Citizenship 4.0

Citizenship 4.0 Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash

Like-minded people worked on-site and online to shape our future around “Citizenship 4.0”! Together they considered questions like; what impact are technological advancements having on citizenship? How can we use digitality to build an inclusive society with active citizenship?

The first 24hThinkaton took place in Montreal and Brussels on October 4th and 5th, 2019. Participants were encouraged to consider the technological advancements that have been made in order to develop and discuss recommendations to shape a modern form of citizenship in which people engage both individually and collectively. 

Together, participants considered what can we do to encourage active citizenship and minimize social exclusion in a digital context, how can technology be used to facilitate and increase civic and political participation, and how can we create an inclusive society around active digital citizenship?

Find below some of the ideas that were the result of this first intercontinental meetup.

Main outcomes

DIGITAL LITERACY EDUCATION

Government officials at the provincial level should allocate the necessary resources to funding programs that are aimed to improve and expand universal digital literacy, while prioritizing vulnerable and excluded citizens through targeted and tailor-made initiatives.

A CANADIAN RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN 

A public consultation should be conducted to investigate the possibility to adopt a Canadian equivalent to the European Union “Right to be Forgotten” legislation.

RIGHT TO VOTE

Our recommendation for policy makers would be to develop an easier, cheaper and trustable European e-voting system (by using new technologies such as the facial recognition and the block chain application) eventually to be used at national level. This solution would integrate (and eventually replace) the existing, expensive and  traditional “voting in person and in one day” system. Moreover, we would recommend to extend the voting period (e.g. two weeks) to grant every citizen more time to vote. Finally, we would recommend to enhance and make the information flow between institutions and citizens more effective (and youth friendly) by using a more comprehensible language and the appropriate modern channels (e.g. social media).

RIGHT TO FAIR TAXATION SYSTEM

We recommend to create for all liable tax payers (and therefore 27 national subsystems linked to the platform) a common, public, secure, transparent and easy info-sharing platform regarding taxes dues and, with private access, (to be) paid by all tax payers (corporations, NGOs, private persons, associations, etc.). In this respect the use of new technologies is crucial such as big data, facial recognition, secured payment systems, apps and block chain.

All outcomes

Picture Gallery from Montreal and Brussels

  • Montreal Thinkathon © Ashutosh Gupta

    Put your Hands in the air

  • Montreal Thinkathon © Ashutosh Gupta

    Montreal Thinkathon

  • Montreal Thinkathon © Ashutosh Gupta

    Montreal Thinkathon

  • Montreal Thinkathon © Ashutosh Gupta

    Montreal Thinkathon

  • Montreal Thinkathon © Ashutosh Gupta

    Montreal Thinkathon

  • Montreal Thinkathon © Ashutosh Gupta

    Montreal Thinkathon

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