Overview of CTIF

The Civic Tech Innovation Forum is CTIN’s annual conference, intended to enable the civic tech community and ecosystem actors to engage face-to-face, learn about innovations, tools, and techniques, share experiences, and meet potential collaborators. Hosted at the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct, the 2025 edition of the Civic Tech Innovation Forum will not only bring the African civic tech community together; it will convene Africa’s civic tech ecosystem to share knowledge, inspire innovation, interrogate failing systems, and co-create new civic paradigms that are inclusive, accountable, and empowering.

About #GlitchTheSystem

#GlitchTheSystem

“When systems fail, we don’t wait. We innovate.”  

We Re-pair, Re-imagine, and Re-claim Our Civic Futures! 

In 2025, global systems—political, economic, technological—are showing visible cracks. From the changing geo-political landscape, civil wars, and economic statecraft, contested elections, AI-driven disinformation, platform monopolies, and the breakdown of public trust, the idea of “the system” has never felt more fragile and questionable.

Africa, too, sits at a critical crossroads: facing global pressures and local deficiencies, but also bursting with untapped civic creativity, tech innovation, and community power. It is clear: waiting to catch up won’t work. It’s time to re-calibrate.  

This year, CTIF hits the reset button as we move from going #UnderTheHood in 2024 which involved more technical introspection, towards systemic awareness & engagement. 

GlitchTheSystem is a bold and creative invitation to reclaim power and prototype new models of civic possibility.

Subthemes:

Error404: Radical Civic Imagination & Exploring Alternatives
Error404 highlights the missing solution or link – denoting the need to look to new, bold ideas and unconventional thinkers transforming civic spaces including promoting algorithmic justice. It explores how African civic tech communities use data, digital tools, and local systems to tackle environmental injustice, water crises, disasters, climate displacement and GBV/femicide. Afrofuturism and other emerging alternatives are explored. .

CTRL + ALT + DEL: Hacking Civic Infrastructure & Rethinking Digital Governance
The hard reboot: We explore how foundational civic infrastructure, and digital governance can be re-engineered to reflect inclusive, ethical, and rights-based principles. How can diverse actors dismantle silos and collaboratively experiment towards building more responsive, culturally contextual, integrated digital public services, systems and policy. 

GlitchTheNorm: Confronting Broken Institutions with Code
 After unpacking the failures of governance and digital democracy, GlitchTheNorm shifts focus to solutions, highlighting how civic tech is driving structural change in policy, governance, and accountability. From restoring trust in institutions by reclaiming agency online, to redesigning electoral systems and building transparent, responsive public infrastructure, we explore how code and community can help rebuild and reimagine broken systems. 

At CTIF 2025, we’re not fixing broken systems—we are re-imagining them. #GlitchTheSystem is our call to challenge what no longer serves us. Join Africa’s civic tech ecosystem as we imagine, test, and launch the future of participation, justice, and governance—by us, for us.” So welcome to the lab. Welcome to the glitch.