Top US?honour for Janaagraha’s Swati

Bangalore: Swati Ramanathan, the co-fou­nder of Janaagraha, is bei­­ng honoured as a ‘Civic Inn­o­v­ator' by the National Demo­c­ratic Institute (NDI), for her innovations in using technology, the internet and social media as a way of inc­r­e­asing accountability bet­w­een citizens and the gov­ernment. Swati, who is tra­v­­elling at the moment, will receive her award on Dec. 10, at the Dem­o­cracy Dinner in Was­h­ington DC, hosted by NDI.

Jared Cohen (Google Ideas), Toomas Hen­d­rik Ilves, the Pre­sident of Est­­­onia, Jenn­i­fer Pahlka and Tom Stei­n­berg (Open Gove­r­n­ment Par­t­­ner­s­hip) are some of the other rec­i­pients of the aw­a­rd. Jack Dorsey, Chair­man and Foun­der, Twitter, will del­iver the keynote address and Sam­a­n­tha Power, US Amb­a­ssador to the UN will make an address at the dinner. 

“NDI is looking mainly at the work we have done online to further governance, bearing in mind the way democracy is changing,” said Sapna Karim, HR Head and Member of the Management Committee, Janaagraha.

The NGO currently runs two online initiatives - IChangeMyCity, which won the Google Impact Challenge in November this year and I Paid a Bribe, which tracks citizen reports of local corruption. Both these initiatives were started by Swati, said Sapna.

“The idea is to give citizens a global benchmark for the services the government provides them,” explained Sapna. The Ward Quality Score brings governance down to the grassroots level, with citizens themselves engaging with it. “It’s a scientific method that brings a lot of ease and accuracy into the system.”

In April this year, Swati joined Madeline K Albright, Chairperson of the NDI, along with a panel of experts, to discuss the impact of technology on democracy and global affairs.

The National Democracy Institute is a not for profit organisation based in the U.S, which works to support and strengthen democratic institutions across the globe through citizen participation, openness and accountability in the government.