The spokespersons for Decidim, OpenForum Europe and Munich City Council discussed the future of digital democracy in Europe at a round table organised by the European Capital of Democracy.
Experts from various European cities came together last Wednesday 8 November within the European Capital of Democracy framework, in collaboration with the Smart City Expo World Congress, to analyse new ways of enhancing digital democracy. Director of democratic innovation at Barcelona City Council Arnau Monterde took part in one of the round table discussions, “Public Code and Technologies: Upcoming Digital and Democratic Challenges for Europe”. At the same round table he was joined by Paula Grzegorzewska, strategic partnerships director at Brussels-based OpenForum Europe, and Laura Dornheim, City Councillor and CDO at Munich City Council, with Laura Giesen, programme manager for democracy technologies as moderator.
The “Public Code and Technologies: Upcoming Digital and Democratic Challenges for Europe” round table highlighted the need for new open source-based production and technology models with a strong focus on democracy and citizens’ digital rights.
Arnau Monterde presented the Decidim model, an open source citizen participation platform that has been successfully launched in a number of cities around the world. With over three million participants and more than 500 installations in 30 countries, Decidim has three aims: one is political, which is to encourage citizen participation, another is technical, to provide an open source platform, and the third is structural, to function as a democratic tool that is constantly evolving in a collaborative way, and that promotes collaboration and networking.
The director of democratic innovation at Barcelona City Council provided details of the council’s investment of more than three million euros in the Decidim platform: “it’s a gift to the world from the city of Barcelona”, he said, “this tool has public guarantees, it’s affordable, and it needs to generate a positive benefit for citizens”.
Strategic partnerships director at OpenForum Europe Paula Grzegorzewska proposed key areas to be worked on, including political recommendations, a more open economy that offers tax incentives, and a cultural shift, a move towards cooperation.
Laura Dornheim, City Councillor and CDO at Munich City Council, added the importance of technical standards and collaborative platforms in a fragmented federal system.