What Can We Learn From The Civic Tech Field Guide?
The Civic Tech Field Guide is a catalogue of tools and resources covering the full breadth of 'tech for the common good'. For curator and co-founder Matt Stempeck, the journey behind it has fuelled a passion for all the projects out there getting good things done under difficult circumstances, and a deep appreciation for the positive role tech can play in democracy - if we're 'curious' enough.
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Winning Hearts, Minds, and Votes – A panel review
On May 11th, we hosted a panel that discussed how we can convince more people of participatory democracy. The panellists discussed the topic with a focus on positivity and practicality.
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‘Saving Democracy for Real’ – Panel Discussion
A panel of experts sat down recently at the Democracy Technology Convention in Poland, to tackle just this question and offer some solutions. The discussion benefited from the insights and expertise of EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore, Director of Transparencia Brazil, Juliana Sakai and Courteney Mukoyi, Founder of the Justice Code Foundation Trust. The problem, […]
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AI in Politics Panel Review – ‘Buyer Beware’
On May 12 we brought together two experts in artificial intelligence for a discussion. 'Can an AI ever replace a politician?' we asked, half joking. The question was a segue into a deeper conversation about AI in politics. The good. The bad. And the complicated. This was the result.
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Successful Digital Participation Needs Political Momentum
Latvia's petition platform ManaBalss won the Innovation in Politics Award 2023 in the category of Democracy Technologies. In this guest article Didzis Melkis, a board member of the Foundation of Public Participation, writes about the political momentum that was a necessary part of the success of ManaBalss.
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The Changing Infrastructure of Democracy
At a panel last Thursday, leaders from two of Europe’s most successful DemTech platforms sat down with two civil society leaders in the same space for a conversation about the changing shape of democracy.
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The Growing Market for Democracy Technologies
With the release of the report on 'Democracy Technologies in Europe' from the Innovation and Politics Institute (IPI) and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), we thought we would wrap up some encouraging notes on the future of the DemTech market.
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Introducing Our AI Panellists
This Thursday May 11 the Innovation in Politics Institute and democracy-technologies.org are hosting Europe’s first Democracy Technology Convention in Warsaw. One of the most exciting panels during the convention will be a discussion on the role of AI in democracy, hosted by our very own Chief Editor, Laura Giesen.
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Parliamentary Data Should be Open Data
Every parliament, in every city, region, nation or even at EU or UN level, produces large amounts of data every day. Where and how is all this parliamentary data stored? Who should have access to it and why is it important?
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An App to Facilitate Outreach for Citizens’ Assemblies
Making a citizen assembly truly representative of the larger population is a logistical challenge. The Es Geht LOS team has now developed an app that automates much of the outreach process.
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Participatory Budgeting at EU Level – Promises and Pitfalls
What are the promises and the pitfalls of participatory budgeting at the EU level? These questions were discussed on a panel discussion organised by Euractiv, five participants, including Andrea Erdai from the European Commission, Elisa Lironi of the European Citizen Action Service, and Member of the European Parliament Helmut Scholtz, explored the
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Decidim Partners with Vocdoni to Offer Blockchain Voting
The citizen participation platform Decidim recently added a blockchain-based online voting tool by Vocdoni to its toolbox. We talked to representatives of both organisations about this joining of forces.
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Growing a Global Citizen Participation Platform
CitizenLab has emerged as one of the leading platforms in the global market for citizen participation tools. We spoke to CEO Wietse Van Ransbeeck about his thoughts on growth and the future of the industry.
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Building Democracy Technology as a Non-Profit Organisation
'Your Priorities' is developed by the Icelandic Citizens Foundation and was recently rated the top platform by People Powered. We spoke to Foundation president Robert Bjarnason about how they operate and the future of the platform.
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Scan a QR-Code and Participate – The Story of PLACEm
Interview | PLACEm, an easy-to-use, location-based participation app is a finalist in the Innovation in Politics Awards in the category of Democracy Technologies. Gregor Dehmel co-founded Politik zum Anfassen, which published PLACEm. We talked to him about his experiences in the project, from hiring developers to bringing the app to the users.
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