Mali

Mr. Tidiani Togola

Developing ICT Solutions that Empower Local Organizations to Observe Elections

Mr. Tidiani Togola is an ICT specialist at the Réseau D’Appui au Processus Electoral au Mali and technical director of the National Agency for Telehealth and Medical Informatics in Mali. From 2006 to 2009, he served as his country’s national coordinator for the international volunteering association ICVolunteer, in which capacity he promoted the concept of cyber-volunteering. A pioneer in the use of digital technologies to strengthen democracy, governance, and citizenship in Africa, Mr. Togola has developed a web application that allows for impartial election monitoring in Mali, as well as an SMS method that permits real-time observation. His technological innovations have drawn worldwide attention: the National Democratic Institute recently enlisted him to set up databases enabling political parties and civil society actors to monitor elections in Guinea-Conakry, and Open Society Initiative for West Africa recruited him to develop Election Situation Room (ESR) software for their ESR Toolkit. During his fellowship, Mr. Togola is exploring the potential of information communication technologies to facilitate the practice of electoral observation in Francophone West Africa, with a focus on developing a customizable open-source web platform for use in nonpartisan electoral monitoring.
 

Articles:

• “Standards of Professionalism: Mali’s Press Environment,” Center for International Media Assistance, May 18, 2015.

Presentations and Professional Travel:

• National Endowment for Democracy, “Election Observation in the Digital Era: Challenges and Opportunities for West Africa,” June 10, 2015.

Interviews:

• “Washington Forum of 11 June 2015: the Third Term in Africa,” La Voix de l’Amerique, June 11, 2015. (French)

• “Washington Forum of 30 July 2015 : Obama’s Trip to Kenya and Ethiopia,” La Voix de l’Amerique, July 30, 2015 (French)