What
Civic tech projects involve coming together around common topics and interests to brainstorm ideas and prototype solutions. These initiatives focus on addressing regional issues and leveraging IT for problem-solving. Participation varies for each individual; some people engage consistently every month, while others join in during summer vacations or when they have spare time. Participants contribute in various ways: some commit to development as engineers, others contribute through design and planning, and still others support the team with roles in research or project management.
- Three Steps of Civic Tech▷ https://youtu.be/t_po68xY_3M?si=V54jwSQNVmXWLDXQ
- Civic Tech Initiatives▷ https://youtu.be/VdJhHTTshnE?si=CgfNaYRLGtVaqT1z
How
Online Community
At Code for Japan, we use Slack and Notion for community management. Anyone interested in civic tech is welcome to join these two workspaces. Additionally, we use GitHub for our development projects.
- Slack & Notion: https://www.code4japan.org/activity/community
- GitHub (Development Projects): https://github.com/codeforjapan
- Peatix (Event Registration): https://code4japan.peatix.com/
Social Hack Day
Social Hack Day is a one-day hackathon where participants bring various interests and themes they want to work on, gather teammates, and collaboratively prototype their ideas. It is held online, typically on the fourth Saturday of every month. Each project uses communication tools like Slack channels, allowing teams to continue working asynchronously and continuously even outside of the event day.
Civictech Live!
This is a YouTube Live event for newbies who want to get involved in civic tech but are unsure where to start. It's perfect for those wondering, "What is civic tech?" or "What specific projects are people involved in civic tech working on?" The event offers easy-to-understand explanations of areas closely related to civic tech, such as open data and open source. It also introduces recent initiatives in local communities and hack days. Our goal is to help participants feel connected to civic tech and encourage them to take action.
You can find past sessions here:https://www.youtube.com/live/gLjXkKMueU8?si=WpeSKE9RQHC_1YQn
Events
We host entry events for those new to civic tech or interested in joining new projects. Events like the Civictech Challenge, where participants brainstorm ideas while learning about social issues, are also held. For updates on upcoming events, including Social Hack Day and Civictech Live!, please follow our Peatix page.
Peatix: https://code4japan.peatix.com/
Brigades
The term "brigade" originally means "fire brigade." In the United States, where the Code for community originated, Code for America collaborates with local civic tech communities called Brigades. Following this model, Japan also uses the term "brigade." Local civic tech communities named "Code for XX" or "Open XX" exist across various regions. You can participate in civic tech through Code for Japan events or join activities in your own community.
In Japan, there are communities like Code for Kanazawa and Code for Osaka that target specific regions, as well as theme-based groups like Code for CAT and Code for SAKE, which focus on topics such as community cats and sake breweries, respectively.
- About Brigades: https://www.code4japan.org/en/brigade
Additionally, the Civic Tech Fun! Fun! Report! introduces various brigade activities each month.
- Civic Tech Fun! Fun! Report!: https://www.code4japan.org/search?keyword=Civic%20Tech%20Fun!%20Fun!%20Report!