(from https://reimagine-europa.eu/the-international-forum-on-digital-and-democracy-meets-in-rome)

Digital Technologies play an increasing role in our lives. It affects how we work, how we access education and health services, how we exercise our right to privacy, security or access to a free press, among other basic civil rights. The International Forum on Digital and Democracy (IFDaD) returns to Rome on November 17th and 18th, gathering more than 30 leading experts to discuss many of those crucial issues, analysing the promises and dangers of digitalization and how new technologies can positively affect Democracy in the XXI century.

The International Forum on Digital and Democracy (IFDaD) is a leading international event that brings together prominent thinkers from academia, policy, non-governmental organisations, and other stakeholders to debate and exchange information, ideas and good practices about Digitalization and Democracy. The 2022 edition is organised in close cooperation between Associazione Copernicani, Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, Re-Imagine Europa, and SoBigData++ with a hybrid format and will feature keynote addresses from relevant speakers as Věra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, former President of the European Commission and co-founder of the IFDaD, Gabriela Ramos, Assistant Director-General for the Social and Human Sciences of UNESCO, Roberto Viola, Director-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology at the European Commission, and Vincenzo Aquaro, Chief of Digital Government at the United Nations.

According to the Democracy Index 2021, with the stretching of pandemic control measures, global democracy continued its decline and experienced the biggest annual drop in the last decade. As a follow-up to the debate of the first edition, the Forum will explore and develop the interplay between digital technologies and data, political participation, and governance, with two additional focuses: the implementation of e-Governance and disinformation.

The IFDaD will take place in Rome on November 17th and 18th and will be live-streamed, allowing online participation in the debates. Each session will focus on a specific topic, ranging from disinformation to e-Government and The Future of SoBigData. The latter session, curated by RIE, will be presential and focused on “Data and the Future of Democracy”. The discussion will include insights from Patrizia Toia, member of the European Parliament and José Cotta, Head of the European Commission’s Unit “Digital Science” at DG CONNECT, among other relevant experts. It will analyze how data governance and trustworthy artificial intelligence can help strengthen democracy.

To foster public participation and bring citizen’s opinions to the Forum, RIE is setting up a series of polls to understand the general public’s perception of the key topics that will be discussed in the Forum. Follow RIE’s social media channels to find out more!

As part of the scientific side of the Forum, a series of papers will be presented as a result of the Call for Papers issued last summer. The papers are focused on the following areas: the role played by technology in shaping the political landscape, the effects of the new “algorithmic power” of States on citizens’ rights and on the Rule of law, and the influence of technology-fueled disinformation on the levels of polarization and on democracy in general. At the end of the Forum, the scientific committee will select one of the presented papers for the Best Paper Award.

Registrations for the event are open here.

The event’s full programme is available here.