Co-designing Digital Interventions and Technology Projects with Civil Society

The report argues that while co-design with civil society is currently more 'aspirational' than empirical, it is critical for mitigating the risks of 'techno-solutionist' approaches, especially during crises. It highlights how civil society provides essential 'situated knowledge' and 'bottom-up' perspectives that can prevent harmful unintended consequences for vulnerable populations. Using examples from India and the EU, the paper identifies significant barriers to effective co-design, including power imbalances, 'natural friction' between different organizational cultures, and the risk of co-option due to financial dependencies. It concludes with specific recommendations for tech companies to decentralize decision-making and provide flexible ecosystem funding, and for civil society to use empirical evidence over ideology to increase their influence.

• Current practices of co-design between technology developers and civil society are largely aspirational and often fail to meet the standards of equitable relationships, particularly in the context of COVID-19 interventions in India.
• Civil society provides unique value in the design process through 'situated knowledge' of local contexts, a 'bottom-up' orientation that protects vulnerable populations, and the ability to act as an independent watchdog to identify unintended harms.
• Technological interventions in India during the pandemic exhibited 'technological solutionism,' where tools were deployed without adequate dialogue on risks, often excluding users who relied on feature phones or regional languages and lacking clear data protection policies.
• The EU DP-3T consortium demonstrated that civil society can successfully influence global tech standards by intervening at the design stage with high technical expertise and existing professional networks to establish privacy-preserving protocols.
• Significant barriers to effective co-design include 'natural friction' caused by differing organizational cultures, the risk of civil society co-option due to financial dependence on tech companies, and a lack of resources for sustained engagement in the Global South.
• To achieve equitable co-design, technology companies should move beyond one-time engagements toward long-term relationship building, decentralize decision-making to local teams, and shift from project-based funding to broader ecosystem investments.

APA

World Economic Forum (2021). Co-designing Digital Interventions and Technology Projects with Civil Society. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Co_designing_Tech_with_Civil_Society_2021.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Co-designing Digital Interventions and Technology Projects with Civil Society. 2021. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Co_designing_Tech_with_Civil_Society_2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Co-designing Digital Interventions and Technology Projects with Civil Society |date=April 2021 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Co_designing_Tech_with_Civil_Society_2021.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2021codesigning, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Co-designing Digital Interventions and Technology Projects with Civil Society}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Co_designing_Tech_with_Civil_Society_2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }