A mosaic of prototype screens from the Easy Read Generator redesign—an accessibility-focused civic tech tool reimagined by UMD students to better serve users with diverse cognitive and digital literacy needs.

Forked, Not Finished: Mentoring Civic Tech the Open Source Way

Posted by jfrant

This spring, I had the opportunity to support several student-led civic tech projects through the University of Maryland’s iConsultancy program. The partnership was originally facilitated through my role at the National Democratic Institute (NDI), but when NDI’s participation was disrupted by a sweeping freeze on U.S. foreign assistance programs, I continued advising the students in a personal capacity.

What started as a straightforward mentorship experience became a much more fluid—and in some ways more meaningful—engagement, shaped by shifting roles, student initiative, and a shared interest in public-interest technology. In many ways, it reminded me of the spirit of open source: people stepping in, adapting to change, and contributing however they can. NDI itself has long embraced open source platforms like Decidim and CiviCRM as part of its commitment to digital democracy—tools that reflect the values of transparency, adaptability, and shared ownership.

Three Projects, Three Distinct Challenges

Each iConsultancy team focused on a different scope of work—specifically related to Decidim, an open-source platform for democratic participation, and a new tool that NDI was designing to make information more accessible to people with intellectual disabilities. These projects were all rooted in the open source ethos: building in the open, iterating in real time, and aiming for impact beyond the immediate team.

1. Decidim Alternate Deployment Methods

This team explored ways to simplify and modernize how Decidim is deployed across different environments. The official Heroku option had become outdated, and the manual installation process was prohibitively complex for non-expert users.

The students conducted a technical evaluation of Docker and Heroku deployment methods, tested them across operating systems, and ultimately created an updated Docker configuration tailored for production environments. Their contributions were submitted to the Decidim GitHub repo. These additions make it significantly easier to deploy Decidim in a production environment using Docker Compose. Like many open source contributions, their work advanced on community-maintained tools, with the potential to be picked up and improved by others.

2. Easy Read Generator UX Redesign

The second team focused on redesigning the user interface for NDI’s Easy Read Generator project, a tool that simplifies complex civic documents to make them more accessible for individuals with intellectual disabilities and those with lower literacy levels.

Drawing on user research, accessibility guidelines (like WCAG), and competitive analysis, the students developed a high-fidelity prototype and detailed UX recommendations. While I had envisioned an iterative redesign of existing wireframes, the team pushed the concept further—exploring new features such as login options and donation functionality. Their willingness to experiment expanded the conversation about what this tool could become.

3. Manual Installation Documentation Enhancements

The third project aimed to unify and improve Decidim’s manual installation documentation. English-language instructions were incomplete, and more robust Spanish-language documentation had yet to be translated or standardized.

The team was tasked with consolidating and testing these disparate guides, streamlining the process for deploying Decidim with all its intended features. Documentation is the connective tissue of any open source ecosystem, and while this team faced challenges in delivering their final product, the importance of the task—and the gaps it sought to fill—remains clear.

Lessons from the Field

Each project reflected the realities of open collaboration: sometimes productive, sometimes messy, always instructive. The teams that stayed organized and engaged produced genuinely useful outputs that could be built upon by others. In other cases, student groups struggled to balance their workload or needed more support to stay aligned with the project’s goals.

To be clear, this isn’t a critique of the iConsultancy model—student-led learning is, by design, exploratory. But like any open source initiative, success is rarely the result of individual effort alone. It depends on a thoughtful mix of initiative, shared norms, and an ecosystem of support. Civic tech projects, especially those aiming for real-world relevance, demand a working knowledge of community context, accessibility, and technical infrastructure—all challenging to fully absorb in a single semester. And just as open source contributors rely on documentation, mentors, and community to navigate complex codebases, student teams benefit from structured feedback, clear goals, and a culture that rewards asking questions. Those ingredients can turn short-term projects into lasting contributions.

Why I Stayed

Even after my layoff from NDI, I chose to remain involved because my commitment to the projects didn’t depend on a formal title. The UMD students brought real energy and fresh ideas. And continuing to mentor them gave me a sense of continuity and purpose at a time when many other structures were unraveling.

