Public Interest Technology

DemTech connects democratic actors with networks of civic technologists and technology tools to enable democratic innovation in digital spaces.

DemTools

DemTech maintains a list of software, approaches and toolkits/guides that represent trusted technology-related resources for the democracy community. These DemTools are either created by DemTech, or tested, used or known by us to be valuable resources for enabling democratic actors to conduct their work in a safe, reliable, and cost effective way.

DemCloud

DemCloud is a cloud-hosting service that DemTech provides to NDI staff and partners for a small number of open-source tools. These open-source software projects were built by communities of developers, and DemTech has adapted them to serve the particular needs of NDI teams and partners: data management to support citizen election observation and other large-scale structured data collection efforts, contact management to better organize and connect with constituents or member online.

  • Civi CRM - a contact relationship management (CRM) system, which enables government officials, political parties, and civil society groups to connect with and respond to their constituents and members online.
  • Twine - an open-source tool for creating interactive, non-linear stories or scenarios, enabling civil society groups and educators to build engaging and interactive learning or awareness experiences.
  • Open edX - an online learning management system (LMS) that allows organizations to create, deliver, and manage educational content, supporting training and capacity-building for teams, partners, and constituents.

Civic Tech

DemTech offers connections to civic technologists working in over 50 countries who are creating citizen driven tech tools that aim to open space, drive civic engagement, address information operations, and strengthen institutions. Many of these tools can be scaled from one context to another, saving time and money in advancing innovation globally. Many of these tools are also organically created with citizens as a means to address real problems, connect citizens with their governments, encourage digital literacy through their creation, and to mobilize and engage citizens around social issues.

Emerging Tech

DemTech can offer guidance on how NDI teams and partners can adapt to current and new emerging technologies that could drastically impact democracy and governance or rapidly change the environment in which NDI works. Whereas our DemTools initiative maintains a list of specific software tools that can benefit the work of other teams and partners, our Emerging Tech initiative focuses on larger changes in the digital ecosystem, including hardware, software, and prevailing norms that may impact democratic development.