The Integration of Technology into Democratic Development - a Shift is Underway

We’re in the midst of a pivotal moment in technology and politics in the international development field, which started in early 2009 and still seems to be gaining steam, where the linkages between politics, technology, democracy and foreign policy are becoming much more widely recognized. This process is dramatically expanding the use of technology in democratic development around the world and creating exciting new opportunities for organizations like NDI and our partners - and will ultimately be a significant net positive for democracy in general. We’ve observed that a considerable number of NDI political partners from around the world, international democracy groups, international development funders, tech companies and others are recognizing that politics and technology are becoming increasingly intertwined. We’ve seen an expansion of interest from all of these groups in the use of technology in democracy programs in the last 18 months, including an increase in requests for technical assistance and training in areas such as the use of new media and mobile technologies in support of political campaigns and other political activities; more program opportunities and funding for this kind of work from a range of bi-lateral, international and private funders; and interest from technologists and technology companies, large and small, who have approached NDI to talk about working together in partnerships as they recognize the important role their technologies can play in building and supporting democracy. This moment has been created by a number of factors, but I attribute most of it to three major events: the widely recognized role of technology in the successful 2008 Obama presidential campaign; followed in 2009 by broadly viewed political events such as the so-called “Twitter Revolution” in Iran and a similar post-election protest in Moldova; and the Internet Freedom speech from January, 2010 and 21st Century Statecraft foreign policy framework that initiated a range of diplomatic and programmatic activities driven by the US State Department. Our team at NDI has seen surges in interest in our technology work during this timeframe that can be loosely attributed to each of those events. Importantly, while technology and democracy is certainly a “flavor of the month” in many ways and this wave of enthusiasm will surely pass, I think the process represents a change in understanding in the democracy and technology communities. Therefore, we’re likely seeing a structural and long term shift toward more comprehensive integration of technology into democracy assistance programs and in politics in general. This provides a range of exciting opportunities as well as introduces new challenges that I look forward to discussing in future posts.