How can technology improve elections, enhance political party development and increase citizen engagement in the democratic process? Can Pakistan’s thriving tech sector help to strengthen democracy? Can civic tech drive civic education? What are the limits of tech?
This event will provide a discursive forum for key actors in the democratic process in Pakistan to discuss the role of technology in strengthening democracy with international practitioners and representatives from Pakistan’s growing technology sector.
Inspirational examples from Pakistan and around the world of pioneering approaches to improve civic participation, strengthen governance, and ensure electoral integrity, will be a central feature of this event, enriching the discussion on the potential for modern technology to be leveraged to enhance governance standards in Pakistan.
By bringing together this eclectic mix of people to share thoughts and ideas, UNDP hopes to stimulate the broader use, application and development of innovative technologies to promote more active engagement by citizens in decision-making processes, whilst at the same time highlighting the limitations of modern technology as an ‘enabler’ of inclusive governance processes.
Of particular importance during this three-day event will be discussions on the role technology can play in reaching out to marginalized constituencies, such as women and youth, and the type of applications that will be effective in this regard, especially in areas with high levels of illiteracy. This will be a recurrent theme informing discussions during each session.
The conference will be structured around a series of thematically defined plenary sessions. A comprehensive report will be published and disseminated after the conference detailing the conference deliberations and outlining recommendations on how to transform points of rhetorical consensus into meaningful processes of change.
