Civic Tech DC

Build civic technology with your community

Civic Tech DC brings volunteers together with nonprofits, legal clinics, journalists, academics, community groups, residents, and other public-interest partners. Some people arrive with a problem, idea, dataset, or early build. Others bring technical, data, design, research, policy, or project skills. Together, we validate what would be useful, scope feasible work, and build in the open when a project and volunteer team can form. Selected projects receive no-cost, volunteer-led technical and data support.

• Bring a problem or idea

  Nonprofits, legal clinics, journalists, researchers, community groups, residents, and civic technologists can start a private project conversation. You do not need a finished plan.

  Start a project

• Help build useful technology

  Developers, designers, data practitioners, researchers, project managers, policy experts, and curious newcomers work together at Project Nights.

  Explore projects or join an event.

• Validate or strengthen the work

  Problem owners, real users, subject-matter experts, hosts, connectors, and sponsors help projects stay grounded and sustainable.

  See ways to partner

How the community builds projects

1. Bring the need. Someone shares a public-interest problem, idea, workflow, dataset, or early build.
2. Validate it with real people. We look for users, partner organizations, and subject-matter expertise instead of assuming a solution.
3. Scope a feasible project. Together, we define the public benefit, open-source approach, responsibilities, and a useful first milestone.
4. Form a volunteer team. If the project is a fit and there is enough leadership and capacity, we introduce it at a Project Night and work in the open.

Not every proposal becomes a Civic Tech DC project, and volunteer support is not a substitute for urgent, guaranteed, or ongoing commercial services. The project intake page explains fit, expectations, and what happens after the first conversation.

Projects in practice

No two Civic Tech DC projects are the same. These pages show how project communities define a need, shape the work, document what exists, and invite people to help.

• DC Reentry Housing covers an Alliance-led citywide data platform whose first release is being defined with returning citizens and housing providers.
• DARIA traces abortion-fund case-management software from the DC Abortion Fund's volunteer workflow to independent maintenance.
• Clean Slate shows how a legal-clinic partnership responded to changing marijuana laws while keeping lawyers in the review process.
• Data and Democracy makes election data more usable for journalists, advocates, administrators, researchers, and oversight groups.

Explore all projects and find a way to participate.

Explore current and past work

Each project has its own mission, history, people, and way to participate. Active projects welcome current contributors; past projects preserve code, decisions, and lessons that other communities may be able to reuse.

Active projects

• Active

  VoteCatcher

  

  Building open-source campaign infrastructure that grassroots organizers can use, starting with petition-signature review.

• Active

  CIB Mango Tree

  

  Helping researchers, journalists, fact-checkers, moderators, and watchdogs examine social-media data for signs of coordinated inauthentic behavior.

• Active

  Congressional Tech

  

  Building practical tools that reduce technological roadblocks for congressional staff and make legislative activity easier for the public to understand.

• Active

  Data and Democracy Project

  

  Making election and democracy data easier to understand and use so journalists, advocates, administrators, and oversight groups can act on what they find.

• Active

  DC Reentry Housing Project

  

  Building a citywide data platform with the DC Reentry Housing Alliance to connect housing availability, eligibility, and shared outcomes across the coalition.

• Active

  Ride Score DC

  

  Rating DC street segments for cycling safety and comfort, with an interactive map that shows riders and advocates the data behind each score.

• Active

  SpicyRegs

  

  Turning federal regulations and public comments into accessible, reproducible data and tools for technical and nontechnical users.

• Active

  WaterVoice DMV

  

  Helping DC Metro residents compare recent water-quality conditions before they swim, paddle, fish, or wade in local waterways.

Content owner: Civic Tech DC organizing team. Last reviewed: July 24, 2026.