The conference is a meeting place between politics and academics a moment of confrontation, promoting international collaboration in the exchange of information, ideas and good practices.
INTERNATIONAL FORUM on DIGITAL and DEMOCRACY. Towards a sustainable Evolution
The digital age, featuring the virtual dimension of the world, significantly impacts democracy, dealing with electoral systems, political representations and citizens’; participation. The digital network revolution has scaled up and speeded up the pace of transformation in political organization, participation, information and engagement, weakening the role of the structures which traditionally served as intermediaries.
In this digital age, democracy represents the tension between individuals and society, institutions and organizations, and between rights and duties, especially in critical situations like a health emergency. Digital evolution is supposed to support the Sustainable Development Goal 16 objectives not diverging, as it might seem, from a realistic and sustainable development of human rights.
This effort involves gaining a better understanding and favouring a shared view of how to address the challenges posed by digital technologies, to broaden and strengthen citizens’ participation and to build effective, accountable and transparent democratic institutions.
The two-day conference aims to be a meeting place between politics and academics and a moment of confrontation, promoting international collaboration through the exchange of information, ideas and best practices. Gathering contributions of high-level experts and government representatives from around the world, the International Forum on Digital and Democracy will address the following issues:
- How is it possible to deal with both speed and scale of digital besides the policymaking process, also considering the current analogic “ecosystem” of institutions?
- What should an analysis of guarantees, limitations, obligations, privacy, transparency look like, in the current changing scenario?
- What are the main features of recent experimentations, and which lessons should we learn from them?
- In this fast-paced digital society, how we can build sound hypotheses for the future of democracy?
Home of the Forum is the magnificent island of San Giorgio in Venice, site of the Giorgio Cini Foundation. Venice was chosen for its historical importance in electoral processes. The term “ballot” comes from the “balote” used to cast votes in the election of the Doge during the Republic of Venice. The electoral system of the Doge was probably the longest lasting of humanity, having been in force without change for more than five centuries from 1268 to 1797 and being a milestone of “voting theory”.
INVITED SPEAKERS
With the contribution of high-level experts and government representatives from around the world, the conference will address the following issues: managing speed and scale of digital with the policy making process, considering the current ecosystem of analogue institutions; analysis of guarantees, limitations, obligations, privacy, transparency in the changing scenario; overview of what has been tried and which lessons have been learned; hypothesis for the future.
Věra Jourová
Manuel Castells
Romano Prodi
Jeffrey Sachs
Magdalena Adamowicz
Julia Angwin
Richard Barbrook
Federico D’Incà
Colin Megill
Gianluca Misuraca
Nanjala Nyabola
Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo
Stephen Stedman
Roberto Viola
Erika Widegren
PROGRAM
Forum’s official language is English. Translated subtitles.
Times indicated in the program refer to Central European Time (CET)
Satellite session: Expert roundtable on data and ethics in a Post-COVID world
This session in organised with SoBigData++ Consortium and will explore the ethical dilemmas around AI and Big Data in Ethics, Society, and Law, together with technical challenges in data science and XAI. Emphasis on Trustworthiness Keynote: Matching Ethics and Law in AI: policy and practical implications of the Legal Legs of a "Trustworthy" SoBigData++ Giovanni Comandé, Full Professor of Private Comparative Law at Scuola Superiore S. Anna Pisa, Italy. PhD. SSSA, LLM Harvard Law School, Founder and Director of the LIDER-LAB (www.lider-lab.eu). Attorney at law (Pisa since 1995); (New York Bar since 1997). Mediator mediation trainer. He has taught in and visited numerous universities in the world. EXPERT PANEL: Marcel Jeroen Van den Hoven, Professor of Ethics and Technology at the Delft University of Technology; founding Editor in Chief of Ethics and Information Technology and Member of the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) Dino Pedreschi, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Pisa Josep Domingo, Data science and cybersecurity Juan Durán, Ethics Fosca Giannotti, Explainable AI Caterina Sganga, Intellectual Property and Open Data The outcomes of the discussions will help us develop a white paper on this topic to be published in early 2021.
