The AfricTivistes team of developers stood out at the Refine Open Source Hackathon, winning 2nd prize in the refine + DEV Hackathon. The team had submitted a monitoring and evaluation platform designed as part of AfricTivistes’ Local Open GovLab (LOG) project, to support local governments in African countries in integrating digital tools for budget transparency, open and inclusive governance, access to information and co-creation with citizen dynamics.

From June 21, 2023 to July 20, 2023, the AfricTivistes team of developers comprising Mamadou Mbaye Dione, Abdoulaye Guene and led by Mamadou Diagne competed in the refine + DEV Hackathon” competition held on the https://dev.to/  platform. This competition is crucial for developers around the world, as it promotes learning and visibility, and offers important professional opportunities.

After a month of hard work, the AfricTivistes team’s “Monitoring and Evaluation Platform developed for the Municipality of Gueule Tapée – Fass – Colobane (GTFC) in Dakar, Senegal”, carried out as part of the follow-up to the LOG pilot, was rewarded among a dozen equally innovative projects. “It is with great joy that I announce that our monitoring and evaluation platform for the municipality of GTFC, developed by our team, has won the Runner-Up prize at the “refine + DEV” Hackathon”, announced Mamadou Mbaye Dione, explaining that this M&E platform is meant to “improve overall governance and service delivery within the GTFC community”.

According to him, this solution will ” revamp the way the municipality of GTFC manages its operational processes”. He went on to explain, for context, that “The municipality of Gueule Tapée – Fass – Colobane requested a solution that went beyond a simple showcase website and integrated various management functionalities, such as meeting reports, monitoring and evaluation, integrated resource toolbox, mission reports, and much more”, he explained.

Reactions to this success have been swift. “What an impressive achievement in just one month!” the competition organisers hailed, before continuing, “Congratulations on being named one of the refine + DEV 2023 finalists! The judges were blown away by your project”.

From the AfricTivistes side, this performance didn’t go unnoticed either: “Your relentless efforts, creativity and determination have paid off, and our monitoring and evaluation platform has been rewarded, a well-deserved recognition for our exceptional work,” noted Mamadou Diagne, Data Scientist and head of the team of developers.

Cheikh Fall, President of AfricTivistes, added: “It’s great news to learn that your work has been acknowledged and rewarded by your peers. It’s a tribute to the quality and innovative approach shown by the entire IT team in the implementation of our projects.”

An innovative platform for good governance

In addition to being flexible, with a user-friendly and intuitive interface offering “efficient” data management, “secure storage and access to information”, the monitoring and evaluation platform for the municipality of Gueule Tapée – Fass – Colobane aims, above all, to encourage digital integration and the open use of public data by promoting transparent management, access to information and citizen participation.

                                         The platform’s front-end 

“When we decided to create this application, we were inspired by the vision of transparent and effective governance within the municipality of GTFC. We clearly recognized the need for a comprehensive solution that would go beyond a traditional website and address the specific operational challenges faced by the municipality,” recounts Mamadou Mbaye Dione. He confides that his team saw the opportunity to “support the municipality’s efforts by providing them with a centralised platform that streamlines their processes, improves collaboration and facilitates informed decision-making.” He added that the goal is to improve “overall governance and service delivery within the GTFC community” as predefined by the Local Open GovLab project.

                                         The platform’s dashboard

“The fact that our project was developed as part of the LOG project to support the commune of Gueule Tapée Fass Colobane adds even more value to our success, demonstrating the real impact of Africtivistes on local initiatives”, enthuses Mamadou Diagne.

About LOG

The LOG is an AfricTivistes project that supports, equips, trains and accompanies local governments in integrating digital technology for budget transparency, open governance and inclusive administration, access to information, and co-creation with citizen dynamics.

The main objective of the LOG programme is to create model municipalities for open local governance in four (4) West African countries in its pilot phase (Matankari, Dankassari in Niger, Bissau in Guinea-Bissau, Rufisque and Gueule Tapée Fass Colobane in Senegal, Labé and Kouroussa in Guinea). It promotes the transparency and accountability of these local governments through the open availability of public data.

The seven municipalities were supported by the technical team at the Dakar headquarters, as well as by AfricTivistes Volontaires pour le Gouvernement Ouverte en Afrique (VAGOA), young African experts and consultants selected following a call for applications. For this pilot phase of the project, the VAGOA were deployed to these countries to help municipalities implement the roadmaps defined on the basis of the respective needs expressed by each of the selected municipalities. They helped to initiate activities, accompany, mobilise and co-construct with the local government, politicians and the population through local civil society organisations, with the aim of strengthening transparency and accountability.

For further information: https://log.africtivistes.org/