Our approach
Technology that holds up on election day, not just in a demo.
Elections are a one-day stress test with no second attempt. Every design decision we make starts from the conditions on the ground: patchy networks, basic phones, many languages and high stakes.
Design principles
Six rules we build by.
Offline first
Field reports, result uploads and incident logs are queued on the device and synchronised when a connection returns. Nothing is lost because a polling unit is out of coverage.
Low bandwidth by design
Pages load progressively and media quality adapts to the connection. Our design target for text-only use on the civic platform is under 1 MB per hour.
Local languages and local rules
We model each country’s result forms and collation hierarchy instead of forcing a generic template. Multi-language support is built in, with a target of ten or more African languages on the civic platform.
Verification, not assertion
Results carry their evidence: the photographed sheet, who submitted it and when, and how it compares with other reports from the same polling unit.
AI with human review
We use AI to read result sheets and flag doubtful content, and people to make the final call. Nothing is published on the strength of a model alone.
Privacy and security
Role-based access, audit logs and data minimisation are defaults. We design to Nigeria’s data protection law and the UK GDPR.
Roadmap · goals, not results
From Nigeria to the continent, one phase at a time.
These are the goals in our plan. We will report progress against them as it happens, and say so plainly when it doesn’t.
- Phase 1
Pilot
Prove it where elections are hardest
Deploy in a small set of pilot countries chosen for democratic stability, mobile reach and electoral calendar. Build electoral-commission partnerships and local operations.
- Phase 2
Regional
Five or more countries
Expand on pilot learnings, deepen partnerships with commissions and civil society, and introduce the advanced verification and accountability tools.
- Phase 3
Continental
Fifteen or more countries
A pan-African presence, with full platform availability and a self-sustaining operating model.
The change we are aiming for
Targets among people who use our civic tools. They are goals we will measure against, not results we have measured.
- voter registration among platform users
- +25%
- Source: SciTun impact target (goal, not a measured result)
- turnout among platform users
- +15%
- Source: SciTun impact target (goal, not a measured result)
Help us prove it.
Pilots need partners: electoral bodies, observer groups and funders willing to test new tools where it matters.