1 hour 30 min
14:00
OPENING SESSION
WELCOME by Associazione Copernicani and Re-Imagine Europa KEYNOTE: The Value of European Democracy Ms Věra Jourová, Vice President for Values and Transparency of the European Commission In conversation with Julia Angwin and Manuel Castells, Wallis Annenberg Chair Professor of Communication Technology and Society at the Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California, Spanish Minister for Universities
1 hour
14:35
Q&A
25 min
PARALLEL SESSIONS: DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL DECISIONS
PAPER PRESENTATION SESSION 1: The challenges of urban data ethics: big data and intelligent systems to support decision Larissa Galdino de Magalhães Santos SESSION 2: Artificial Intelligence Research for Fighting Political Polarisation: a Research Agenda Andrea Loreggia, Nicholas Mattei and Stefano Quintarelli
20 min
15:20
PLENARY SESSION
ROUNDTABLE PANDEMIC & DEMOCRACY: Challenges and Opportunities for the development of a Digital Society S.E. Mons Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Catholic bishop and Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Jeffrey Sachs, Economist, academic, public policy analyst Roberto Viola, Director-General of DG CONNECT – European Commission Magdalena Adamowicz, Member of the European Parliament Moderated by: Erika Widegren, Chief Executive at Re-Imagine Europa
40 min
16:00
COFFEE BREAK NETWORKING
15 min
16:15
DEEP DIVE
A CASE STUDY ON COMPUTER-AIDED POLICYMAKING Colin Megill, Co-creator of pol.is open-source platform
15 min
PARALLEL SESSIONS – SOCIAL INVOLVEMENT AND PARTICIPATION
SESSION 1: Artificial Intelligence against disinformation: the FANDANGO practical case Francesco Saverio Nucci, Silvia Boi and Massimo Magaldi SESSION 2: Democracy in the digital revolution Giorgio De Michelis
20 min
16:50
CLOSING REMARKS
Ricardo Abramovay, Sociologist, political scientist and professor
10 min
VIRTUAL APERITIVO WITH THE AUTHORS
30 min
Satellite session: Disinformation and the manipulation of reality
This session is organised with ALLEA will explore the ethical dilemmas around disinformation and the use of narratives and emotions in manipulating reality. An increasingly influential stream of research demonstrates the integration of cognition and emotion in political decision-making. Political cognition is emotionally shaped. The role of narratives in shaping people's minds has become an important area of research and debate, in particular in recent years when entire societies have made choices that seem "rationally" counterintuitive. The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying 'infodemic' described by the WHO has placed science disinformation at the centre of global debates. In an ever more complex world, how do we address these issues? The outcomes of this debate will guide our work on developing a European Observatory on Narratives. EXPERT PANEL: Professor Andrzej Nowak, Professor of psychology at the University of Warsaw, Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities and Florida Atlantic University, Chief Narrative Scientist at Re-Imagine Europa Laura Smillie, Expert and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre Marc Lynas, Cornell Alliance for Science Professor Stephan Lewandowsky, Max-Planck-Institute; University of Bristol, member of the Scientific Committee of the ALLEA Working Group on "Fact or Fake" MODERATED BY: Erika Widegren, Chief Executive at Re-Imagine Europa
1 hour 30 min
14:00
OPENING SESSION
OPENING REMARKS Stefano Quintarelli, Scientific Committee of Associazione Copernicani PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY Conversation with President Romano Prodi, Former President of the European Commission – Former Prime Minister of Italy
20 min
PARALLEL SESSIONS: PARTICIPATION AND FUNCTIONING OF PARTIES
PAPER PRESENTATION SESSION 1: Digital Social Contracts: A Foundation for an Egalitarian and Just Digital Society Nimrod Talmon, Ehud Shapiro, Gal Shahaf, Luca Cardelli and Liav Orgad SESSION 2: A blockchain-driven e-participation for substantial democracy Nadia Maccabiani
20 min
14:40
DEEP DIVE
RETHINKING DEMOCRACY IN THE "PANDEMIC SOCIETY" - A Journey in search of the governance with, of & by AI Gianluca Misuraca, Strategic policy advisor on Digital Governance, Technology Diplomacy and Human-Centric Artificial Intelligence and a Research Fellow at the Department of eGovernance and Public Administration of the Danube University
20 min
15:00
PLENARY CONVERSATION
DIRECT DEMOCRACY – Dialogue on the Italian Five Stars Movement Experience Min. Federico D'Incà, Italian Minister for Parliamentary Relations Marco Pierani, Director of Public Affairs and Media Relations and Executive Board Member at Euroconsumers
15 min
15:15
DEEP DIVE
HOW THE DIGITAL ERA IS TRANSFORMING POLITICS IN KENYA Nanjala Nyabola, Writer and political analyst, author of "Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Politics in Kenya."
20 min
15:35
COFFEE BREAK NETWORKING
15 min
PARALLEL SESSIONS – INFORMATION ACCESS AND INTEGRITY
PAPER PRESENTATION SESSION 1: Legal Knowledge Representation in the domain of Private International Law Giuseppe Contissa and Galileo Sartor SESSION 2: Access to Scientific Information and Knowledge: A Matter of Democracy Ludovica Paseri
20 min
16:10
DEEP DIVE
PROTECTING ELECTORAL INTEGRITY IN THE DIGITAL AGE Professor Stephen Stedman, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and Secretary-General of the Kofi Annan Commission on Elections and Democracy in the Digital Age.
