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The Technology for Democracy Cohort co-leads , the , and , together with the Digital Impact and Governance Initiative at ������Ƶ, , , the at the Atlantic Council, and convened in Washington, D.C. on March 30th to discuss priority action areas in the field of technology for democracy and how to encourage opportunities for cross-sector collaboration among open societies beyond this year’s Summit for Democracy.

The event convened 21 speakers and panelists representing cross-sector perspectives to increase understanding of priority action areas identified by the cohort—using technology to support open and secure access to the Internet, strengthening digital public infrastructure, and advancing technology for good governance.

Paul Butler, President of ������Ƶ, welcomed the assembled guests and online viewers, and USAID Deputy Administrator provided opening remarks calling for continued collaboration to advance a global digital governance model supported by democratic values and respect for human rights.

“The internet was built on a multistakeholder vision. […] Today it is maintained and regulated, not by governments alone, but by a diverse group of stakeholders with varying strengths, contributions, and goals. But all too common violations of privacy and safety remind us that democracy in the digital age is only as strong as those multistakeholder partnerships.” – Isobel Coleman, USAID Deputy Administrator

After a brief introductory video about the work of the cohort, Estonia’s Ambassador-at-Large for Human Rights introduced representatives from the cohort’s co-leadership organizations: , Secretary General; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia; , Executive Director; Access Now; and , Deputy Director of Democratic Governance and Media Freedom Department; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom.

Pictured left to right: Allie Funk, Freedom House; Scott Carpenter, Jigsaw; Carolyn Tackett, Access Now; Kenny Olmstead, Internet Society; and Waris Husain, American Bar Association. Photo by Samantha Webster.

Prefacing the panel on technology to support open and secure access to the Internet, , U.S. Advisor with , detailed the human rights impacts of internet shutdowns, especially in times of crisis and violent conflict. Moderated by , Research Director for Technology and Democracy at Freedom House, the panel included: , Director of Policy and International Engagement at Jigsaw; , Campaigns and Rapid Response Director at Access Now; , Senior Internet Security and Privacy Expert at Internet Society; and , Legal Advisor for South and Southeast Asia at the American Bar Association.

Key points from the first panel include:

• Internet shutdowns are increasingly used as a tool for censorship. Countries often use internet shutdowns as a way to address various—often unrelated—digital and social challenges. Freedom House’s report found that more governments than ever before blocked political, social, and religious speech online. In addition, Access Now’s report found that, in 2022 alone, governments and other actors disrupted the internet at least 187 times across 35 countries, a record high number of countries. As instances increase, internet shutdowns are also becoming more dangerous, with one in four shutdowns coinciding with documented human rights abuses.
• Internet shutdowns anywhere are a threat to an open, free, secure, and interoperable internet everywhere, hindering international connectivity while also harming the technical infrastructure and multistakeholder governance of the global internet. The Internet Society’s brings together comprehensive data from 30 partners to provide a detailed composite on the state of the internet.
• The private sector is a key partner in mitigating the impact of internet shutdowns and other abuses of technology. ������������’s solution helps users create VPN servers for themselves and their circles. This is just one example of how cross-sector collaboration can help develop open-source digital solutions to enable greater digital access, connectivity, and security.

Pictured left to right: Silvana Rodriguez, ������Ƶ’; H.E. Nele Leosk, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia; Robert Opp, United Nations Development Programme; Manuel Muñiz, IE University in Madrid; and Roslyn Docktor, IBM. Photo by Samantha Webster.

The second panel focused on using technology for good governance and strengthening digital public infrastructure (DPI). A brief video introduced ’s work to help governments create human-centered digital services. This panel was moderated by ������Ƶ’s Digital Impact and Governance Research Fellow Silvana Rodriguez and featured: , Ambassador-at-Large for Digital Affairs for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia; , Chief Digital Officer at the United Nations Development Programme; , Provost of IE University in Madrid; and , Vice President of Technology and Science Policy at IBM.