In civic tech, we often talk about resilience, distributed leadership, and decentralization. These principles are foundational to the open source ecosystem, where no single person or entity controls the project and leadership often emerges organically from contributors. This experience reminded me that these values aren’t just theoretical—they show up in how we navigate change. Open source projects are a fitting metaphor: they can survive the loss of their initial stewards, thriving as new contributors pick up the thread. Our work, too, can have a life beyond any single job or institution. Even when a formal role ends, the ideas, tools, and momentum we create can continue evolving—adapted, expanded, and reimagined by others who care.

Using AI to Strengthen Democratic Inclusion

Posted by jfrant

Participants develop a list of features they would like to be included in an Easy Read generator tool. They then used this list to design a prototype tool.

From the 15 percent of people around the world who live with a disability, 8 in 10 reside in developing countries. Although Article 21 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities (CRPD) grants them the right to accessible information, people with disabilities often face communication barriers due to a lack of information accessibility. Access to information is essential for democratic and political participation, which enables people to make informed decisions and influence policies that affect their lives. If people with intellectual disabilities have greater access to easy-to-read information on political processes or policies and the necessary assistance using it, they will be better equipped to advocate for themselves and participate in democracy. By reducing communication barriers through Easy Read and other accessible formats, societies can foster inclusion, making it possible for people with disabilities to engage fully in civic life.

With these circumstances in mind, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) organized a two-day workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, to bring people with intellectual disabilities, caretakers, civil society representatives, government officials, and accessibility experts together to test and design tools for creating Easy Read documents. The workshop began by reviewing the results of a remotely-conducted activity to test assumptions about how to best address barriers to accessible information in Kenya. Participants then explored the possibility of using generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, to facilitate the creation of accessible information. To ensure that everyone could participate, NDI provided accessibility accommodations, such as sign-language interpretation, an expanded time frame agenda to allow for ample participation, and illustrations to enhance comprehension and retention.

Easy Read is a method of presenting information in an easy-to-understand format. Easy Read materials are especially beneficial for people with disabilities, those with low literacy levels, non-native language speakers, and individuals experiencing memory difficulties. Easy Read combines short sentences that are clear and free of jargon with simple images to help explain the written content. Easy Read is essential not only for people with intellectual disabilities but also for making information accessible to everyone, particularly in a democratic society. Accessible information enables all citizens to participate in civic processes, make informed decisions, and understand their rights and responsibilities. By utilizing Easy Read, NDI seeks to support inclusive democratic participation and enable people to actively engage in their communities.

Alice Mundia, Chairperson of the Differently Talented Society of Kenya (DTSK), discusses barriers faced by persons with intellectual disabilities, specifically with regard to accessing information.

Twenty representatives from various disabled people’s organizations (DPOs) and other civic groups contributed their diverse perspectives and expertise to advance information accessibility in Kenya. These groups included the United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK), the Kenya Association of the Intellectually Handicapped (KAIH), Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet), Differently Talented Society of Kenya (DTSK), Black Albinism (BI), Ubongo Kids, Down Syndrome Society of Kenya (DSSK), Kenya Sign Language Interpreters Association (KSLIA), the Kenya National Association of the Deaf (KNAD), and the Directorate of Social Development under the Ministry of Labour and Social Services. The event fostered collaboration and laid the foundation for further development of accessible digital tools in the country.

On the first day, participants reflected on the structural challenges that restrict access to information for people with intellectual disabilities. Alice Mundia, Chairperson of the Differently Talented Society of Kenya (DTSK), led a discussion on the barriers to creating and distributing Easy Read materials. Participants then explored NDI’s Easy Read website, provided feedback on navigation and usability, and used generative AI tools to draft Easy Read documents. Working in small groups, they refined these drafts, exploring the potential and challenges of using AI for accessible content creation.

“I wish I knew about this before. This will help a lot,” said a teacher who supports students with Down Syndrome. “I struggle to break down complex jargon into understandable information. With this tool, that work becomes easier.”

