The fast-growing field of civic tech lives at the nexus of technology, civic innovation, open government and community engagement. Who and where are the key players in this field, and how can civic tech supporters form stronger networks? A new Knight Foundation report explores these trends.

Published today, The Emergence of Civic Tech: Investments in a Growing Field includes a research report, interactive data visualization (and its underlying dataset), and a Civic Tech Directory.

In his summary of the research findings, Jonathan Sotsky, Knight's director of strategy and assessment, noted that the report identifies "more than $430 million of private and philanthropic investment directed to 102 civic tech organizations from January 2011 to May 2013. In total, the analysis identifies 209 civic tech organizations that cluster around pockets of activity such as tools that improve government data utility, community organizing platforms and online neighborhood forums."

The vast majority of funding to civic tech organizations (84%) comes from private capital -- except in for the development of open government technology, where philanthropic capital outpaces private investment. "The analysis reveals an opportunity for greater co-investment by foundations, which have rarely teamed with other types of investors to fund civic tech organizations," said Sotsky.

This report is no one-shot-deal, but an ongoing effort. "The real power of the review will come through continuing to update it over time," said Sotsky. Knight is seeking feedback and suggestions for other organizations and investments to include in the analysis, and will continuously update the data and directory, as well as refresh the analysis in 2014.

Keep up with emerging civic tech news, issues and opportunities. The Knight Foundation also offers Civic Tech e-mail updates.