Governments should work with civil society groups to develop digital democracy to tackle the various challenges facing the world today, Minister without Portfolio Audrey Tang (??) said at a U.S.-led democracy forum on Friday.
In the face of global challenges, digital democracy has proven to be the most effective solution, Tang said at a panel discussion on the topic “Countering Digital Authoritarianism and Affirming Democratic Values.”
She talked about how Taiwan had implemented an SMS-based contact tracing system developed by civic technologists to trace the itineraries and contacts of people who are diagnosed with COVID-19.
Contact tracers are required to apply for access to a COVID-19 patient’s data through this civic platform, which has valued personal data privacy, Tang noted.
In addition, Tang said civic technologists in 2015 invented Airbox, a low-cost device that can be installed on school or household balconies to detect air quality.
The idea was adopted by the government, which initiated a program the following year to set up around 2,000 Airbox devices in Taiwan, and the number of the devices has now grown to tens of thousands, Tang said.
“Citizen science supplemented our government’s limited capacity” in this case, Tang said, stressing that this ‘people-public-private partnership’ can shape a digital democracy.
Tang’s remarks were streamed on the second day of the two-day Summit for Democracy, which was organized by the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden “to renew democracy at home and confront autocracies abroad.”
A total of 110 delegations participated in the summit, including one from Taiwan led by Tang.
The summit focused on three principle themes — “defending against authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights,” according to the U.S. State Department.
China, which was not invited to the event, on Saturday criticized the U.S. for organizing the summit.
“The U.S. has long imposed its own political system and values on others,” interfering with other countries’ affairs and imposing unilateral sanctions in the name of defending democracy, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The spokesperson claimed that China had lived up to “the most comprehensive and practical” form of socialist democracy that has brought about national development and social progress.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel