Towards sustainable civic technologies: mapping the Lithuanian ecosystem

Abstract

Advances in technology have increased the potential of various stakeholders to collaborate in improving governance functions. The main focus of this paper is the utilization of technologies in opening civil society, increasing transparency and government accountability by NGOs, startups and new forms of civil society organizations. Civic technologies sector is comparatively new and the usage of the term may vary from researcher to researcher. This paper aims to adopt this particular working definition of civic technologies (or civic tech): the platforms and tools enabling the citizens to connect and collaborate with each other as well as with government. To address this wide-ranging explanatory objective, our research design was based on the qualitative approach to identify commonly recurring settings allowing the sustainability of civic technology. The different strategies, structures and behavioral processes utilized in civic technologies projects in Lithuania were observed and analyzed.Firstly, the theoretical achievements and limitations of the civic technologies field were identified in order to develop a conceptual sustainability framework. Secondly, the mapping activity of Lithuanian civic technologies projects was exercised in order to compose the inventory on selection criteria (e.g. technologies used, engagement of citizens). Finally, the selected 55 projects were analyzed qualitatively by collecting and reviewing the publicly available Internet data from various sources (websites and social media accounts, activity reports of NGO’s, news media, etc.). The evaluation of research data across the cases and translation of findings within varied contexts allowed to generate a line of argument and evidences about the dynamics (key actors, roles and their synergy) of sustainable projects. The research conclusions led to a deeper understanding of the complex nature of civic governance and civic technologies ecosystem.