---
title: 1-1 What is g0v? ｜ 公民科技專案手冊｜Civic Tech Project Handbook
tags: jothon, NDI
---
:::success
:book: Return to the homepage of the handbook: https://g0v.hackmd.io/@jothon/ctpbook_en

"g0v Civic Tech Project & Community Handbook" is licensed under CC BY-NC.
:::

# 1-1 What is g0v?｜g0v Civic Tech Project & Community Handbook

### Chapter 1: About the g0v Community
## What is g0v?


### What is g0v?

g0v is a grassroots social movement that aims to deepen civic engagements and connections between society and citizens. You can find like-minded partners in the g0v community, achieve your ideas in a grassroots approach, and then release the results under an open-source license, letting people build upon your foundations.

g0v replaces "o" in gov with "0", which reimagines the role of government from scratch zero and reflects the vision from 0 to 1 of the digital natives.

#### How g0v Works?

g0v's promotion uses both online and offline approaches. It utilizes various internet tools and hosts a hackathon every two months. Participants propose different projects and look for volunteers. Oftentimes, in addition to main hackathons, project teams will hold their own meetups and hackathons separately. This approach encourages grassroots idea realization, fostering active engagement rather than a passive one.

#### Participants of g0v

Participants of g0v can engage in the community both online and offline. The only requirement for our participants is to believe in open collaboration. Participants come from all fields and not necessarily from engineer background. Though most members in the early days of g0v were software engineers, now over 60% of participants in the g0v community do not have a technical background. We have participants from various fields such as design, legal profession, social activism, writing, and others.

Is it a problem if participant can’t write code? **Not at all!**

#### Project
The g0v community's projects are diverse. Since 2012, it has submitted over 900 proposals in more than 50 hackathons. Themes include open government, government supervision, environmental protection, misinformation, housing policies, language preservation, experimental education, and emerging ones like Web 3 and AI. These interdisciplinary projects are initiated autonomously by g0v participants.

Regarding the civic projects in g0v, the community encourages cross-disciplinary collaboration and focuses on current social issues, which builds an essential foundation that unites g0v participants.


---

### g0v Manifesto

Initially drafted by Ipa, finalized by community consensus, and revised by community discussion at any time. The g0v Manifesto clearly defines the spirit of g0v, the central idea of collaboration and openness, and it is metaphorically the "constitution" of the g0v.

:::info

#### We come from everywhere

g0v is a community of open collaboration. Contributors are from everywhere. We are software developers, designers, activists, educators, writers, citizens, and netizens of every profession. We gather in the hope of improving Taiwan’s civil society through technology and collaboration. If you’re willing to contribute your skills and expertise, you can take part in g0v.

#### We are a polycentric community of self-organized contributors

g0v projects are self-initiated and self-organized. With this Manifesto as the base of consensus, every g0v project makes its own decisions on its operation and governance. The g0v community is made up of these self-governing projects. There is no specific representative of g0v.

#### We are citizens collaborating to bring about change

Starting from the open-source movement, g0v is an active citizen of Taiwan. We the g0v contributors support freedom of speech and information transparency. By providing digestible information and hands-on digital tools, contributors bring more citizens to participate in public issues and influence government actions.

#### We live open-source

g0v contributors communicate and collaborate online, gather and connect in hackathons offline. Project outcomes (including but not limited to text, images, code, data, analysis, and processes) are open-source, allowing more people to use, improve, comment, and maximize their usage.

#### We have fun and want to change the status quo

We the g0v contributors love to dig into problems, and we take pleasure in finding solutions and taking action to make a change. We connect different expertise to amplify our collective force. Guided by imagination, we collaborate and explore new frontiers. We act to change the status quo. We refuse to stay in silence.

#### We are you

g0v is a non-partisan, not-for-profit, grassroots movement. You can contribute to projects with your intelligence or your physical force. You can also be a sponsor for g0v hackathons or specific projects. If you like what is mentioned above, get involved with g0v. Share your project ideas and your aspiration about a world renewed. Join us to change our society for the better.

<br/>
:::
---

### g0v Timeline
**【2012-2016: Building Consensus and Collaboration Foundation】**

:::warning
➞ Organizing hackathons.
➞ Establishing community communication platforms and social accounts as channels for internal connection and external information dissemination, reaching users on different platforms.
➞ Initiating "infrastructure hackathons" to discuss how to maintain effective operation in the polycentric g0v community, establish governance mechanisms, and improve collaboration tools.
:::