During the second day, participants focused on mapping key stakeholders involved in creating and disseminating Easy Read documents and developing a prototype for an Easy Read Generator tool. Participants collaborated to design user flows, interfaces, and features for the tool by sketching visual prototypes. This hands-on session ensured that the tool would meet the diverse needs of people with intellectual disabilities and their supporters. The concept for an Easy Read Generator originated during a pitch competition in 2021, where NDI staff proposed tech solutions to democracy challenges. The winning idea, the “Right To Know” project, envisioned an Easy Read translator, anticipating the development of generative AI technologies like ChatGPT, which has enabled computers to simplify complex documents quickly.

Through the workshop, participants found that while ChatGPT is a powerful tool for generating and simplifying text, the unpaid version has several limitations that hinder its generation of accessible content. These include browsing limitations and the inability to upload documents or generate images.

Following this workshop, NDI has begun exploring two avenues to address these limitations and improve access to accessible information for people with intellectual disabilities. First, NDI is reaching out to companies that provide Generative AI chatbots to explore the possibility of allowing NGOs that support people with intellectual disabilities to access paid services for free or at a reduced cost. Such a program could enable disability rights advocates, caregivers, and organizations to leverage the most advanced tools to generate Easy Read content. This would significantly enhance their ability to reach and support individuals who depend on these accessible materials.

NDI is also exploring avenues for developing the prototype Easy Read Generator that participants designed into a working application through future programs. This tool would not only improve the experience of using Generative AI tools to create Easy Read documents, it could also be offered for free to select partner organizations, eliminating cost as a barrier to generating easy-to-read information.

This illustration captures the second day of the workshop, which focused on designing an Easy Read AI chatbot.

Through this workshop, participants from diverse backgrounds collaborated to explore generative AI’s potential for making information accessible for all. The workshop provided an invaluable opportunity to address challenges, share insights, and develop solutions. NDI remains committed to expanding these programs to ensure that all citizens have access to information in formats they can understand and use.

Author: Jesper Frant, Senior Technology Projects Manager for NDI’s Democracy and Technology team

NDI’s engagement with this program is implemented with the support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) program.

Persons With Disabilities Enhance Civic Engagement in Jordan

Partnering with the Disability Community and Parliament to Promote Inclusion

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NDI is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental organization that works in partnership around the world to strengthen and safeguard democratic institutions, processes, norms and values to secure a better quality of life for all. NDI envisions a world where democracy and freedom prevail, with dignity for all.

This story was originally posted on ndi.org.

TICTeC: The People Crafting the Tech Infrastructure of Democracy

Posted by jfrant

In the heart of London, the TICTeC conference – held June 12 and 13 – was a rare opportunity to take a break from the grind and reflect on the amazing and inspiring work of civic technologists around the world. Hosted by MySociety and supported by the National Endowment for Democracy, this event was the first time the conference was held in-person since the COVID-19 pandemic forced most such convenings online. Representatives from the global civic technology community forged new relationships, shared tools for democratic engagement, and explored how emerging technologies are reshaping the civic technology landscape.

NDI’s participation reflects our commitment to a critical message: democracy doesn’t end at the ballot box. Civic technologists play a particularly important role in supporting government service delivery and reinforcing feedback loops between government and citizens. For example, Code for Pakistan’s use of Ushahidi to help the government more effectively allocate aid after floods was a critical and timely application of open-source technology that directly impacted people’s lives. Since Ushahidi is open-source, the Code for Pakistan team was also able to develop a connection to the popular WhatsApp messaging tool, broadening the reach of the initiative. In another example, Abdellatif Belmkadem of the National Institute of Innovation and Advanced Technology of Morocco explained how using Fix My Street in Casablanca is not just facilitating infrastructure repairs, but fundamentally reshaping the social contract between government and citizens. This project is also furthering the development of the Fix My Street open-source project by exploring machine-learning based approaches to categorizing issue reports. The session, co-led by NDI’s Maurice Sayinzoga, DemTech Program Director, underscored that technology alone will not “make democracy work” and shared practical steps for engaging government stakeholders, navigating bureaucratic hurdles, and demonstrating the tangible benefits of technology tools. These examples demonstrate how technology can connect citizens’ needs with government action, but in both cases government buy-in is essential to ensure the tools actually help solve real-world issues, rather than just contributing to a backlog of unresolved complaints.

