To encourage citizens to participate in public affairs via digital ways, The Ministry of Digital Affairs (moda) launched the recruitment of  "2024 Civic Tech Experimental Field" participatory teams, inviting civic tech communities to team up and come up with solutions for local problems by ways of public engagement and public-private collaborations. The moda will match the selected teams with Taoyuan City Government or Taitung County Government to develop digital services or tools cooperatively. The project adopted the "Tutored by Experienced" mechanism this year and raised the awarded grant amount to NT$610,000 to cultivate a new generation of digital citizens and talents. The moda earnestly welcomes citizens to participate, facilitating the power of digital technology to come up with solutions for public issues in public sectors and enhancing the quality of digital services.

The moda explained that addressing social issues through technology has become the global developmental trend for digital innovation. The moda initiated "Civic Tech Experimental Field" in 2023, which successfully facilitated demonstrations of "Digital Process Optimization for Public Childcare Applications" and "Digital Tools for Household Visits" at Taichung City government and Tainan City government with civic tech teams.  Based on last year's program's success, this year's program will continue encouraging local governments to propose challenges and seek solutions through public participation, promoting public-private collaboration, and enhancing digital services.

The moda pointed out that this year's project introduces a "mentorship system" that aims to encourage youth involvement in public affairs and strengthen their digital skills. Experts and scholars with expertise in information technology, design, or civic tech will guide high school and university interns as they collaborate with local governments on projects. The outcomes will be published on the moda's public code platform (https://code.gov.tw/) to facilitate inter-agency application and public engagement, thereby nurturing and expanding the civic tech ecosystem and bolstering citizens' digital capabilities.

Applications for this initiative are open until noon on May 28, and selection results will be announced in early June. For more information regarding the application methods, please visit the announcement page (https://moda.gov.tw/press/bulletin/12678) or contact the project team by email ([email protected]). The moda welcomes seasoned civic tech professionals to join forces with newbies in this endeavor!