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Our Story

Help us improve the Citizen OS platform as a volunteer. Whether you are a developer, translator, researcher, designer, hacktivist or journalist – join us!

Established in 2015, Citizen OS is a civic tech non-profit organisation with teams in Estonia and Indonesia. We provide training, projects and a free open-source participation platform to enhance participatory democracy and the use of technology for good.

We’re here for civic movements, active citizens, local communities, organisations, public institutions and political parties to help you  engage more diverse groups in their decision making processes. 

With democracy under threat (as highlighted in the latest report by CIVICUS) and the rapid development of technology, we want to make sure that technology is strengthening democracy, not undermining it!

The story of Citizen OS is rooted in global environmental activism against waste pollution and the realisation that for (eco)systems to improve, we need to take civic participation to the next level. So, what sparked the idea of Citizen OS and how did it come to be? Find out here!

Established in 2015, Citizen OS is a civic tech non-profit organisation with teams in Estonia and Indonesia. We provide training, projects and a free open-source participation platform to enhance participatory democracy and the use of technology for good.

We’re here for civic movements, active citizens, local communities, organisations, public institutions and political parties to help you  engage more diverse groups in their decision making processes. 

With democracy under threat (as highlighted in the latest report by CIVICUS) and the rapid development of technology, we want to make sure that technology is strengthening democracy, not undermining it!

The story of Citizen OS is rooted in global environmental activism against waste pollution and the realisation that for (eco)systems to improve, we need to take civic participation to the next level. So, what sparked the idea of Citizen OS and how did it come to be? Find out here!

What do we offer?

We offer a free open-source participation platform for anyone who wants to make decision-making more participatory, transparent and inclusive. We also coordinate international projects and organise training to help citizens and decision-makers become better at civic engagement.

Our participation platform

The Citizen OS platform is free for everyone – always! It’s designed for organisations and communities who value a diversity of opinions and want to bring about more inclusive decision-making. We largely focus on civil society leaders, but the platform is used by all kinds of other groups too.

Just log in and start a public or private discussion to level-up your decision-making today. 

Learn more
Use platform

Our participation platform

The Citizen OS platform is free for everyone – always! It’s designed for organisations and communities who value a diversity of opinions and want to bring about more inclusive decision-making. We largely focus on civil society leaders, but the platform is used by all kinds of other groups too.

Just log in and start a public or private discussion to level-up your decision-making today. 

Learn more
Use platform

Engage more inclusively

Collectively decide with a broader audience of diverse opinions, wherever and whenever it suits them

Make better quality decisions

Tap into collective wisdom through healthy dialogue to make decisions everyone’s on board with

Make group decisions smoothly

Hold discussions and votes in a secure, hassle-free and democratic way

Nurture participatory leadership

Create a safe space for everyone to take an active role in joint decision-making

Activity on our platform since its creation:

Discussions

5092

Votes

19925

Groups

734

Users

13269

Empowering civil society leaders

Our hands-on training programmes skill-up civil society leaders in inclusive community leadership. We also work closely with universities to expand our expertise and share it with students. Examples include the Indonesian Opinion Festival, Democracy Defenders Accelerator, Participatory Youth Leadership Network, and “Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Societies” – Erasmus Mundus joint Masters programme. 

Read our case studies
View our projects

Awesome people engaged in our projects last year:

Project participants

1249

Volunteers

77

What we stand for

Our mission

Our mission is to empower as many people as possible to participate in respectful, meaningful discussions in order to collaboratively decide on issues that affect their wellbeing. 

 

Our vision

We want to see open participatory societies where no one person or group rules over others, but where people govern together.

 

Our values
Mission-driven

As a non-profit, our driving force is our mission. With no ‘bottom line’ pressing us to compromise, we focus on empowering as many people as possible to participate in respectful, meaningful discussions. So that everyone, everywhere, can decide together on issues that affect their own wellbeing. All our work, from our free, open source participation platform to our civic engagement initiatives, is done with the end goal of enabling inclusive decision-making.

Openness is a concept that resonates with us in many ways. It’s about open democracy, for a start; the kind of transparent, accessible and participatory democracy we’re all about. It’s about open source; which our free participation platform is and always will be. It’s about open communication, listening and co-creation; with each other, without our partners, and with our users. And finally, it’s about practising transparency within our own organisation. 

We stand for a democracy that includes the voices of everyone, regardless of their background. Through our work, we enable civil society actors to open up the dialogue beyond more than just the ‘likely suspects’—giving everyone the opportunity to respectfully express their views and actively participate in shaping important decisions. Both within our organisation and in the work we do, we want to be inclusive to all cultures and backgrounds, and to break down barriers to civil society participation.

We believe that important decisions should always be based on solid evidence, both in democracy and in our organisation. We strive to be data-driven and research-backed in everything we do, partnering with researchers and universities to inform our efforts. We take a user-centric approach to our platform and project development, basing decisions on proven needs and solid insights. 

We aspire to create the kind of society we want to live in, beginning with how we conduct our own organisation. We have a culture of honesty, sincerity, and care within our team, ensuring everyone feels heard, appreciated and valued. We believe that disagreement is a healthy part of decision-making, but always with the utmost respect and in a non-hierarchical structure. We want to always remain a trusted and safe space for our target groups to share, express and learn.  

Theory of Change

Inspired and guided by the Theory of Change method, our team is dedicated to building a future in which everyone everywhere can live in a democratic and open society.

Fostering democracy and freedom

We want to live in a world where every person has the right to express themselves freely, and in turn respect other people’s worldviews and opinions. The best decisions are made in co-creation and collaboration and are based on the best available information. Equal access to information is one of the main pillars in open, democratic societies and is directly aligned with our values.

Building a sustainable society through collaboration

We appreciate and celebrate differences among people, cultures and nature with respect to each other. Monoculture is unsustainable both in nature and among human cultures, which is why we believe it is important to sustain and support differences. Everyone is unique and every one is important.

Harnessing the power of technology

In order to adapt democracy to rapid technological development, we need to bring democracy online and create safe and secure technologies. We need to overcome the biggest challenge there is when merging technology and democracy. Democracy is slow while technology is fast. We believe that for important and big decisions people need time to think, discuss and debate, and for that we need to create space in the online environment. 

Fostering democracy and freedom

We want to live in a world where every person has the right to express themselves freely, and in turn respect other people’s worldviews and opinions. The best decisions are made in co-creation and collaboration and are based on the best available information. Equal access to information is one of the main pillars in open, democratic societies and is directly aligned with our values.

Building a sustainable society through collaboration

We appreciate and celebrate differences among people, cultures and nature with respect to each other. Monoculture is unsustainable both in nature and among human cultures, which is why we believe it is important to sustain and support differences. Everyone is unique and every one is important.

Harnessing the power of technology

In order to adapt democracy to rapid technological development, we need to bring democracy online and create safe and secure technologies. We need to overcome the biggest challenge there is when merging technology and democracy. Democracy is slow while technology is fast. We believe that for important and big decisions people need time to think, discuss and debate, and for that we need to create space in the online environment. 

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