NDI also showcased innovative approaches to civic tech in closed and conflict affected contexts. Sarah Moulton, NDI Deputy Director for Technology and Democracy, moderated a panel discussion with Jesper Frant, NDI Senior Technology Project Manager, and representatives from two of NDI’s civic technology partners, Pavel Liber and Isabel Hou. The discussion centered on how tech tools can help to build community around democratic principles, despite seemingly insurmountable headwinds. Pavel shared his experience building an innovative online platform, New Belarus, that enables Belarusians to build a free Belarusian community online. Isabel shared her decades-long experience growing an active civic technology community in Taiwan. g0v holds weekly hackathons and develops tools to, among other things, protect the integrity of online information, and visualize government budget data. They recently completed a “Civic Tech Project & Community Handbook” which describes their approach to building community around civic technology. Jesper shared lessons learned for working with civic technology in countries with weak digital infrastructure, low tech literacy, and high security risk, emphasizing a human-centered approach and a commitment to “do no harm.”

While the challenges in many of these contexts can often seem insurmountable, civic technology is about empowering citizens and enhancing the mechanisms of democracy. It’s about ensuring that every voice is heard and that governments are responsive to their citizens. NDI is committed to harnessing the potential of civic tech to make democracy more dynamic, participatory and effective.

This post was originally posted to the dem.tools blog.

Defeating Zoom Fatigue with Open edX

Posted by jfrant

A pen drawing of a woman sitting at a computer looking tired.

Editor’s Note: This post was co-authored with Caitlyn Ramsey and edited with Microsoft Bing Chat.

It’s September 28, 2020 and COVID deaths have just surpassed one million worldwide. And as you watch the news, your boss sends you an email. You’ve been stuck inside for months watching the pandemic, political unrest, and natural disasters unfold with little to no interaction with anyone outside your bubble, and you’re expected to keep working as normal. And as all of your activities, including work, were forced online, you find yourself realizing something you never would’ve imagined: you are fed up with the internet. You have, as it turns out, a severe case of Zoom fatigue.

Zoom Fatigue has been an unexpected side effect of the pandemic. Individuals are experiencing exhaustion and burnout due to the excessive use of video conferencing calls. To address this issue, innovative platforms are being utilized by promoting engaging interactions and enhancing the overall experience of remote learning and communication. One such platform is Open edX, an open-source learning management system, which supplies a ready-built framework for mitigating Zoom fatigue for programs that deliver training online. Instead of relying solely on video conferences, Open edX enables engaging educational methodologies designed for the internet. Since its founding in 2012, OpenEdX has been used by a wide range of organizations, from institutions of higher education to major corporations, and even national governments. The platform uses a combination of video lectures, interactive exercises, quizzes, and other tools to deliver course content. The open-source nature of Open edX means that anyone can access and use the software, and modify and improve it as needed, without software licenses or subscription costs.

While the pandemic has abated in most regions (or at least been accepted as the new normal), the pre-pandemic “business as usual” where programming is delivered almost exclusively in-person has shifted permanently. In the post-pandemic world, there is a greater reliance on online training as in-person events are not always feasible and are more expensive. Moreover, air travel is a large contributor to climate change putting pressure on organizations to rethink the sustainability of programming that requires frequent international travel. This shift toward convening online has also contributed to the rise in Zoom fatigue as programs attempted to move their programs out of meeting rooms and into Zoom meetings, without fundamentally rethinking program delivery or design.

Well before the pandemic, NDI hosted its own instance of Open edX (ed.ndi.org) to offer a wide range of courses aimed at strengthening democratic institutions and promoting citizen participation. These courses cover various topics such as cybersecurity for democracy activists, combatting information manipulation, digital rights advocacy, and best practices for leveraging technology to support democratic development. Some of the courses are self-paced and can be accessed anytime, while others are delivered through virtual classrooms accompanied by live instructors. Additionally, NDI offers customized training programs tailored to specific organizations and contexts. The courses are designed for individuals and groups interested in enhancing their knowledge and skills to effectively engage in democratic processes and advance democratic values.

