mySociety CEO Discusses Civic Tech Challenges and Successes

Louise Crow, the CEO of mySociety, a UK-based civic tech charity, talked about the work her organization does to help people participate in democracy.

mySociety creates tools like FixMyStreet, which helps people report problems in their neighborhoods, and WhatDoTheyKnow, which helps people ask for information from the government.

These tools are used by millions of people every year and have inspired similar projects in many countries.

Louise also discussed the challenges of building and funding civic tech projects, the importance of understanding local contexts, and the slow adoption of civic tech by governments.

She mentioned successful projects like Polis and Ushahidi, and the potential of AI in civic tech for analyzing large amounts of text.

She also highlighted the need for broader societal recognition of the value of civic tech as a public good.