C4GT - An initiative to contribute code for social impact

Deck for the presentation at FossUnited's IndiaFoss 3.0 event held in Bengaluru, India.

Gaps were identified in the govtech and DPG space. The projects though primarily open source did not focus on the community building angle. We decided to fix this by launching the C4GT - Code for GovTech initiative. We ran the mentorship program in 2022 & 2023. We have a bunch of learnings from both our mentorship programs which we would love to share with the community. In-line with the learnings we are now working on a continuous building program as well as the 2024 edition of the dedicated mentorship program. We are helping DPGs and DPIs become community friendly & community driven. We want to share with the community our plans, our tools & leave everyone interested with immediate action items be it for contributors to get started, get involved via chapters or for orgs to build a community for their projects.

Transcript

1. C4GT - An initiative to contribute code for social impact Shruti Agarwal & Karan Trehan
2. Digital Public Goods (DPGs)
3. Examples of DPGs and DPIs
4. DPG Ecosystem DPG Builder DPG Adopter
5. Need for C4GT
6. Journey of 3 personas ▪ Janvi ▪ 4th year Undergraduate ▪ Opportunist ▪ Exploring open source ▪ Abhishek ▪ SDE 2 ▪ Idealist in social good ▪ Wants to help folks like Janvi ▪ TechforGood ▪ DPG Builder & Adopter ▪ Needs community & adopters ▪ Seeking talent Contribute to social good Mentor contributions to social good Build a community for DPGs
7. Gaps A proliferation of DPGs is expected over the next decade DPGs are open source, yet, communities around them did not exist Raw Talent is looking for meaningful places to contribute Seasoned Talent is looking to orchestrate meaningful contributions A standardised tool or platform for these folks to come together does not exist
8. Code for GovTech (C4GT) Hence came into being…
9. Code for GovTech (C4GT) is an ecosystem initiative aimed at creating active open-source community of coders & mentors that can build & contribute to Digital Public Goods Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and tech building blocks with use cases in social impact. Code for GovTech (C4GT)
10. C4GT Initiatives Dedicated Mentoring Program (DMP) 2-month experiential learning program focused on DPG/DPI with 1:1 mentorship
11. Mentoring program ▪ Selects a problem statement which they align with ▪ Prepares a comprehensively design document ▪ Works on delivering the solution with help from mentors ▪ Works with a group of contributors ▪ Mentors, reviews, unblocks and motivates contributors ▪ Offers valuable insights and expertise ▪ Supplies contributors with well-defined & actionable problem statements ▪ Unblocks & supports contributors ▪ Provides timely feedback
12. Mentoring program - Our Process Problem identification with orgs & standardised issue template Mentor selection, onboarding & training Setup Bringing contributors, mentors and orgs on a single platform - Discord Providing a platform to contributors for filtering, selecting & submitting proposals to problems statements Applications Helping orgs evaluate proposals, interview contributors and select them Helping contributors, mentors & orgs collaborate as well as exchange ideas Selection Contributor & Mentor Bootcamps Weekly check-ins & quality checks Mid point demo & feedback from industry experts End point showcase with industry experts Sharing verifiable credentials with all contributors Contribution DPG Dialogues with the ecosystem Community
13. Our partner organizations for DMP 2023
14. Quantitative Impact
15. Mentoring Program 2022 Perspectives from GovTech leaders Inauguration| Midpoint showcase | Finale 1:1 mentorship Dedicated mentors for each contributor Hands-on coding experience With PR feedback from the community & mentors Access to peer learning Peer learning sessions | Doubt resolution Projects 9 Contributors 13 New Features 25+ Approved Contributions 100%
16. Mentoring Program 2023 Perspectives from GovTech leaders Inauguration| Midpoint | Finale | DPG Dialogs 1:1 mentorship From dedicated mentors & domain expert super mentors Hands-on coding experience With constant feedback from mentors & super mentors Access to peer learning Dedicated office hours & weekly check-ins Projects 38 Contributors 103 New Features 100+ Approved Contributions 80%
17. Qualitative Impact Mentoring program 2023 ▪ Contributed to socially impactful open source projects ▪ Exposure to real use cases & working ethics ▪ Learnt from industry experts ▪ Got recognition & internship opportunities ▪ Orchestrated contributions to socially impactful open source projects ▪ Got mentorship opportunities ▪ Got deeper connects in the DPG ecosystem ▪ Got a community built around it’s DPG ▪ Got use-cases contributed from the community ▪ Made its project contribution ready ▪ Contributors will be future adopters, builders & hires
18. Future plans
19. Learnings from the community ▪ Friends & peers want to be involved as well ▪ Took time to onboard the system ▪ Want to keep contributing ▪ Had to train contributors on basics as well ▪ Difficult to work on all projects with a 2 month timeline ▪ Want to keep contributing ▪ Need mentors from the community also. ▪ Need use cases and problem statements from the community ▪ Looking forward to further contributions
20. Community building initiative Community Building Initiative Initiative to nurture a sustainable ecosystem for the larger community around DPG/DPI Dedicated Mentoring Program 2-month experiential learning program focused on DPG/DPI with 1:1 mentorship
21. DPG community toolkit DPG Contribution Readiness Framework DPG Issue Template DPG Points System
22. Future plans for the personas ▪ Becomes a mentor for CCBP & mentorship program ‘24 ▪ Starts & leads a DPG Chapter in his college ▪ Continues contributing to DPGs and gaining points ▪ Gets support from the ecosystem ▪ Becomes a super mentors ▪ Gets exposure to more DPG builders and adopters ▪ Mentors a DPG Chapter ▪ Follows the toolkits built ▪ Gets continuous contributions ▪ Adopts a DPG chapter ▪ Has a strong hiring funnel
23. Get involved
24. Want to contribute for Social Good? Join our discord community! https://discord.com/invite/VPrXf7Jxpr Fill this Mentor Interest Form! http://bit.ly/c4gt-mentor Fill this Org interest Form! https://bit.ly/c4gt-org
25. Thank you!