Recent adopters of Open edX at NDI have used it to turn toolkits or guides, that would historically have been published in PDF format, into engaging multimedia online courses with integrated features that track learner progress and evaluate learning outcomes.

Edx courses enable engaging online approaches that yield real learning. This, we’ve found, is something that even the most expertly-facilitated Zoom call cannot provide. Courses can have videos, slide shows, text, audio, live broadcasts, or a range of other methods of sharing information. The platform also can facilitate quizzes and evaluations, provide discussion boards and interactive games, and even integrate surveys for post-class feedback. Many people value the credentials that can come with education so NDI worked to improve the open-source OpenEdX software to provide elegant certificates personalized with their information for those who successfully completed a course.

Interest in the online learning platform has recently spiked. Ironically, just as the pandemic is easing, new programs are coming online that are making online methodologies for program delivery central to their approach. This includes the House Democracy Partnership – an initiative of the U.S. Congress supported by the National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute – which is turning their Legislative Oversight Guide into a series of mini-courses, and NDI’s Movement-Based Parties initiative which is using Open edX to deliver engaging online training at scale.

These new online courses are a positive sign that NDI is moving beyond attempting to deliver via Zoom programs designed to be done in-person. Almost any program that has some educational component can emulate this approach and consider using Open edX to improve their program delivery and learning outcomes. Exceptions may exist in cases where intended learners have high security risk or do not have access to quality internet connections. Any online approach could further the marginalization of groups with limited or no access to the internet. If you’re interested in exploring the possibilities of Open edX for your own programs or want to learn more about NDI’s use of the platform, I encourage you to visit ed.ndi.org to see what courses NDI is currently offering and try Open edX for yourself.

This blog was originally posted on dem.tools.

ICT Innovation Is Key to Unlocking Nigeria’s Demographic Dividend

Posted by jfrant

A recent Dalberg report highlights technology-enabled innovations that have the potential to unleash Nigeria’s demographic dividend and help millions of people escape poverty.

Thirty eight percent of Nigeria’s population is between the ages of 15 and 35. Since Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, this means that the country has 64 million working-age people – or the equivalent of the population of both Malawi and South Africa combined. Economists call a large working-age population a “demographic dividend” because a big proportion of the country’s citizens is able to contribute to the economy.

Unfortunately, favorable demographics do not necessarily translate into more rapid economic development. A young population also puts pressure on many social systems – the food system must expand to feed a growing population, and the education system must be capable of preparing billions of minds for a rapidly shifting job market. The Dalberg report sees great potential in Nigeria’s tele-communications sector to improve its competitiveness in these two key areas.

Technology and innovation are driving forces behind economic growth around the world, and Nigeria is no different. In 2012, 30 percent of Nigeria’s GDP growth was attributed to information and communications technology (ICT). In a country were nearly 60 percent of the population lives on less than one dollar per day, two-thirds of the total population has an active mobile phone subscription.

Dalberg identified a number of ICT solutions that are focused on providing teachers with tools that enable them to provide quality education to an increasing number of students. EduTech is designed to deliver educational material to university students through customized tablets. English Teacher, an initiative of Nokia and UNESCO, provides pedagogical advice to thousands of Nigerian teachers through daily messages. Bridge International Academies is a chain of low-cost primary schools that provides educators not just with a well-designed curriculum and educational materials, but also administrative systems to minimize overhead and help track educational outcomes.

Agriculture is also an important sector of the Nigerian economy. Seventy percent of Nigerians are employed in agriculture and the sector accounts for 42 percent of the country’s economic output. However, Nigerian farm yields are far below the global average. According to Dalberg, “Only four of Nigeria’s 29 most cultivated crops by area harvested (cashew nuts, yams, melon seed, and cassava) are in the top quartile of global yields.”

ICT has the potential to improve the enabling environment for Nigeria’s farmers in everything from improving market access to educating farmers about agricultural best practices. Dalberg highlights three such innovations. The Nigerian Ministry of agriculture has developed an e-wallet to make agricultural subsidies more efficient and transparent. MoBiashara improves access to inputs, such as fertilizer, by creating a market for farmers to compare prices and check local inventories via text-message. iCow, an innovation out of Kenya, provides farmers advice on raising cows and chickens throughout the lifecycle of their animals.

