Re: Civic Technology

Adam, the addition of  https://w3.org/news <https://www.w3.org/news/> is
truly important. Thank you.

Daveed, if there is someone from the European Union in our group we can use
the JoinUp Interoperabity frameworks:
https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu.

Ian, it makes sense to me. If no one else is up to co-chair, I can consider
giving this 3 hours a week.

On Thu, Apr 2, 2026 at 9:28 PM Ian Jacobs <ij@w3.org> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I’m glad to see people weighing in on how to revitalize the group.
>
> I believe Adam has invited someone to present themselves as co-Chair. I
> suggest that the Chair(s)
> draft a plan that describes what the group wants to accomplish and how it
> can achieve those goals, then
> organizes a meeting of the participants to discuss the draft plan.
>
> I don’t plan to participate in that discussion (which should be driven by
> the participants and led by the Chairs)
> but I am available to answer any questions.
>
> I propose to check back in on progress in about a month. Does that make
> sense?
>
> Ian
>
> > On Apr 2, 2026, at 7:22 PM, Daveed <daveed@bridgit.io> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Adam, Felipe, Ian, and all,
> > Really appreciate where this conversation is going. The focus on
> defining civic technology, mapping the ecosystem, and connecting it to
> emerging standards feels like the right foundation.
> > I want to offer a slightly different angle that might help tie some of
> this together.
> > A lot of the challenges being named here are not just about missing
> tools or standards. They are about how people coordinate, interpret, and
> trust information together. Right now, most of that happens around content,
> in feeds, forums, or separate platforms, not directly on the content itself.
> > There is a design space opening up around enabling interaction directly
> in context. Things like:
> >     • annotations and discussion tied to specific claims
> >     • visible trust signals such as provenance, identity, or verification
> >     • shared presence and coordination across otherwise separate pages
> > In other words, a layer where civic interaction and validation can
> happen on top of the existing web, instead of being fragmented across
> platforms.
> > This does not compete with standards work. It likely depends on it.
> Things like DIDs, verifiable credentials, and linked data become much more
> meaningful if they show up in context, at the moment someone is trying to
> understand or act on something.
> > One way I have been thinking about this is in terms of roles. Not just
> developers or policy designers, but people who help build shared meaning
> and trust across spaces. You could call that a kind of civic mason role,
> someone helping connect signals, surface context, and support coordination
> where it is actually needed.
> > Maybe some useful questions for the group:
> >     • What would trust signals look like if they were visible and
> composable across contexts?
> >     • How can emerging W3C technologies support coordination at the
> interaction level, not just data interoperability?
> >     • What practices or interfaces help people collectively interpret
> and validate information in real time?
> > This might also complement the idea of building a database of civic
> technologies, by looking not only at what tools exist but how they support
> shared sensemaking and coordination.
> > Happy to explore further if this direction is useful. If not, all good...
> >
> > Best,
> > Daveed
> >
> >
> > Daveed Benjamin
> > Founder
> > Bridgit.io
> > daveed@bridgit.io
> > daveed@nos.social
> > +1 (510) 326-2803 (Whatsapp)
> > +1 (510) 373-3244 (Voicemail)
> > Book meeting
> >
> > The Metaweb - The Next Level of the Internet was published by Taylor &
> Francis in late November, 2023.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > From: Adam Sobieski <adamsobieski@hotmail.com>
> > To: "Felipe Ribeiro"<operarioribeiro@gmail.com>, "Ian Jacobs"<ij@w3.org>
> > Cc: "Team Community Process"<team-community-process@w3.org>, "
> public-civics@w3.org"<public-civics@w3.org>
> > Date: Thu, 02 Apr 2026 16:26:05 -0700
> > Subject: Re: Civic Technology
> >
> > Ian,
> > Felipe,
> > All,
> >
> > In addition to those ideas proposed by Felipe for the Community Group,
> discussing what civic technology is, the nature of its ecosystems, and
> their urgent needs, I would like to propose an activity of discussing the
> applicability of emerging W3C technologies to these ecosystems and their
> needs: https://www.w3.org/news/ . As one can see, recent developments,
> there, include: DIDs, Geolocation, and Linked Web Storage. The idea is that
> we could brainstorm in response to applicable new technologies, as they are
> reported on, at that link, and subsequently discuss how these emerging
> technologies could benefit the ecosystems of interest to our Community
> Group and their needs.
> >
> > With respect to a database of civic technologies, there is:
> https://civictech.guide/about/ .
> >
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Adam