* 2012
* First g0v project: Central Government Budget Visualization.
* Oct 24: Acquiring the g0v.tw domain name.
* Dec 15: Organizing the first g0v hackathon.
* Establishing g0v IRC chat room.
* Creating the g0v.general Facebook group.
* 2013
* Drafting the g0v Code of Conduct "g0v manifesto."
* Establishing "open source," "civic activism," and "public spirit" as core values.
* Establishing g0v.tw Facebook fan page.
* Establishing g0v.tw Twitter account.
* Setting up the g0v YouTube channel to document each hackathon.
* Organizing 6 g0v hackathons.
* 2014
* Establishing the "g0v Jothon" task force as the support for the g0v community.
* Sunflower Movement.
* Collaborating with nearly 10,000 people to digitize political donation records (completed 300,000 data identifications in 24 hours!).
* Integrating major current affairs information: Kaohsiung gas explosion.
* Setting up the g0v Slack channel and synchronizing IRC and Slack messages with a bot.
* g0v Summit 2014: A two-day international conference with over 500 participants.
* Organizing the first infrastructure hackathon.
* Organizing 5 g0v hackathons.
* 2015
* The g0v community ranked among the top three global civic tech communities, alongside Code for America and the European OKFN ([source](https://sbaack.com/posts/2015-11-19-scraping-the-global-civic-tech-community-on-github-part-2/)）
* Awarded the IICM Medal of Honor by the Institute of Information & Computing Machinery, Taiwan.
* Integrating major current affairs information: Formosa Fun Coast dust explosion.
* Organizing 6 g0v hackathons.
* 2016
* Integrating major current affairs information: Tainan earthquake disaster information integration platform.
* g0v New York Hackathon.
* g0v Summit 2016.
* Organizing 5 infrastructure hackathons.
* Organizing 5 g0v hackathons.

**【2017-2019: Cross-domain Collaboration and Incubation of Civic Tech Projects】**
:::warning
➞ Connecting with Taiwanese non-profit organizations.
➞ Actively engaging in international dialogues.
:::
* 2017 - 2019
* Organizing the "Civic Tech Innovation Grants (g0v Grant)" in collaboration with non-profit organizations to assist NGOs in utilizing technology tools and crowdsourcing to expand their impact. Accumulated a total of 272 proposals, awarded 29 projects, and disbursed 13.65 million NTD in grants. Over 250 media reports were generated.
* 2017
* Cofacts: Launching Line Bot chatbot and regularly organizing editor meetups.
* g0v Bangkok Hackathon.
* Organizing 4 infrastructure hackathons.
* Organizing 5 g0v hackathons.
* 2018
* Awarded the “Digital Communities: Award of Distinction” by Prix Ars Electronica 2018, becoming the first Taiwanese community to receive this honor.
* Integrating major current affairs information: Puyuma Express train derailment disaster information integration platform.
* g0v Summit 2018.
* Organizing 4 infrastructure hackathons.
* Organizing 5 g0v hackathons.
* 2019
* Establishing the "g0v international" task force.
* Environmental group "Citizen of the Earth Foundation" proposing the "Disfactory: Illegal Factories Reporting System" at the g0v hackathon and organizing regular project meetings.
* Facing the Ocean Hackathon in Okinawa, co-organized by Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.
* Facing the Ocean Hackathon in Tainan, co-organized by Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.
* g0v New York Hackathon.
* Invited by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, participating in discussions with various political parties and parliament members, and attending the Hacking Democracy Summit held in Berlin.
* Organizing 1 infrastructure hackathon.
* Organizing 5 g0v hackathons.

**【2020-2023: Cultivate More Younger Generation to Become Digital Citizens】**
:::warning
➞ Cultivating digital collaboration skills and literacy among the younger generation, bringing g0v's collaborative model to campuses.
➞ Adapting to the global COVID-19 pandemic by initiating various projects related to pandemic response and shifting physical events to online platforms to maintain community cohesion and collaborative capacity.
:::
* 2020
* Launching "g0v Sch001" project.
* Integrating major current affairs information: Covid-19 Info, a platform for aggregating pandemic-related information.
* Covid-19 response projects: Mask Map, Case Footprint Tracking.
* Introducing "Online Jothon" to host virtual events to reduce the risks of cluster infection during the pandemic, ensuring continuity of g0v activities and community cohesion.
* Facing the Ocean Hackathon in Tainan x online, co-organized by Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.
* g0v Summit 2020.
* Organizing 2 infrastructure hackathons.
* Organizing 4 g0v hackathons.
* 2021
* Integrating major current affairs information: Taroko Express train derailment disaster information integration platform.
* Integrating major current affairs information: Covid-19 Info, a platform for aggregating pandemic-related information.
* COVID-19 response projects: g0v Real-time Contact Tracing, Stay-at-Home Veg Boxes, vaxx.tw Vaccine Map.
* Organizing 2 infrastructure hackathons.
* Organizing 6 g0v hackathons.
* 2022
* Launching "g0v Underground" Podcast program.
* Integrating major current affairs information: Information Integration Platform for the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.
* COVID-19 response project: Rapid Testing Map.
* Celebrating g0v's 10th anniversary with a series of community-led activities.
* Organizing 3 infrastructure hackathons.
* Organizing 6 g0v hackathons.
* 2023
* Facing the Ocean Hackathon in Jeju Island, co-organized by Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.
* Organizing 2 infrastructure hackathons.
* Organizing 6 g0v hackathons.
* 2024 ~
* *... to be continued*

:::warning
#### As of 2023, the g0v community has marked its 11th year and has achieved the following milestones to date:
* 13475+ participants on g0v Slack
* 916 g0v Slack channels
* 405135+ g0v Slack messages
* Organized 4 g0v Summit international biennial conferences
* Held 23 Infrastructure Hackathons
* Conducted 60 g0v hackathons
* Received a total of 980 hackathon proposals
* 471+ GitHub projects
* 146,000+ users who have liked the g0v Facebook fan page or follow it
<br/>
:::