The Congo Research Group (GEC) promotes independent and rigorous research to better understand the causes of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Their programs seek to empower Congolese citizens to hold individuals and systems more accountable. In 2020, GEC wanted to create Talatala (“mirror” in the Lingala language), a platform to promote government accountability in the DRC. The Talalala project sought to understand how accountability works in DRC’s government institutions and to identify influential persons within Congolese politics. GEC needed partners who would launch a Talatala system that was dialed into UI/UX needs and to provide a secure web application that could systematically observe, follow, and share findings publicly on the activities of Parliamentarians and the Government in the DRC.
GEC turned to the global software teams at DFS and BoldCode to get expert technical services for launching the Talatala web application. DFS provided leadership in the development phase of Talatala’s creation, finding the best technical solutions for the platform needs. The result is a website that promotes open government and accountability. Making all editorial content available in French and English is still in process.
