What we've done: 2003 - 2014

Overview
Since Tactical Tech was founded in 2003, it has significantly contributed to the effective and safe use of technology by civil society around the world. Tactical Tech initially worked to advance the use of appropriate technologies, such as open source, by civil society; moved forward to promote the effective use of technology in the context of advocacy; and is now working more critically to advance the field and provide practical solutions.

Tactical Tech has always worked on multiple levels. Working on a grassroots level, the organisation can maintain a direct sense of what is needed, and can then develop responses across the sector to meet these needs.  Tactical Tech's work has been carried out through three distinct strategic periods since its inception in 2003.  These and key related achievements throughout the last ten years are outlined below.

Strategy period 1: 2003 – 2006  
During this strategic period, Tactical Tech supported a community of advocates and technologists, promoting the use of free and open source technology for civil society. This was done through the development of a unique learning methodology, designed to foster the exchange of skills among often disparate groups of people (e.g advocates, technologists, designers) and demystify technology within broader civil society.   

Key activities and achievements:

• Development of the 'Source Camp' methodology for practitioners in the field to learn from each other and develop new technology projects in an intensive, participatory, non-hierarchical learning environment. 

• 8 Source Camps held in Croatia, Namibia, Uganda, India, Tajikistan and Morocco. The Camps and related trainings, which reached 600 people.

• Development of replication resources to enable other organisations to run their own events, successfully implemented through Asia Source II and III, as well as further events in the Caucuses, the Middle East and Latin America.

• Country studies and needs assessments, as well as capacity building and strategy planning, for specific movements such as the Burmese pro-democracy movement, Roma, Migration etc.

• Development of 'Guru Gatherings': agenda setting and content development retreats for leaders in the field addressing topical issues such as translation, wireless networks, open source etc.

• Development of a collaborative approach to producing toolkits and guides, resulting in a series of introductory manuals on basic technology needs for NGOs: NGO-in-a-box, Message in-a-box, and Mobiles in-a-box

Strategy period 2: 2006 – 2011
During this strategy period, Tactical Tech developed the concept of Information Activism (the strategic, effective and safe use of information and technology for advocacy) and a specific approach to facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration, building a community of practice through events, trainings and resources. 

In this four year period we reached 11,000 rights advocates through face-to-face contact (trainings, workshops, presentations etc), 27,000 rights advocates through resources distributed offline, and 1.5 million people through our online materials and activities.

Key activities and achievements:

• Partnership with Frontline Defenders to develop an approach to promoting and demystifying digital security and privacy, and to building the technical skills of rights advocates and journalists. This was realised through the partnership's first digital security toolkit, Security in-a-box, as well as training programmes and the development of a network of security trainers.(https://securityinabox.org - now in 13 languages)

• Conceptualisation and carrying out of a “Behaviour Change” education campaign to help rights advocates recognise and understand digital security risks for themselves and their communities. The campaign was implemented through “flash trainings” (awareness-raising interventions at large conferences), as well as a series of films and Twitter account featuring an animated character, ONO the Robot.(https://onorobot.org; twitter.com/ONOrobot)

• Organisation of the 2009 Info-Activism Camp, which brought together 125 activists, journalists, designers and technologists in India, resulting in more than 10 new collaborations and an international network of info-activists.

• Documentation of the stories and actors behind some of the most successful info-activism campaigns, packaged as a film and resource materials: “10 Tactics for Turning Information into Action”. This was supported by two practical manuals focused on technological tools and techniques for communicating and organising within an advocacy context: “Mobiles in-a-box” and “Message in-a-box”.

• Aggregation of an informal network of more than 300 volunteers worldwide, who distributed 10 Tactics through 250 grassroots screenings. Translations and localisation projects included a partnership with Reddes in Mexico on a print and online version of 10 Tactics for Latin America. (https://archive.informationactivism.org/es/)

• Implementation of an on-the-ground mentorship and direct skills building project on data collection, management and presentation with sex worker health and rights advocates.

• Production of the first Visualising Information for Advocacy guide (30,000 downloads in the first month), followed by a Maps for Advocacy guide and a Guru Gathering on data in advocacy.

