BudgIT opens US office, to lead civic tech and coordinate global expansion 

BudgIT has opened an office in Washington, DC, United States, as part of its strategies to grow its footprint on establishing civic change across the world.

Iyanu Fatoba, Ag head, communications at BudgIT, said this in a statement issued over the weekend.

BudgIT said it had opened offices in Sierra Leone, Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria. 

The statement added BudgIT, as a civic organisation, will continue to test its thesis that communities and citizens deserve access to public information in a simplified and engaging way for civic action and institutional improvement. 

“We believe that our ideas are valid, and we are happy to see this experimentation work out. We accept that learning can be shared across the world,” Oluseun Onigbinde, global director, BudgIT, said.

“In the next two years, we plan to open our offices in Kenya and make the US lead support of all our international programs.”

In her speech, Nada Zhody, the director of Open Gov Hub and member of BudgIT global advisory board, mentioned how the Hub has been a partner with BudgIT and shared the influence that the organisation holds in the open governance space.

While taking feedback from the audience, Iyanuoluwa Bolarinwa, BudgIT international programmes lead, emphasised the importance of flipping the narrative. 

“BudgIT is amongst the first few organisations experimenting with this new phenomenon, and we need all the support and help we can get to make this a success,” he said. 

The event hosted people from across the development sector, such as Transparency Accountability Initiative, Carnegie Endowment fund, Open Government Partnership, MacArthur Foundation and other leaders.

BudgIT said the programming for the US office would combine the use of creative arts, technology and data-driven research to stimulate civic participation in underserved and vulnerable communities.