DemTech GIFt Guide 2024

It’s gift giving season, and the DemTech team has been working all year to create the tools and resources for all the politicos in your life. Here are the highlights and our recommendations to help you give the GIFt of democracy! 

For anyone who uses the internet and wants to keep it that way: 
It’s easy to take the internet for granted. but trends could lead to 2025 being the year that governments take control, creating a splinternet in which freedom of expression online is decided by country. “Why 2024 and 2025 are make or break years for the internet” highlights the current structure of the internet, why that model is so significant to our work, and the trends that threaten the structure of the internet and internet governance everywhere.

For the person who is LEO-curious: 
"Space, Satellites, and Democracy: Implications of the New Space Age for Democratic Processes and Recommendations for Action," spotlights advancements in space capabilities from the democracy and human rights perspective. Read the full report to learn about the dialogue and decision-making processes from the democracy community. 

For the undecided about the right digital tools for decision-making: 
This year, we conducted pivotal workshops in Poland, to strengthen municipal capacity to use digital tools effectively in participatory processes. They explored how tools like Pol.is and Decidim could enhance the consultation process and encourage participant deliberation. See our thoughts on our favorite contact management and participatory democracy tools.

For governments that want to make resources more accessible to persons with disabilities: 
Our training sessions held in Nairobi, Kenya, brought together people with intellectual disabilities, caretakers, representatives of civil society, the Government of Kenya, and accessibility experts to test and design tools for creating Easy Read documents. Easy Read is a method of presenting information in an easy-to-understand format, such as combining short sentences that are free of jargon and using simple images to explain the written content, that are especially beneficial to those with low literacy levels and non-native speakers. By utilizing Easy Read, NDI seeks to support inclusive democratic participation and enable people to actively engage in their communities.

For people who like games…and cybersecurity:
We know how impactful games can be for civic learning, especially our newest tabletop exercise, CyberSim! We piloted a version of the exercise for parliaments with the Assembly of Kosovo, an election observer version in Ghana, and a civil society version in Arabic with Tunisian participants. We also conducted training-of-trainers (ToT) workshops to facilitate other trainers’ use of the methodology in their own work, including with digital security experts from the Tibetan community-in-exile in India. DemTech also showcased CyberSim to fellow digital security trainers at the Global Gathering and to the broader democracy community at the Global Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy this year.

For companies on a self-improvement journey:
At the Stanford Trust and Safety Conference we highlighted Digital Responses to Crises: An Action Plan for Platforms and CSOs Confronting Online Threats, a simple action plan that lays out recommendations for companies and civil society to come together before, during, and after crises to address issues and build collective interventions that can create a more open and democratic information space. 

For women politicians who face harms online:
We are excited to be launching the Rapid Online Support and Assistance Mechanism (ROSA), a first-of-its-kind rapid response tool for women in politics and public life facing violence online in early 2025. In coordination with pirth.org and Freedom House, ROSA will be available for those who experience TFGBV. Throughout the past few months, NDI has engaged stakeholders to ensure the assistance mechanism is responsive to the needs of political women experiencing TFGBV globally while simultaneously enlisting the support of allies to make the mechanism globally available when launched. 

For researchers curious about authoritarian influence: 
The Sahel region stood as a focal point in the fight against manipulated online discourse. A strategic report on autonomous technology in the region is emphasizing the importance of participatory democracy in combating misinformation. This initiative also included workshops in Mali and Niger to empower local communities with tools to identify and counteract disinformation narratives. Elsewhere, our team supported initiatives exploring the use of artificial intelligence in identifying and mitigating hate speech with culturally specific datasets. New tool developments included a machine-learning-based platform for tracking the spread of disinformation in real time, which has already been adopted by six prominent civil society organizations globally for strategic interventions. In addition, we piloted a participatory democracy toolkit designed to empower citizens to engage directly in policy-making through digital platforms.This toolkit enabled communities to co-create solutions to local governance challenges. 

For our families always wondering where in the world we are: 
In 2024, DemTech visited 25 different countries on 5 different continents, including a busy week in September that resulted in showing up for technology and democracy in five different time zones to meet partners and friends! 
Check out this map with purple pins designating more information on the trip! 

The gift that is good for everyone: 
Play a version of DemTech themed Wordle and Connections!

The DemTech team is thankful to all of our colleagues and friends who have made 2024 an exciting year. We wish you all a peaceful and prosperous 2025!