Strategy period 3: 2011 - end 2013
During this strategy period, Tactical Tech streamlined its expertise into two key areas: evidence-based campaigning, and digital security and privacy; reflecting and building on ten years of network building, training and resource creation.

The first area reflected critically on the now-established field of info-activism, and worked on the use of evidence, data and visual techniques in campaigning. The second area built on an international network of digital security trainers, carried out technical capacity building and worked on behaviour change to help people understand and manage their digital security risks. Tactical Tech also developed a client-based creative studio, Tactical Studios, to produce data visualisations for NGOs.

During this period the organisation reached over 11,000 advocates through face-to-face contact (trainings, workshops, presentations etc),  30,000 through printed resources distributed offline and 2.6 million users through our online materials and activities.

Key achievements and activities:
Evidence and Action programme

• Creation of a suite of info-activism case studies, advice and analysis which would enable other groups to carry out trainings and workshops. (Ten Tactics Remixed: http://informationactivism.org; Ten Tactics Unstitched: http://informationactivism.org/unstitched)
• Replication, translation and customisation of Tactical Tech resources by activists in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Yemen, supported by Tactical Tech through a development workshop and grants. (http://manajem.me/)
• Development of a newsletter, 'In the Loop', curating news, inspiration and critical debate from the info-activism field. (Over 1000 subscribers by the end of 2013)
• Production and release of  'Exposing the Invisible'  –  a series of web documentaries and video sketches exploring new forms of investigation, and an accompanying website curating resources which can be used to obtain evidence, conduct investigations, manage and visualise data, delve deeper into complex societal issues, etc.    (http://exposingtheinvisible.org/)
• Info-activism and visual communication training for 900 advocates and activists.
• Research, development and publication of the second Visualising Information for Advocacy Book - an introduction to understanding visual information and a framework for using images to influence.  (http://store.visualisingadvocacy.org/)
• Collaboration with The Land Coalition and Tactical Studios to produce a data visualisation exposing land deals: The Land Matrix (http://www.landmatrix.org/)The second Info-Activism Camp - “Evidence and Influence” – an interdisciplinary week-long meeting for 145 practitioners working in the fields of data, design, advocacy, digital security and investigative journalism, resulting in more than 15 new collaborations as well as a 4-part online publication, the Evidence and Influence Micro-magazine.
• Development of the Info-activism How-to Guide  -  an online guide which assembles strategies, digital tools and case studies from around the world, with a critical focus on the intended strategic impact of digital campaigns. (https://howto.informationactivism.org)
• Development of the Women's Rights Campaigning Info-activism Toolkit - an adaptation of the Info-activism How-to Guide, designed specifically for women's rights defenders and created in collaboration with seven partner organisations based in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and East Africa. (https://womensrights.informationactivism.org/)

Privacy & Expression programme

• Production of Me and My Shadow, an interactive website helping people understand and manage their 'digital shadows'. Awarded a “BOB - Best of Online Activism” Award in 2013,  in the category “Most Creative and Original. The Myshadow project also included 7 awareness-raising cards  for offline distribution, in multiple languages.  (https://myshadow.org)
• Creation of awareness-raising flash and information cards on digital security for distribution at large international events.
• Building the technical skills of 1500 human rights advocates through 73 direct security trainings.
• 30 individuals trained as digital security trainers at 5 train-the-trainer events in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.
• Gathering of leaders in the field for a working retreat to develop a more holistic approach to security for advocates, integrating issues of physical and psychological security.   Organisation and hosting of three curricula-development working sprints.
• Translation of materials into Amharic, Arabic, Burmese, Chinese, Farsi, Indonesian Spanish, Vietnamese.
• Release of A Quick Guide to Alternatives - a website offering internet and mobile phone users alternative tools and services. The site was featured in Time magazine and is now being developed into a larger project. (https://alternatives.tacticaltech.org/)
• Deveopment of the Security in Context series of toolkits contextualising digital security threats for specific communities, resulting in production of the first toolkit, aimed at LGBT communities in the Arab region.
• Through Security-in-a-box, reached over 2 million users.