Regional Ambassadors Programme (RAP)
CTIN’s Regional Ambassadors
We are excited to extend our flagship Regional Ambassadors Programme (RAP), a programme aimed at strengthening regional connection and participation in the civic tech space
RAP grew out of CTIN’s intentions to function as a Pan-African Community of Practice (CoP) in response to ever-increasing interest from the wider African civic tech community, a testament to the need for a community for people in this space.
In 2023, CTIN was awarded the Africa Mradi ‘In Real Life’ (IRL) fund by the Mozilla Foundation. The RAP, with the support of Mozilla’s Africa Mradi grant, will run from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. CTIN will continue to promote exciting new African civic tech initiatives, alongside actively branding civic tech through social media campaigns, written articles, convenings and general advocacy within its network and community members.
CTIN is proud to have selected a new North African Ambassador earlier this year. We now can say that we have better representation across the African continent. Meet our RAP Member Organisations:
Pollicy is representing East Africa,
Magamba Network representing Southern Africa,
Chad Innovation representing Central Africa
Co-Creation Hub (ccHub) representing West Africa
and; Technoloxia representing North Africa
Background and context
The Civic Tech Innovation Network (CTIN) is pleased to extend our flagship Africa Regional Ambassadors Programme (RAP). A programme aimed at circumventing our geographic limitations and strengthening regional connection and participation within the African civic tech community. The RAP was initially set up as a one-year partnership, formalised through a cooperative agreement between the Network and the identified regional ambassador organisations. This programme has helped CTIN, as a CoP, to build an active civic tech community, as well as build awareness and strategic ties with innovators, organisations, researchers, practitioners, and other civic tech actors across the continent. In 2023, the RAP is being supported through the Africa Mradi Innovation In Real Life Fund by the Mozilla Foundation. The RAP project objectives focus on:
1. Activism: Identifying and connecting actors in civic tech, digital rights and related communities; 2. Communication & Marketing: The identified civic tech and digital rights initiatives and organisations will be integrated into the CTIN Community of Practice (CoP); 3. Regional Convenings and Showcasing: Regional ambassadors are encouraged to co-plan and co-host one in-person collaborative event per region. These events will enable the civic tech and digital rights community to engage face-to-face, learn about innovations, tools and techniques, share experiences and meet potential collaborators; and 4. Learning: Regional civic tech news/content contribution – CTIN and its ambassadors continuously share the latest civic tech and digital rights news and stories with the wider community.
CTIN recognises the importance of identifying ambassadors that best understand the nuanced experiences of their region and as a result, ambassadors serve a dual purpose of not only representing the CTIN but also championing their regional civic tech actors and landscape. CTIN ambassadors are also chosen on the basis that the candidate organisations could also strategically benefit from playing the role, and not see it as extraneous to their existing mandates. The identified Ambassador organisations are considered to be uniquely positioned to increase our reach and mobilise participation by various civic tech actors across Africa in the CTIN CoP. This is because they have been strategically chosen to represent all the regions of the African continent. Learn more about these ambassadors and the regions they represent below.
Learn about the ambassadors
Pollicy, Uganda
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Magamba Network, Zimbabwe
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Chad Innovation, Chad
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Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB), Nigeria
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Technoloxia, Tunisia
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What to expect from the programme
The ambassadors will be responsible for several activities in their regions, including:
- Identifying Civic Tech actors in the region
Regional ambassadors will be responsible for ongoing scanning, identifying and sharing of civic tech actors and activities in their respective regions.
- Regional member integration into the network
Once regional ambassadors have identified the civic tech initiatives, they will facilitate the integration of these organisations into the CTIN’s Community of Practice (CoP).
- Collaborative engagement
Under the ambassador programme, CTIN and each regional ambassador will co-plan and co-host one collaborative event.
- Regional civic tech news/content contribution
In order to highlight regional African civic tech stories, the ambassadors will also be expected to share the latest civic tech and related news, features and stories with CTIN in order for CTIN to share with the wider community.
Look out for more announcements about the programme on all our platforms. Join the network here
Participation at CTIF & Jamfest 2023: #AfricaFlows
This year, we were very fortunate to bring all 5 RAP Members to Johannesburg to speak at CTIF & Jamfest 2023 in October. CTIF & Jamfest is an inspiring annual convening of African civic tech and media innovators. This year’s theme was #AfricaFlows and demonstrated the value of collaboration and collective action, using civic tech as an enabler for digital transformation, civic activism, civic empowerment, digital rights and healthy democracies across Africa. CTIN prioritised active participation of the RAP members in the CTIF programme and each RAP member presented at the conference, as a panel speaker, facilitator or Masterclass host. The CTIF convening also provided a useful platform for RAP members to network and build connections amongst diverse actors in the civic tech, media and governance sectors.
Special Thanks to:
The Civic Tech Innovation Network (CTIN) is a Mozilla IRL Fund Awardee that connects technologists,
activists, and public servants across Africa.
