Digital Europe of Citizens: Making digital technology work for the benefit of society

*This event is hosted at the Democratise Europe pavilion.

Organised by Netwerk Democratie

In the build-up to the elections we become very aware again of the great influence of our digital world on our democratic processes. One of the main actors that are pointed out are big media platforms and how they should monitor their content. But what if we look beyond big tech, what are available ways to incorporate citizens’ rights and democratic principles in our use of technology? How can we create societal control over our digital society? 

Come and join us in a conversation exploring the strategies we have to make our digital societies compatible to democracy.

Speakers:

Josien Pieterse - Director of Netwerk Democratie, platform for democratic innovation. Netwerk Democratie is committed to create a vivid and inclusive democracy in which citizens are better involved and in which, with the help of technology, they can actively contribute.

Tessel Renzenbrink - Tessel writes about the interface between technology and society, with a focus on IT and the energy transition. She is also co-founder of Gr1p, a foundation that wants to contribute to a society in which more people get a better grip on their digital environment.

Douwe Schmidt – Douwe Schmidt is a tech activist thinking and writing about values in tech for the last ten years. He worked for Fairphone and Greenhost, and started the Privacy Café at Bits of Freedom. For the city of Amsterdam, he developed the Tada manifesto, which six principles ensure that people remain the point of focus in the digital city.