Act on Tech & Democracy

A lot is going on around the world that shows just how fragile our democracies are, with plenty of examples of what it can degenerate into: authoritarianism, tyranny, fascism, oligarchy...
The role that tech can and does play in the weakening and strengthening our democracies is only partially obvious. We need to start learning exactly how and where are the points of contact, and which buttons to push to reinforce our democratic behaviours, systems & processes, rather than add to the decline.

With backgrounds in policy and tech, our host Maria Koomen, has been reflecting deeply on how to inject a citizen reset into the workings of democracy. Are we fit enough to listen, engage, disagree, make wise collective decisions? Are we well informed? Can we hold our representatives to account? In our busy, distractible times it's on us to train our democratic fitness.

If you're under the impression that you can't achieve much, persuade a soul or make any difference, join this session and reclaim your citizen power. Together we'll proactively flex our democratic muscles.

*Act On sessions are quarterly action-oriented get-togethers on a specific issue, between experts and an audience willing to do something about it.
* Open to all |Registration required | Bar open

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ABOUT The Host

maria Koomen is a Democracy, governance & tech analyst and advocacy specialist. She is the former governance director at the Centre for Future Generations, working on the challenges at the intersection of emerging technologies, democracy, and governance. Her work focused on ensuring that governance systems evolve to keep pace with technological and societal change. Maria led the Open Governance Network for Europe, a joint initiative of Open Government Partnership and Democratic Society to drive connection, dialogue, and learning around public participation, transparency, and accountability with an eye to improving democracy and governance in and across the European Union. Prior to that Maria was senior programme manager on the Democracy Conflict & Governance program at the Carnegie Europe.