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The Civic Tech Field Guide is a directory that catalogs a wide range of projects and tools at the intersection of technology and civic engagement. [source: civic-tech-field-guide] It includes entries on platforms for participatory democracy, such as a Japanese deployment of the Decidim platform first adopted by Kakogawa and expanded to over 30 municipalities. [source: civic-tech-field-guide] The guide also features tools for government transparency, like a free tool showing how every member of Congress voted on issues, based on 1,066 real roll-call votes across 10 issue categories. [source: civic-tech-field-guide]
The directory covers data-driven projects for local governance, including a standardized data format for local government COVID-19 data compiled by engineers and deployed nationwide by MIC. [source: civic-tech-field-guide] It also lists a city data explorer that lets users filter, compare, and export complete city population lists alongside cost-of-living, climate, housing, tax, and wage data. [source: civic-tech-field-guide] Other entries focus on community engagement, such as a participatory tree management app that facilitates communication between residents and local government. [source: civic-tech-field-guide]
The guide includes tools for specific civic needs, like a volunteer matching app using AI-based personality assessment for bidirectional matching between volunteers and organizations. [source: civic-tech-field-guide] It also features a hiking safety companion for Korea that combines forest public data, real-time risk scoring, offline fallbacks, and SOS workflows. [source: civic-tech-field-guide] Additionally, the directory lists a free civic-data tracker for U.S. Congress stock trades disclosed through public STOCK Act filings. [source: civic-tech-field-guide]
The Civic Tech Field Guide also documents research and analysis projects, such as a study examining how digital participation tools can be used to engage citizens in the EU policy cycle. [source: civic-tech-field-guide] It includes an independent, non-profit research organization studying the macroeconomics of the AI transition and policy mechanisms for a fair one, with research in the UK parliamentary record. [source: civic-tech-field-guide] The guide also features a report examining AI chatbots through the lens of dark patterns that may undermine user autonomy or well-being. [source: civic-tech-field-guide]
Use it for
Campaigners can use the Civic Tech Field Guide to discover and evaluate digital tools that support civic engagement, government transparency, and community organizing. [source: civic-tech-field-guide] The directory helps identify platforms for participatory democracy, volunteer matching, and data-driven advocacy, enabling campaigners to select appropriate technologies for their specific needs. [source: civic-tech-field-guide]
The guide also serves as a resource for understanding the landscape of civic technology projects and research. [source: civic-tech-field-guide] Campaigners can use it to find examples of successful implementations, such as the Decidim platform used across Japanese municipalities, or to access tools for tracking government actions like congressional votes and stock trades. [source: civic-tech-field-guide] This allows campaigners to leverage existing solutions rather than building new ones from scratch. [source: civic-tech-field-guide]