Matt Stempeck is a global civic tech researcher, activist and curator of the Civic Tech Field Guide, an open repository of over 10,000 projects that use tech and data to enhance democracy. He previously served as director of civic technology at Microsoft, where he worked to leverage the company’s platforms and products to achieve civic good in cities. He was also director of digital mobilisation for the Hillary For America campaign, and a Technologist-in-Residence at Cornell University, where he launched public interest tech impact fellowships that embedded PhD students in public interest organisations. Currently, Matt is the Director of Democracy and Technology at the Brussels-based Evens Foundation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in government and politics from the University of Maryland and a Master of Science in Civic Technology from MIT. Matt spoke to indianexpress.com on the state of civic tech, the challenges faced by civic tech initiatives and startups, and the interplay between tech and democracy.…