, in 2013, it launched Code
for All <https://codeforall.org/>, an international network of
organizations that have replicated the idea all over the world. Starting
with four chapters—in the U.S., Germany, Mexico and the Caribbean—the
community has spread globally to include Code-for organizations in
Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa and
regionally in Africa. The network continues to grow and there are dozens of
organizations aspiring to join Code for All in the coming year.

The Code for America and Code for All model aligns with NDI's mission by
engaging citizens in helping governments work for the people they
represent—not just by improving the use of technology, but by creating a
culture of innovation in democratic institutions. Code for All chapters
have partnered with governments on a wide range of issues, from monitoring
air quality, to refugee integration, to disaster management, to locating
child care services, to simplifying government services.

This week, NDI Chairman Madeleine Albright visited Code for America’s
office in San Francisco to discuss the importance of the organization’s
work in the civic technology community. Earlier, a one-day planning
meeting, facilitated by NDI, for members of the Code for All network was
held at the margins of the 2016 Code for America Summit from November 1 to
3. Each of the Code for All member organizations were represented at the
planning meeting, along with aspiring members from Romania, Canada, and
Taiwan.

These events build on a recent memorandum of understanding signed by NDI
and each of the Code for All chapters. NDI will be working with Code for
All in a secretariat role, supported by the National Endowment for
Democracy, to onboard new member organizations, ramp up exchanges and
sharing among network members, and expand resource mobilization to build
and strengthen the network. Code for All will also explore the creation of
a category of affiliate organizations which can benefit from the expertise
and experiences of the community. This new partnership builds off of past
NDI work to help create networks of domestic election monitors
<http://www.gndem.org/>, legislators
<http://www.opengovpartnership.org/groups/legislative> and civil society
organizations <http://openingparliament.org/> advocating for the openness
of parliaments, and civic innovators <https://www.redinnovacion.org/>
around the world.

Code for All chapters have already brought to life a wide array of projects
that are impacting citizens on a variety of issues. Code for Pakistan has
worked with disaster management agencies
<http://codeforpakistan.org/blog/portfolio-item/pdma-emergency-official-web-app/>
to redesign their online presence and streamline the provision of relief to
disaster-stricken residents. Code for Germany's local lab in Stuttgart came
together to build cheap air quality sensors, distribute them to citizens
throughout the city, and is now crowdsourcing air quality data
<http://opendata-stuttgart.github.io/feinstaub-map/> in a city where air
pollution has posed a significant public health issue. The Kenyan chapter
of Code for Africa launched Dodgy Doctors
<http://www.icfj.org/blogs/code-africas-dodgy-doctors-tool-spurs-societal-change-kenya>,
a tool to check that your local doctor is a registered physician, which
addressed a widespread problem of fake doctors in the country and led to
policy changes. Code for Japan built Papa Mama Map
<http://www.codeforsapporo.org/papamama/>, a map of childcare centers and
nursery schools in cities around Japan to allow new parents to find a
facility that meets their child's needs. And in Mexico City, Code for
Mexico (Laboratorio para la Ciudad, the official innovation unit of the
Mexico City government) has developed the first interactive moving map of
private minibuses in the city, Mapatón <http://mapatoncd.mx/>. This is just
a small sample of the projects that have been launched.

Governments around the world are faced with the challenge of successfully
delivering for their citizens in the face of rapid technological change.
NDI look forward to working with the Code for All chapters around the globe
to help democratic institutions meet this challenge.

For more information about NDI's partnership with Code for All, please
contact Dan Swislow at dswislow@ndi.org