Community mobilization lies at the heart of civic tech. Code for Pakistan organizes Hackathons, Hack-Days, and different community events to bring together technologists, researchers, designers, and social workers to collaborate and innovate to find solutions for different community problems.
In addition, Code for Pakistan also supports Civic Innovation Labs across Pakistan, where groups of volunteer community members meet regularly to collaborate with government, non-profits, and media organizations on technology, data, policy, and design projects that strengthen their communities.
Each Lab is led by a Lab Organizer responsible for building the community and maintaining the relationship between the Lab and the local partners. Lab members meet at least monthly; most CILs meet with greater frequency and have a range of monthly programming. In addition, Al Labs are connected through an online forum to share stories and support each other's work. The Civic Innovation Labs are modeled after the Code for America's international Brigade network.
Currently, we have three CILs active in Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar.