When to build technology for social good? This is a thought-provoking question that points out the rampantly happening technical advancements. Technical advancements can touch varied fields. The study conducted at MIT focuses on building a piece of civic technology. Luke Jordan is a practitioner-in-residence at the MIT Governance Lab. One of his main concerns includes when to build technology for social good?

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When to build technology? OR “don’t build it”

The burning question of when to build technology specifically involves people who want to cast a social impact with technology. Jordan is also the founder of Grassroot, which is a platform for civic technology in South Africa. He quotes, “With Grassroot, I learned a lot about building technology on a very limited budget in difficult contexts for complex problems. The guide codifies some of what I learned”.

Amandla. mobi

The primary enforcement of the guide is “don’t build it”. This pivots around the idea that unless you are super-confident about the positive social impact of your idea, you shouldn’t start it. Koketso Moeti is the founding executive director of Amandla.mobi. She has put forth that people often approach her about various ideas for civic technology. She then quotes that, “Often after a discussion, it is either realized that there is something that already exists that can do what is desired, or that the problem was misdiagnosed and is sometimes not even a technical problem”.

Team work-learn, adapt, and build.

The said personalities say that once, the idea for a particular technology has passed its litmus test, as to when and how it can be fruitful. Then the real test begins with building a team that is hungry to learn, explore and take the project head-on. Tsai, who actively corroborates with the idea of when to build a technology or not to build it, emphasizes learning from failures. He also believes in involving governments to buy civic projects and advocating the culture that professes innovation.