Event Recap: Championing Digital Democracy for All

The Technology for Democracy Cohort co-leads Estonia, the United Kingdom, and Access Now, together with the Digital Impact and Governance Initiative at New America, Open Data Charter, Accountability Lab, the Digital Forensic Research Lab at the Atlantic Council, and Internet Society 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 New America, welcomed the assembled guests and online viewers, and USAID Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman 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 H.E. Minna-Liina Lind introduced representatives from the cohort’s co-leadership organizations: Hon. Jonatan Vseviov, Secretary General; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia; Brett Solomon, Executive Director; Access Now; and Kanbar Hossein-Bor, 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, Courtney Radsch, U.S. Advisor with ARTICLE 19, detailed the human rights impacts of internet shutdowns, especially in times of crisis and violent conflict. Moderated by Allie Funk, Research Director for Technology and Democracy at Freedom House, the panel included: Scott Carpenter, Director of Policy and International Engagement at Jigsaw; Carolyn Tackett, Campaigns and Rapid Response Director at Access Now; Kenny Olmstead, Senior Internet Security and Privacy Expert at Internet Society; and Waris Husain, 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 Freedom on the Net 2022 report found that more governments than ever before blocked political, social, and religious speech online. In addition, Access Now’s #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. 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 Pulse Platform 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. Jigsaw’s Outline 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, New America’; 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 GovStack’s work to help governments create human-centered digital services. This panel was moderated by New America’s Digital Impact and Governance Research Fellow Silvana Rodriguez and featured: H.E. Nele Leosk, Ambassador-at-Large for Digital Affairs for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia; Robert Opp, Chief Digital Officer at the United Nations Development Programme; Manuel Muñiz, Provost of IE University in Madrid; and Roslyn Docktor, 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 e-Estonia services suite powered by X-Road, 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 Teresa Hutson, Corporate Vice President of Technology and Corporate Responsibility at Microsoft, announced the global Tech4Democracy Challenge winner, EVoting Global. 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 H.E. Minna-Liina Lind returned to the stage to lead the final segment highlighting opportunities for additional collaboration. Scott Busby, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the U.S. Department of State; Natalia Carfi, Executive Director at Open Data Charter; Brett Solomon, Executive Director at Access Now; and H.E. Anne Marie Engtoft Larsen, 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 RightsCon 2023 (June 5-8), coalitions such as Freedom Online Coalition and Open Government Partnership, and multistakeholder initiatives like Tech for Democracy Initiative and Declaration for the Future of the Internet 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 15 cross-sector cohorts associated with the 2023 Summit for Democracy.

Watch the entire event here.

Resources shared during the event:

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

Opportunities for collaboration:

• Freedom Online Coalition: 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 FOC Task Force on Digital Equality that promotes digital equality in the global North and global South alike.
• Open Government Partnership: This multistakeholder initiative includes 75 countries and 106 local governments working together to ensure open government is more accessible, responsive, and accountable to citizens.
• Tech for Democracy Initiative: 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.
• New USAID initiatives: 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.
• Declaration for the Future of the Internet: 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.
• United Nations Digital Compact: 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:

• X-Road: Estonia’s e-Estonia 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.
• The United Kingdom’s International Technology Strategy: A strategy put forth by the nation’s new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which was established in February 2023.
• #KeepItOn: 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.
• Internet Society Pulse: 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 on the Net 2022: Freedom House’s annual report analyzing the state of internet freedom around the world found that global internet freedom declined for the 12th consecutive year in 2022.
• Project Shield: Provided by Google Cloud and Jigsaw, this free service defends news, human rights and election monitoring sites from distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
• Outline: Jigsaw’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:

• Access Now’s RightsCon will be hosted in Costa Rica June 5-8, 2023.
• Open Government Partnership Global Summit will be hosted in Tallinn, Estonia on September 6-7, 2023.

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