On June 5, Engage2 hosted Democracy is Being Disrupted: Governing in the 21st Century, as part of Vivid Ideas. We chose this topic to bring to focus changes happening in government with the impact of technology, what this means for democracy today and what lies ahead.
Thank you to our event sponsor The Mandarin and its publisher, Tom Burton, who opened the event with a look at digital disruption in government. Our good friend and renowned industry peer, Alan DuPont, supported the event by presenting a keynote exploring five key trends disrupting democracies around the world.
This led to robust discussion (there were some contrasting opinions, which always makes for great conversation!) and interesting insights from our esteemed panel of leaders and change-makers:
- Elizabeth Tydd: NSW Information Commissioner
- Daryl Karp: Director of the Museum of Australian Democracy
- Iain Walker: Executive Director of newDemocracy Foundation
- Amelia Loye: Director of Engage2
- Jamie Skella: Co-founder of Horizon State
- Alan DuPont: Geopolitical security expert and Lowy Institute fellow
- Tom Burton: Publisher at The Mandarin
We had an amazing time, thanks to our panelists and attendees who also contributed to the thought-provoking discussion. See our wrap up of highlights from the Twitter feed below.
Alan DuPont and the Worldwide Disruption
Alan DuPont opened the night with five interesting insights into the root causes of democracies all over the world being disrupted. Below are some Tweets from the event feed that summarise some of his main points:
Alan DuPont @LowyInstitute says empathy is the key to the politic and to get that we must restructure political recruitment to reflect the people. Same lesson for business. The loss of tolerance is concerning #evolvingdemocracy @Engage2govern – @Stingemore
Alan DuPont from @LowyInstitute discusses issues facing Aus – population, social issues etc & difficulties in addressing these issues in democracies at @Engage2govern’s Democracy is being Disrupted: Governing in the 21st Century event, as part of #vividideas. #EvolvingDemocracy – @alicesimyo
We’re due for a system change! Happens every 70-100 years; the last was WWII. Shift happening with #tech revolution over the last 20-30 years. It’s facilitated democratisation by giving access to info & a voice to express views. – Alan DuPont @LowyInstitute via @KimberleyL
People who feel disenfranchised feel unheard & leaders don’t care. Need to show empathy, not just verbally, but by actually addressing issues via policy. Problem is that most representants don’t actually represent the people they represent. – Alan DuPont @LowyInstitute
Click here for Alan DuPont’s full presentation for the event Democracy is Being Disrupted.
Key Points from the Panelists
These quotes from our panelists were captured by Engage2’s communications team and attendees at the event then shared on twitter using the #EvolvingDemocracy hashtag on the night.
We have to work out our solutions and structures for the global phenomena that is digital disruption. – Tom Burton @tburton @TheMandarinAU via @KimberleyL
How do we have a representative #democracy when we are balancing various interests. What we need to work to courageously advocate for the public interest, like climate change. – Elizabeth Tydd, from @IPCNSW #EvolvingDemocracy via @Engage2govern
Massive shift in public using digital engagement tools around the world to participate, and to assess if govts are listening. @Emotivate @Engage2govern via @KimberleyL
So many visitors to @MoAD_Canberra say they feel unheard. We’ve lost conversation around values of Australian democracy. What are the values you’d like to see? @DAKarp via @KimberleyL via @KimberleyL
Let’s use digital tools to actually get people to think! – Iain Walker @newdemocracyAUS
@Engage2govern panel left me asking big questions about how to #evaluate the impact of government engagement activities.Thanks @Emotivate! – @rleahygatfield #evolvingdemocracy #opengov via @JadeFMaloney
Stay tuned for more Engage2 events during 2018. Please visit our events section or subscribe to our monthly newsletter below.
