On June 5 2018, in collaboration with Vivid Ideas, Engage2, The Mandarin bring you Democracy is being disrupted: Governing in the 21st Century, a ‘how to’ professional development event that explores how governments might use these new tools to lead and represent more effectively.

The event, held in the Friend’s Room of the NSW State Library was opened by geopolitical security expert and Lowy Institute fellow Alan DuPont who examined how democracy is being disrupted globally. Tom Burton, Publisher of The Mandarin, then chaired a panel of experts in smart governance, democratic innovation and digital transformation for democracy, including the NSW Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Tydd.

During the event participants heard from:

• Alan Du Pont, Geopolitical security expert, Lowy Institute
• Liz Tydd, NSW Information Commissioner, NSW Information and Privacy Commission
• Tom Burton, Publisher, The Mandarin
• Iain Walker, Chief Executive Officer, newDemocracy Foundation
• Amelia Loye, Founder and Managing Director, Engage2
• Jamie Skella – Formerly executive director at MiVote and co-founder of Horizon State, an Australian blockchain startup

The panel discussed the rumblings about democracy happening across the globe, Brexit, the influence of social media on election results and the way democracy is being disrupted by digital democracy and they way the legitimacy of Western democracy and of governments around the world is being questioned. New methods and technologies that are emerging to help open governments and transform our representative system into a more participatory one.

The event was designed to help smart leaders and governments to understand the potential of these tools if they are to help their organisations adapt and remain relevant including:

• What digital democracy means for government agencies
• Why leading transformational change within your department is critical
• More about the tools and techniques being used around the world, and how they can be used to enhance representative democracy
• A range of ways to make community consultation more effective

Alan’s opening speech can be found here  and you can find interviews with all of our panelists about how they think democracy is being disrupted here.