Iowa Caucuses a Showcase for Microsoft’s Ambitions in Civic Tech

As Iowans head to churches, schools, restaurants and firehouses today to cast the nation’s first votes in the 2016 presidential race, the closely watched caucuses will bring attention to another first — a pair of mobile apps Microsoft developed to report results. Local Democratic and Republican party officials will use their smartphones and tablets to report vote tallies in nearly 1,700 precincts throughout the state. It’s a high-profile bid to improve the speed and accuracy of the process, following an embarrassing miscount in the 2012 Republican presidential nominating race.

Microsoft recognized the opportunity more than a year ago, when the technology giant approached both parties to offer its help. Civic tech is a burgeoning part of the tech sector. Local and state governments spent about $6.4 billion in 2015 in efforts to make government more accessible, efficient and effective. For Microsoft, the opportunities take many forms — from using tiny, Internet-connected sensors to help manage the use of water in drought-stricken California, to applying data science to try to improve traffic safety in major US cities like New York and San Francisco.