# Digital Democracy in Taiwan: Civic Tech and Open Government
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**Taiwan has cemented its status as a global exemplar of digital governance and a living laboratory for civic technology.**
This island nation has pioneered a unique, bottom-up approach where highly proactive civic tech communities—such as g0v and Cofacts—collaborate directly with the government to shape digital policy and enhance public services. This approach not only strengthens democratic participation and transparency but also offers a vital framework for safeguarding digital rights and responding to complex global challenges.
## Who is the Digital Democracy Team (TW)?
The Digital Democracy Team is a working group formed by contributors from Taiwan’s civic tech community "[g0v](https://g0v.tw/intl/en/)" (gov-zero) together with diverse partners committed to open source, open data, and open government.
Besides core contributors from g0v, the Digital Democracy Team is supported by Wikimedia Taiwan, which sustains our operations, and works closely with advisors from journalism, open technology organizations, and civil society groups that monitor city councils and advocate for transparency.
Bringing these communities together, the Digital Democracy Team acts as a collaborative hub to advance civic technology and strengthen **democratic participation in Taiwan and across the region, especially East Asia.**
## What We Do: Civic Tech and Open Government
In Taiwan, the progress of digital democracy is inseparable from civil society. Civic tech communities and NGOs not only drive public participation and social responsibility, but also help government agencies embrace open government values during the digital transformation, showing how civic innovation and institutional reform must go hand in hand.
This year 2025, we invited more public sector partners into the civic tech field by hosting five Bootcamps with hands-on training and side-by-side support. Civil servants across Taiwan also joined a regional civic tech hackathon to exchange ideas on digital governance with regional peers. In addition, we co-hosted a joint workshop with officers of Taiwan OGP National Action Plan commitments, and will publish policy recommendations on Civic Tech & Open Government by the end of the year.
- Lessons Learned from Civil Servant Activities -- [The First Half of Civil Servants' Journey in Civic Technology](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mIW0QIBkuWjG_W2AoDLz4JVe-m1p_idl/view?usp=drive_link)[target=_blank]
- Presentation Slides for Civil Servants -- [FtO online pre-event](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HpgMfsGDuyhABMmw8pBsQZ4LCMe3OBGz/view?usp=drive_link)[target=_blank]
## What We Do: Regional Cooperation and Networks
Facing the Ocean (FtO) is a multinational civic tech hackathon co-hosted by g0v.tw (Taiwan), Code for Japan, and Code for Korea since 2019. Each year, the event rotates between the three countries and invites civic hackers, open data advocates, designers, and anyone eager to take action to co-create digital solutions for public issues. Unlike traditional conferences, FtO has no fixed agenda: participants form teams on the spot and dive into real-world challenges through hands-on collaboration.
- Go explore more about the annual [FtO hackathon](https://g0v.hackmd.io/@fto/book/%2FUJCmd7kiSROiO1cc7J0lGw%3Fview?type=book)[target=_blank] and join us next time.
In 2025, the Digital Democracy Team introduced a new milestone by co-organizing the first Civil Servant Exchange Session between Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. With real-time translation, government officials shared policy challenges and worked directly alongside the civic tech community. This unique model not only strengthens cross-border cooperation, but also builds trust between citizens and governments—demonstrating how civic tech can advance digital democracy and drive innovation in public services across East Asia.
## What Is Civic Tech, and How Does It Look in Taiwan?
Civic tech refers to the use of technology by citizens, civil society, and governments to enhance public participation, transparency, and collective problem-solving. g0v is a Taiwan-based civic tech community that builds open source tools and collaborates across government, media, and civil society. What’s special about g0v is its bottom-up, hacker culture approach — many of its projects grow organically from community needs, and it encourages open collaboration. g0v operates through decentralized working groups, hackathons, open repositories, and cross-sector alliances, allowing anyone to contribute and co-create.
- Don't miss it: **[Civic Tech Project & Community Handbook](https://g0v.hackmd.io/@jothon/ctpbook_en/https%3A%2F%2Fg0v.hackmd.io%2F%40jothon%2Fctpbook_en)** - From Taiwan’s g0v Community to the World: The Collaborative Wisdom of Digital Citizens
This handbook serves as a living guide and reference for anyone interested in civic tech, open governance, and collaborative innovation. It captures lessons, methodologies, and case studies from g0v’s many experiments and projects. Whether you’re a citizen, public servant, technologist, or curious newcomer, this handbook helps you understand how civic tech operates in practice—and offers actionable ideas you can adapt to your own context. Dive in to explore how technology, community, and governance can come together to empower civic participation and build more open societies.
## More you should know....
Explore how East Asia’s civic tech communities in Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea are reshaping digital governance and strengthening democracy. [This study in 2024](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qqTHSBa4MseM6iA0Z8AltkYIwsacWKjI/view?usp=drive_link) by Digital Democracy Team combines fieldwork and interviews to show how citizen-driven innovation is influencing policy, participation, and public-private collaboration.