In 1993, CERN made the World Wide Web available to the public for free, accelerating the shift from an analog to a digital information ecosystem. The decade that followed was marked by a sense of optimism that Internet applications such as the Web offered novel opportunities to overcome old bottlenecks and democratize the production, access, and creative use of information. In 2023, thirty years later, the sentiment that digital technology might drive the “democratization of everything” on autopilot has long faded. At the advent of the AI age, threats to democracy are what keep many decision-makers in the public and private sector up at night. In his keynote, former Executive Director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society Urs Gasser will share reflections from his own work on the past, present, and future of digital technology and its interactions with some of the rights, processes, and institutions at the core of democracy. The keynote will be followed by a panel discussion.

Welcome and introduction: 

• Graziella Moraes Silva, Co-Director, Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy
• Olivier Leclère, Deputy Director, Directorate of Support and Voting Operations, Chancellery of State, Republic and Canton of Geneva.
   

Keynote speaker:

• Urs Gasser, Professor at the Technical University of Munich and Member of the Board of directors, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University

In discussion with:

• Alexander Barclay, Delegate for Digital Policy, Canton of Geneva
• Caitlin Buchman, CEO/Founder of Women at the Table

Moderator:

• Jérôme Duberry, Managing Director, Tech Hub, and Senior Researcher, Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy

Keynote speaker's biography

Urs Gasser is Professor of Public Policy, Governance, and Innovative Technology at the Technical University of Munich, where he serves as Dean of the TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology and Rector of the Munich School of Politics and Public Policy. Before his appointments in Munich, Urs was Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School and from 2009-2021 Executive Director of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, where he remains a member of the board of directors.

This event will be followed by a reception open to registrants only. 

This event is organised with the support of the Permanent Mission of the United States. It takes place in the context of the Geneva Democracy Week as part of the programme organised by the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy.