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CivicLytics
Description of the service
CivicLytics was born as a response to the IADB Group's need for a social listening and understanding tool to comprehend complex civic issues by listening to the perceptions and concerns of millions of citizens in Latin America and the Caribbean in real-time. The AI platform collects and analyzes open civic data expressed on the Internet (social networks, blogs, chatbots), including cross-cutting issues such as digitalization, employment generation, citizen participation and inclusion, climate change, gender equality, and diversity. CivicLytics has collected and analyzed more than 30 million data from multiple sources in 26 Latin American countries.
Problem that it solves
To understand complex civic issues by listening to the perceptions and concerns of millions of citizens in Latin America and the Caribbean in real-time. The goal is to support governments, citizens, and the private sector to drive inclusive solutions for local and regional recovery.
Type of AI app used
Events detection (anomaly detection and early warning), Customization, Prediction
Main results to June 30, 2021
30 million data collected in 26 countries
Publication of a report about the first 120 days of the pandemic in the 26 countries in Latin America and the most frequent citizen concerns (https://wiconnect.iadb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Nota-Tecnica-Ciudadania-los-120-primeros-dias-de-la-pandemia.pdf). Constant monitoring with more than 1.5 million data entering the platform every week. Civic indicators allow us to warn about social risks, such as the following:
- Colombia: Civic unrest metrics grew because the tax increase on funeral costs and menstrual hygiene products affected the perception of citizen dignity. Thanks to data monitoring, an alert was issued six days before protests began to be organized.
- Venezuela: Based on 11,500 testimonies, CivicLytics detected a 350% increase in hunger-related testimonies. CivicLytics reported famine situations in Caracas neighborhoods and Venezuelan populations in La Guajira (CO). Fifteen days later, the New York Times reported this same insight.
- Honduras: CivicLytics alerted in early May that citizens were asking for electoral reform to ensure transparency and long-term policies, based on 60,000 analyzed opinions. Two weeks later, the news revealed that the UN urged the Honduran Parliament to approve a new Electoral Law, which was approved at the end of May by the Honduran Congress.
Three main bottlenecks faced during implementation
- Data access
- Access to computational capacity
- Cultural resistance
- Scalability.
Lessons learned in the design or use of AI for social impact
- Governments and organizations usually speak one language, while citizens speak another. Citibeats does not pretend to find solutions for everyone but emphasizes on critical issues that require intervention by governments, institutions, and organizations. We understand our role as a facilitators and intermediaries of solutions with a positive social impact.
- As a company with AI solutions for positive social impact, we have been optimizing our technology to make it as dynamic and universal as possible and to adapt it to any situation. From listening to citizens with questions about medical issues to the prevention and mitigation of the consequences of natural disasters; from active participation in improving living conditions in cities for people with reduced mobility to the analysis of economic and social needs in rural areas usually with low visibility and representativeness.
- Social projects must focus on citizens and their opinions. Solutions that respond to the real needs of the people must essentially have tools targeting representativeness and inclusion of all citizens, allowing our clients to obtain the most complete and accurate representation of reality.
Country of origin
Geographic scope of operations
Worldwide, strongly focused on Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East
Type of executing entity
CompanySector/industry
Sustainable Development Goal(s) to which your AI solution contributes
1 (no poverty)
2 (zero hunger)
3 (good health and well-being)
4 (quality education)
5 (gender equality)
6 (clean water and sanitation)
7 (affordable and clean energy)
8 (decent work and economic growth)
9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure)
10 (reduced inequalities)
11 (sustainable cities and communities)
12 (responsible consumption and production)
13 (climate action)
15 (life on land)
16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions)
IA app developed internally or by a third party
Internallye
Name of implementing entity
Citibeats
Stakeholders involved
Inter‑American Development Bank (IADB)
Percentage of the development team that are women
17%
Year they started using AI-based models
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