20 min
16:30
DEEP DIVE
A DIGITAL DEMOCRACY MANIFESTO Richard Barbrook, Author of several influential essays on information society and winner of the 2008 Marshall McLuhan Prize for Outstanding Book in the field of Media Ecology
20 min
FINAL REMARKS + ONLINE POLLS RESULTS
Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Economist, academic, public policy analyst
10 min
VIRTUAL APERITIVO WITH THE AUTHORS
30 min
REGISTRATION
LATEST UPDATES
Due to the restrictions caused by the current health emergency the event will take place in a completely virtual setting. Participation remains free but registration will be required. Click here to register on Eventbrite.
The Satellite sessions have limited places to allow all attendees the opportunity to interact with the speakers, so please write a separate message to events@ifdad.org to register.
CALL FOR PAPERS
Laws, institutions and organizations with secular foundations, with their times and human scale are not compatible with the scale and speed of the immaterial world exploited for political purposes.
TRACK 1 | Democracy and political decision
Analysis from an individual standpoint: develop effective, accountable and transparent Institutions. The role of technology in pursuing such aims. Computer aided policy making, civic artificial intelligence. How artificial intelligence could assist citizens in activating their rights, including information and participation rights. The changing role of institutions based on inclusive voting. How e-voting can help the formulation of parliamentary and assembly proceedings (e.g. critical situation like COVID-19). Balance between representative system and direct or deliberative participation.
TRACK 2 Social involvement and participation
Analysis from a society standpoint: ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels. How people are engaged and eventually become part of the organization. How people are educated and informed; how the public opinion is formed and can be oriented; how media and platforms should work to promote democracy and human rights (top down flows). Citizen inclusion and digital divide: gender, age, education.
TRACK 3 Participation and functioning of parties
Analysis from a body standpoint: broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries in the institutions of global governance. How people opinion is collected, structured and analyzed; how people self-organize to form political entities; the role of participatory budgeting, e-Consultation, e-Polling, and e-Legislation [citizen assemblies, popular initiatives, petitions (bottom up flows)]. Parties’ internal operation: frameworks for a political ERP system.
TRACK 4 Information access and integrity
Analysis from a institution standpoint: ensure public access to sound information and protect fundamental freedoms in accordance with national legislation and international agreements. How people are informed about the work of organizations (including PA). Methods to finance political parties and campaigns; methods for countering corruption; how to address the self-propagation issue in the political class (i.e. people getting in power and then doing whatever it takes to stay there and/or get a private financial gain). Big data, fake news and democracy manipulation: after Cambridge Analytica.
IMPORTANT DATES
September 1st 2020 Submission deadline
October 25th 2020 Communication of the Accepted Paper
November 10th 2020 Camera-ready deadline
PUBLICATION
The proceedings of the forum shall be submitted to be published by CEUR in the CEUR-WS.org: AI*IA Series. CEUR is a free open-access publication service of Sun SITE Central Europe. The copyright of each paper remains with the authors, and each author is responsible for maintaining the copyright of the presented material. Note that only papers that are 6 pages or more in length will be published in the forum CEUR proceedings.
IFDaD’20 will not consider any paper that, at the time of submission, is under review for or has already been published or accepted for publication in a journal or another conference. Once submitted to IFDaD’20, authors may not submit the paper elsewhere during IFDaD’s review period. These restrictions apply only to refereed journals and conferences, not to unrefereed forums or workshops with a limited audience and without archival proceedings. Authors must confirm that their submissions conform to these requirements at the time of submission.
BioLaw Journal may consider conference papers in the area of law, artificial intelligence, life sciences and bioethics for publication. Selected papers need to be extended and adapted according to the journal’s requirements.
COMMITTEES
Scientific Committee
Audrey Tang
Ehud Shapiro
Frank Pasquale
Gianluca Misuraca
Jeffrey Sachs
Paolo Benanti
Ricardo Abramovay
Sarah Spiekermann
Siriwat William Chhem
Tommaso Valletti
Program Chairs
Carlo Bagnoli
Giorgio De Michelis
Patrizia Feletig
Andrea Loreggia
Stefano Quintarelli
Andrea Resca
SUPPORTED BY
ENDORSED BY
The forum has received the appraisal of the President of the Italian Republic: Medaglia del Presidente della Repubblica
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PARTNERS
KNOWLEDGE PARTNERS
