Networking Event on “Democracy and Digitisation” in The Hague (15 Sept 2011)
At the
International Day of Democracy in The Hague a networking event was organised by
the European Partnership for Democracy, the Netherlands Institute for
Multiparty Democracy and Netwerk Democratie.
It brought together over 40 experts from different backgrounds to
brainstorm about the opportunities and challenges of digitisation for democracy
support. Amongst the participants were internet entrepreneurs, democracy
activists, democracy supporters and politicians from The Netherlands, Zimbabwe,
Egypt, Georgia and Ghana.
Communication technology has empowered
people in the Middle East and northern Africa,
but also elsewhere, to make their voice heard, express disaffection and
challenge tyranny, injustice and oppression. Furthermore, communication technology can play a significant role in
bringing the citizens back to the center of democratic politics around the
world. The debates during the networking dinner evolved around the following question:
"How can the 2.0 revolution lead to structural and increased participation of
citizens with the governance of their countries?"
No international justice without democracy
The event which took place in the Rooksalon in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament was sponsored by the municipality of The Hague. Ingrid van Engelshoven, Deputy Mayor of The Hague, joined the network diner and was very pleased with this particular debate on the International Day of Democracy. She emphasised that The Hague is the city of International Justice and Peace and that without democracy these two important institutions could not function properly.
Challenges of
Digitisation
Katherine Maher, international affairs and technology expert at the World Bank in Washington and former programme officer at the National Democratic Institute, spoke - in a personal capacity - about the challenges of digitisation in democracy.
Although the internet has offered many people a voice and has helped to spread information around the world there is a critical point to it. One of the most important things Katherine Maher pointed out in her speech is the tension between controlling and sharing information. She mentioned the fact that information on the internet is restricted and personalised, without us even realising. Web companies tailor their services such as news and search results to our personal tastes and the choices we have made in the past. This means that two people who fill in the same search query in google can get totally different results. Without even realising it, our search results get edited for us. This has a dangerous unintended consequence: We get trapped in a "filter bubble" and don't get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview. We don't have any control on the editing process and we don't get introduced to new ideas and new people; this will ultimately prove to be bad for us and bad for democracy.
For more information about the Filter Bubble, check out the TED Talk by Eli Pariser.http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html
The future of democracy support
Aware of the
role that web 2.0 technologies are playing in democratic transformation processes
around the world, European Partnership for Democracy Executive Director Carlos
Hernandez Ferreiro explained the position towards digitisation of democracy
support organisations like EPD.
He lauded the use of technology which enables the generation and management of collective knowledge that allows to join efforts, focus on real needs and act in due time. Furthermore, new technologies can promote a bottom-up approach, assuring a strong degree of ownership by democracy activists in need of international support.
Debate and conclusion
After the two introductions, the participants of the Networking dinner joined the debate. The audience shared the expectation that increasing internet access and use of technology in a democratic system can in principle close the gap between citizens and government. An example from Georgia illustrated this point. The Georgian government has opened a website where citizens can indicate potholes in the road that need reparation.
Furthermore the capacity of governments to adapt to technological developments was questioned and an in-depth testimony of how the Dutch government attempts to make the work of civil servants more transparent was given.
The question was raised though whether in-equality in internet access wouldn't increase the aforementioned gap; in certain countries only the rich elites have access to the internet. An example from Ghana was shared. During the constitutional reform process the Ghanaian government launched a consultation campaign in which citizens could express their wishes for the new constitution per text message. This led a participant from Zimbabwe to conclude the debate by stating that various combinations of 1.0 and 2.0 technologies could serve as a way to structurally increase citizen participation in good governance around the world.