Key insights from the second panel include:

• At its core, DPI allows for digital solutions to be developed, shared, and replicated across sectors with multistakeholder collaboration in order to advance accessibility to user services such as payments, identity verification, and communications. Digital transformation and modernization efforts have been accelerated by global crises. DPI can create an enabling ecosystem for digital democracy by providing societies with a foundation for more open, accessible, and secure systems and services. One successful example of DPI deployment is Estonia’s services suite powered by , an open-source software and digital ecosystem that provides unified and secure data exchange between private and public sector organizations.
• To tap into the full potential of technologies to foster more open and inclusive governance, societies need a positive vision that embeds democratic and human rights values into technological innovation and training. Global technology diplomacy initiatives can help coordinate collaborative action to develop and deploy digital public infrastructure with democratic values embedded in the design and governance of solutions.
• Democratic resilience relies on stable and secure critical infrastructure in order to provide benefits and services for the public. As people increasingly access digital services, DPI deployed ethically and responsibly can help provide resiliency for communities.

Following the DPI panel, Muñiz with IE University and , Corporate Vice President of Technology and Corporate Responsibility at Microsoft, announced the global Challenge winner, . The challenge is a cross-sector effort to identify and elevate start-ups and entrepreneurs developing innovative digital technologies that contribute to the advancement of democracy around the world. EVoting Global, based in Chile, facilitates secure user responses for more participatory and transparent processes across institutions.

To close the event returned to the stage to lead the final segment highlighting opportunities for additional collaboration. , Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the U.S. Department of State; , Executive Director at Open Data Charter; , Executive Director at Access Now; and , Tech Ambassador for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, together, shared insight into what comes next for strengthening technology for democracy. Speakers highlighted resources and events like (June 5-8), coalitions such as and , and multistakeholder initiatives like and as opportunities to collaborate and expand the range of voices discussing technology and democracy.

The Tech for Democracy Cohort has grown into a coalition of over 150 civil society, government, and private sector organizations across 40 countries. The cohort is one of associated with the .

Watch the entire event .

Resources shared during the event:

Speakers shared a variety of resources to help strengthen technology for democracy efforts.

Opportunities for collaboration:

• : The FOC brings together a group of governments committed to supporting Internet freedom and protecting fundamental human rights worldwide. For example, Ghana is leading an that promotes digital equality in the global North and global South alike.
• : This multistakeholder initiative includes 75 countries and 106 local governments working together to ensure open government is more accessible, responsive, and accountable to citizens.
• : This Danish-led initiative facilitates collaboration between governments, multilateral organizations, the tech industry, and civil society to make technology work for democracy and human rights, not against them.
• : USAID’s Advancing Digital Democracy program announced a set of new initiatives to advance democracy around the world, many of which are focused on policy reforms.
• : Signed by more than 60 global partners, this statement reaffirms and recommits to a single global Internet – one that is truly open and fosters competition, privacy, and respect for human rights.
• : Currently in the consultation phase, the Digital Compact aims to facilitate agreement and shared principles for an open, free and secure digital future for all. Participate! Join the informal consultations or share written responses. Share input by April 30, 2023 for consideration for the Global Digital Compact.

Spotlighted Resources:

• : Estonia’s is built on X-Road, an open-source software and ecosystem solution that provides unified and secure data exchange between private and public sector organizations.
• : A strategy put forth by the nation’s new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which was established in February 2023.
• : Access Now’s global campaign unites and organizes global organizations and efforts to end internet shutdowns. The #KeepItOn report found that in 2022 alone, governments and other actors disrupted the internet at least 187 times across 35 countries., a record high number of countries.
• : The Internet Society consolidates measurement data from trusted third-parties in a single platform, Pulse, to provide a detailed composite of the state of the internet.
• : Freedom House’s annual report analyzing the state of internet freedom around the world found that .
• : Provided by Google Cloud and Jigsaw, this free service defends news, human rights and election monitoring sites from distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
• : ������������’s project, Outline, allows users to create and run their own VPN server so they can access the free and open internet more safely.

Upcoming Events:

• will be hosted in Costa Rica June 5-8, 2023.
• will be hosted in Tallinn, Estonia on September 6-7, 2023.

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