Innovative use of ICT is already having a positive impact on Nigeria’s agriculture and education sector. These examples are just a few of the many innovations that are driving growth. Providing the foundation for these technologies – through improved cellular networks and electrical grids – will be the key to unlocking Nigeria’s demographic potential.

No nos consideramos pobres

Posted by jfrant

Hoover came to Bahía Málaga as a community organizer from Buenaventura to help organize the effort to gain title to the land on which the people of La Plata, Mangaña, Sierpe, and Miramar had lived for decades under the collective property rights granted to them by Ley 70. He fell in love with the people of the bay and decided to stay and now serves as the legal representative of the Consejo Comunitario de Bahía Málaga. Wearing his distinctive rasta-colored beanie, people would recognize and call out to him from hundreds of yards away. It was clear that he was a respected leader in the community.

In the first week of our stay in La Plata, Hoover was our main point of contact with the community. One night about a week into our stay, Rosángela – a fellow student from UniAndes – and I were up late taking to him. Rosangela, who was not one to mince words, asked pointedly about poverty in the four veredas (towns) of the bay. “No nos consideramos pobres (We don’t consider ourselves poor),” he responded poignantly.

In many ways life in the bay is rich. The people are happy and friendly. Malnutrition is nonexistent due to the ready supply of fish, piangua (a species of mollusk), and fruit (mostly plantain). The conflict between guerrillas and the government barely touched this region, largely because the bay is surrounded by military bases. Life here ebbs an flows with the rise and fall of tide. There is no 9-5 schedule, but the people are often up before dawn to do one of the four main economic activities (all four of which are extractive/not sustainable): fish, gather piangua, cut wood, and hunt forest animals. The organization I’m working for this summer is fostering ecotourism as an alternative to these traditional extractive industries, to preserve the distinct culture of the bay and to conserve the environment (more on this point later).

Below the surface, however, there are numerous weakness that reduce the quality of life in the bay and result in negative development indicators. Chief among these debilities is difficulty in transportation, which has cascading effects on all other aspects of development. The high cost of petroleum (propellors use a lot of gas) limits mobility between veredas and reduces access to markets outside the bay (primarily in Buenaventura).

Health is another concern. The four communities share one promotora (the Colombian equivalent of a community health worker) posted in La Plata who rarely makes the costly trips to visit the other three veredas. The nearest community health center is in Juanchaco – a nearly 45 minute boat ride away – and due to a lack of capacity, maintenance and supplies it is scarcely better than no health center at all. In an emergency, members of the community rely on the good graces of the naval base – a 30 minute boat ride away – but the relationship with the naval base has been strained lately due to a tightening of budgets that has limited the capacity of the base and the lack of a legal mandate for the naval base to attend all but the most severe medical emergencies.

While every vereda in Bahía Málaga has a school, education is another factor that has severely limited development in the bay. In most cases, there is only one teacher per school (only La Plata has two teachers) who must teach all grade levels at once. If students wish to finish secondary school they must take classes in La Plata, and if they wish to finish high school they must move to Buenaventura. Classes are only in session for four days a week (Mondays and Fridays are half days) and are frequently canceled due to inclement weather or other factors that inhibit the teachers’ ability to make the trip from Buenaventura every week.

Finally, most veredas in the bay lack basic sanitation. The only house in La Plata with a septic system is the tourist’s cabin. The negative impacts of a lack of sanitary systems are mitigated in the communities that lie at the water’s edge because twice a month the marea alta (high tide) inundates the ground underneath the stilted houses, washing away most of the disease-bearing refuse. Communities built on higher ground, like La Sierpe and Miramar, are less vulnerable to weather-related disasters, but are at greater risk sanitation-related problems. Miramar, the newest and most organized community, has attempted to solve this problem by installing latrines in every house. All three veredas have raised rainwater collection tanks, but because they depend on rain for drinking water they are vulnerable to drought.