> >
> > P.S.: I support any Group participants seeking to nominate themselves to
> the position of Chair or Co-chair and to hear any more new ideas for this
> Community Group.
> >
> > From: Felipe Ribeiro <operarioribeiro@gmail.com>
> > Sent: Thursday, April 2, 2026 7:05 PM
> > To: Ian Jacobs <ij@w3.org>
> > Cc: Team Community Process <team-community-process@w3.org>;
> public-civics@w3.org <public-civics@w3.org>
> > Subject: Re: Civic Technology
> >
> > Ian, thank you for noticing my mistyping. Long days here.
> >
> > On Thu, Apr 2, 2026 at 8:04 PM Ian Jacobs <ij@w3.org> wrote:
> > Hi Felipe,
> >
> > > On Apr 2, 2026, at 5:59 PM, Felipe Ribeiro <operarioribeiro@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > >
> > > To begin with I believe it is important for us to understand that the
> World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Working Groups purpose is mainly to develop
> 'Open Standards Documents Drafting' in compliance with its 'Process
> Document'.
> >
> > This is a Community Group, not at Working Group. Participation and
> development of specifications are governed by documents listed here:
> >   https://www.w3.org/community/about/
> >
> > >
> > > With that in mind it would be an important first step for us to
> achieve a consensual definition of civic technology and its ecosystem's
> current most urgent needs in compliance with W3C's semantic web linked open
> vocabularies (LOVs) methodology.
> > >
> > > Because of that, I think we should gather a database of civic
> technologies out there to analyze them further with the due e-democracy
> open governance public participation:
> > >     • United Nations Open Governance Tool Consul Democracy:
> https://consuldemocracy.org
> > >     • Open Web 2.0 (OW2) - Open by Rule Governance Charter:
> https://ow2.org/view/About/Open_By_Rule
> > >     • Open Source Program Office (OSPO) Alliance - Open Governance
> Guide: https://ospo-alliance.org/ggi
> > >     • Democracia OS: https://democraciaos.org/en
> > >     • Community Rule - Open Governance Templates:
> https://communityrule.info/templates
> > >     • Community Rule - Open Governance Policy Creator:
> https://communityrule.info/create
> > >     • Democracy Foundation - List of e-Voting, Deliberation, and
> e-Democracy Projects: https://democracy.foundation/similar-projects
> > > With a definition of civic technology, a list of its ecosystem's
> issues, and its controlled vocabulary, we can think together on the best
> solutions possible and how to develop them through public international law
> (PIL) rule of law (RoL) regulatory compliance standardization under the
> auspices of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Summit on
> the Information Society (WSIS).
> >
> > The group was created in April of 2023. Has the group had success
> organizing discussions around these topics?
> >
> > Ian
> >
> >
> > >
> > > On Thu, Apr 2, 2026 at 6:22 PM Ian Jacobs <ij@w3.org> wrote:
> > > Hi all,
> > >
> > > I’m happy to hear statements of support. It would be helpful to
> understand if you agree that the group has become
> > > inactive, and if so:
> > >
> > > * Are there any obstacles to being more active, or it is simply that
> people are not engaging?
> > > * Are there plans to change the situation? Are the Chairs in a
> position to lead the participants in a planning activity or driving
> engagement?
> > >
> > > In other words: what are participants in a position to do to help the
> group succeed?
> > >
> > > Ian
> > >
> > > > On Apr 2, 2026, at 2:09 PM, Felipe Ribeiro <
> operarioribeiro@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > I think it is important for this group to proceed.
> > > > For that purpose I share the following best open source technologies
> on the field for us to start thinking on our direction.
> > > >
> > > > United Nations Open Governance Tool Consul Democracy:
> https://consuldemocracy.org
> > > >
> > > > Open Web 2.0 (OW2) - Open by Rule Governance Charter:
> https://ow2.org/view/About/Open_By_Rule
> > > >
> > > > Open Source Program Office (OSPO) Alliance - Open Governance Guide:
> https://ospo-alliance.org/ggi
> > > >
> > > > Democracia OS: https://democraciaos.org/en
> > > >
> > > > Community Rule - Open Governance Templates:
> https://communityrule.info/templates
> > > >
> > > > Community Rule - Open Governance Policy Creator:
> https://communityrule.info/create
> > > >
> > > > Democracy Foundation - List of e-Voting, Deliberation, and
> e-Democracy Projects: https://democracy.foundation/similar-projects
> > > >
> > > > Felipe Ribeiro
> > > > linkedin.com/in/operarioribeiro
> > >
> > > --
> > > Ian Jacobs <ij@w3.org>
> > > https://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs/
> > > Tel: +1 917 450 8783
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> > --
> > Ian Jacobs <ij@w3.org>
> > https://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs/
> > Tel: +1 917 450 8783
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
> Ian Jacobs <ij@w3.org>
> https://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs/
> Tel: +1 917 450 8783
>
>
>
>
>
>