The BBC reports how real-time reporting tools available to the public are enhancing the quality of information and therefore improving the social and political landscape in multiple countries.

Although billed as a social network, the founders call them “tools for people who don’t believe they have any power” and “the opposite to a cute kitten video” platform such as Facebook.

Africa’s move to aggregating and crowd-sourcing content began with the now famous Ushahidi platform.

After the disputed Kenyan elections, it played a key role in identifying outbreaks of violence and has since been adopted around the world.

Philip Thigo, an adviser with Nairobi-based non-governmental organisation Sodnet, is using the platform for his Uchaguzi election-monitoring project which allows citizens to report incidents of violence in elections across Africa.

“In Kenya it has changed how elections are monitored. It is working in real-time to impact elections as they take place, creating pressure on officials to act,” he said.

It has been used in recent elections in Uganda and Zambia and has spawned a similar tool that has more long-lasting applications.

The Huduma platform has drawn inspiration from MySociety projects to create a place where citizens can report day-to-day issues.

“If they go to hospital and don’t get the medicine they should have, they can report it,” he said.

Users can report problems with health and education services as well as with water supplies and the justice system.

According to Mr Thigo, the government has responded to problems reported.