We launched Digital Democracy inspired by a simple but powerful idea: Technology should be used to empower even the most marginalized groups to engage in democratic action, on a local, national and international scale.
In the past two years we have worked in over 24 countries, strategically employing technology to enhance the work of our partners addressing human rights. From Burma to Indianapolis, Haiti to Zimbabwe, Bangladesh to Kazakhstan, Dd works with local partners to activate change and empower communities. Working with local tech companies and community organizations, Dd’s model focuses on human-centered, innovative collaboration to amplify local voices.
Where conditions are the worst, where work is hardest, where repression is strongest, where voices are the most silenced, that is where our work begins.
We launched Digital Democracy inspired by a simple but powerful idea: Technology should be used to empower even the most marginalized groups to engage in democratic action, on a local, national and international scale.
In the past two years we have worked in over 24 countries, strategically employing technology to enhance the work of our partners addressing human rights. From Burma to Indianapolis, Haiti to Zimbabwe, Bangladesh to Kazakhstan, Dd works with local partners to activate change and empower communities. Working with local tech companies and community organizations, Dd’s model focuses on human-centered, innovative collaboration to amplify local voices.
Where conditions are the worst, where work is hardest, where repression is strongest, where voices are the most silenced, that is where our work begins.
While continuing to explore the technology community in Bangkok, Mark and Emily meet some of the courageous people working in online Journalism today. Among them is Jiew, the Executive Director of Prachatai, an online alternative news source for Thailand. Prachatai hosts an online forum, allowing readers to respond to news and issues that are posted. Recently, Jiew was arrested due to several comments posted on the forum by one of its users. In this episode, Mark and Emily take a tour of the Prachatai office, and interview Jiew about her experiences from the past year - discussing the details of her arrest, why she continues to do what she does, and why Prachatai continues to be an important news source for Thailand.
Bangkok is one of the centers of tech innovation in Asia, but it hasn't always been that way. Tune in as our newly inoculated team moves from Bangkok Hospital to speak with John Berns, one of the co-founders of Barcamp Bangkok, about the rise of the local tech community. After a bike tour of the city, Emily and Mark then travel to Open Dream to meet Thai developers building digital tools for civil society and business. They give us a tour of their office co-working space. What do open government initiatives look like in Thailand and are there ways to support the community there by creating programming teams for new gadgets things like Livescribe? Find out in this episode of DdTv!
As the debate over health care reform rages in the United States, Mark and Emily explore another option: medical tourism. Inoculation against certain tropical diseases is a routine precaution for traveling in Southeast Asia but even getting a handful of shots in the U.S. can quickly become very expensive. So Mark asked: "Why not just get them in Thailand?" Can he expect the same quality of care overseas? Can he afford it? And if so, what does that say about our own health care system in America? Find out on this episode of DdTv!
How is technology being used in innovative and powerful ways around the world? Watch us travel through refugee camps and interview leading humanitarians to find out!
Just think about it… What if you were trapped under something heavy and the mouse was out of your reach? Scary, right? That's exactly why we have these keyboard shortcuts so you can still use Vimeo until the help arrives.
