This Evidence Map is the result of a collaboration between the Civic Tech Innovation Network (CTIN), hosted at the Wits School of Governance, and the South Africa Centre for Evidence (SACE).

The aim of the project was to create a common, up-to-date evidence/ knowledge base about civic tech in the African context, to improve support, decision-making and advocacy in relation to civic tech (including more broadly civil society innovation, tech for good and digital governance). At CTIN, we define civic tech as the “appropriate and effective use of digital innovation in connecting government and citizens, in public participation, in transparency and accountability and in delivering public services”.

Method Note:

The Evidence Map was created through a systematic process that included six stages, namely:

1. Developing a framework to evaluate interventions and outcomes within the civic tech domain;

2. Deciding what constitutes relevant evidence;

3. Searching for evidence;

4. Categorising, coding and data extraction;

5. Presenting and visualising the evidence-base; and

6. Engaging and using evidence for reflections and future decision-making.

The Evidence Map was produced using the systematic Eppi Reviewer software that facilitated the collection, screening, and categorization of literature (evidence) sources. Based on the nascent civic tech sector, especially in Africa, the project team decided to widen the scope of studies to be included in the evidence base. Therefore, evidence sources within the map fell into four broad spheres, namely:

Academic outputs (Journal articles, conference papers, book chapters (including e-books)
Empirical Reports from international/multinational and national institutions such as the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme, CSIR (research organisations and think-tanks)
Reports, practice papers and Impact Evaluations from civic sector organisations (NGOs and CBOs)
Reflections from and interviews with civic tech actors – encompassing key blog articles, interviews, case study and methodological reflections

The outcome is an intuitive, visual and interactive tool that provides and overview of the existing evidence of Civic Tech research in Africa. The Evidence Map shows the distribution of research and the number of studies conducted within a particular research scope, while also reveals the gaps in evidence, where research on particular themes are scarce.