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REGION SPECIFIC CONVERSATION: Civic Tech in North Africa – From Social Entrepreneurship to Social Innovation
October 30, 2024 @ 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Session Details
Date: 30 October 2024
Time: 14:30 – 16:30
Format: Parallel Workshop
Venue: Members Lounge, Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct
Hosts: Hanns Seidel Foundation
Facilitator: Uta Staschewski
Speakers
- Yosr Jouini, Technoloxia
- TBC
Session Overview
collaborative solutions. The urgency of this conversation is driven by the increasing challenges faced by governments in North Africa, including but not limited to:
● Declining public trust in government institutions.
● Failing public services that do not meet the needs of citizens, especially in marginalized areas.
● Youth unemployment and a growing demand for innovation-driven economic opportunities.
● A dynamic and under explored Civic Tech space where actors are creating tools to address governance failures, even though these tools are not always recognized as Civic Tech.
Unlike in Europe, where Civic Tech often acts as a supplementary tool to reinforce already functional public systems, in North Africa, these tools are emerging out of necessity—driven by citizens and innovators to directly tackle the failings of the government at the local and national levels. Thus, Civic Tech in North Africa is not merely a matter of luxury or experimentation; it is about solving real
problems in the daily lives of citizens and filling critical governance gaps.
Session Objectives
This panel discussion will delve into the unique aspects of Civic Tech in North Africa, focusing on:
● Defining the role of Civic Tech in addressing governmental shortcomings and enhancing public services.
● Exploring how Civic Tech has evolved beyond social entrepreneurship and is now a critical tool for social innovation, shaping new forms of interaction between governments, private sector actors, civil society, and citizens.
● Identifying the structural and systemic barriers that hinder the scaling and broader adoption of Civic Tech tools, particularly the lack of a critical mass of citizens actively engaging with these technologies.
● Developing a roadmap for sustainable models of Civic Tech, including how governments can support and integrate these tools into public service delivery, while fostering collaborations with the private sector and civil society.
This session will serve as a first step in fostering a dialogue among Civic Tech actors in North Africa, with the long-term goal of building a regional network of stakeholders and publishing a think piece on the status and potential of Civic Tech in the region.