Civic Community Fund and Ecosystem, Korea & Japan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSFCmLOBG9g&list=PL3C6eF-zu5AYohNL1ZgOBqlwwJ29x-lTO&index=32 speaker

• Har Seki (Code for Japan)
• Wan Seob Lim（PSC／Ethereum Foundation／Korea）
• Vienna Ly (ETH Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia) summary
• Panel discussion on examples of "Civic Tech" and "Public Goods" initiatives, community management, and fund circulation models, focusing on Asia (Japan, Korea, Malaysia).
• He introduced the background of the birth of Code for Japan (after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011), the mechanism for sending students to overseas hackathons, and examples of collaboration with national and local governments.
• He emphasized the significance of forming a sustainable Positive Sam community by sharing challenges and solutions that differ from region to region and culture to culture.

Background of Speakers

• Hal Seki（Code for Japan）
  • In 2011, he founded Code for Japan to "create digital services for the public" in response to the earthquake disaster.
  • Develops open source software for government and municipalities and supports citizen projects with monthly hackathons.
  • Promote examples of open source adoption and publication in government, such as the COVID-19 Measures Dashboard.
• Wan So Bim（PSC／Ethereum Foundation／Korea）
  • His day job is as a cryptography researcher, but he also enjoys organizing various conferences and building communities.
  • Experiment with a system that allows students to participate in hackathons abroad and, if they win, return 100% of the prize money to the community fund.
  • He sympathizes with the "Give First" and "Positive Sum" concepts of open source culture. We also see it as an attempt to change the intensely competitive society unique to Korea.
• Vienna Ly (ETH Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia)
  • Examples of collaboration with the Web3 and NFT artist communities and local government in Malaysia are presented.
  • Although there have been severe controls in the past, including arrests for criticism of the administration, the community is now being invited to be in the same room as the Digital Agency and ministers, and attempts are being made to create opportunities for dialogue.

2. specific examples and initiatives

• Code for Japan Achievements
  • The COVID-19 dashboard was built in cooperation with the Tokyo municipality and the source code was made publicly available. Many developers contributed to the project, and it has been forked (reused) to other regions.
  • The introduction of open source became a good example for the government to realize the "benefits of citizen participation.
• Korean Student Assistance Fund
  • A fund is set up to support hackathon participation and travel expenses. The fund will be managed with donations from investors, and the full amount will be returned to the original fund once the student who received the money wins the prize.
  • The fund is being expanded horizontally in Asia, with similar funds being established in the Taiwanese community.
• Integration of Public, Private, and Civic Communities in Malaysia
  • The Minister of Digital and related ministries are invited to the same conference as the Web3/NFT artist community to discuss the issues together.
  • A new initiative that brings together civil society, government, artists, and other diverse positions to engage in dialogue and make policy proposals.

3. challenges and future prospects

• Sustainability/Funding
  • Many Civic Techs rely on volunteers and have many ideas and prototypes, but need funding to take root as an actual service.
  • Code for Japan is considering a mechanism to create a fund (endowment) and support communities with interest earnings.
    • Related: DRAGON FUND.
• Fostering cultural aspects
  • When the culture of "Give First" and "Positive Sum" propagates across diverse places, it eases the competitive society and creates a cooperative community.
  • By "folk-ing" each other's best practices as open source and reconstructing them to fit the context of each country and region, greater impact can be expected.
• Social and political contacts
  • Each country, municipality, and community has a different history and background, with different governance and regulations.
  • Therefore, it is necessary to seek methods suitable for each country and region, rather than simply bringing in Western mechanisms.

Conclusion

• Funding for public goods (public goods) and promotion of open source culture are steadily spreading in Asia.
• Cultivating a culture of "giving" in a competitive social structure is a challenge, but Civic Tech can serve as a concrete model case.
• Creating a mechanism for government, business, and citizens to collaborate, and sharing and developing methods that fit local issues will lead to long-term impact.

This page is auto-translated from [/nishio/Civic Community Fund and Ecosystem, Korea & Japan](https://scrapbox.io/nishio/Civic Community Fund and Ecosystem, Korea & Japan) using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I'm very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.