Enhancing access to information about civil society organizations and communities through an interactive android mobile application

Abstract

Civil Society Organizations are non-governmental and not-for-profit organizations which act as a bridge between the government, society and the private sector by holding the government accountable and give a voice to the marginalized groups on issues such as education, health and other sectors. The problem in this study is that currently, the information about CSOs and their activities in East Africa cannot be found in one place online and it is inaccurate and sometimes outdated. The data collection was done through questionnaires, observations and interviews with different stakeholders in the civil society arena. In the system development phase, agile development methodology was used. The study showed that there is a gap in the availability of a single platform where different actors can readily get reliable and up-to-date information about the available CSOs of interest. The outcome of the study is the development of an interactive online directory of Civil Society Organizations. The platform is mobile based and enables CSOs to register and fill up their current details, ensuring that there is always correct and updated information. The platform is equipped with a geo-mapping facility which enables users of the system to correctly geo locate their civil societies of interest on a map. The results of system evaluation showed that 88.125% of users were satisfied with the system basing on the evaluation criteria. The developed system will benefit stakeholders in the non-profit sector by having one platform where accurate and up-to-date information about civil societies can be easily found.