The business of government has remained cautiously analogue as our lives have digitised, and perhaps there are good enough reasons for that. Nonetheless, a new generation of digital democrats is afoot, with plans to infuse legislatures everywhere with technological upgrades. If they succeed, governments of the future will be more open, more evidence-based, more data-rich and more responsive than ever before. The notion of representation could be changed beyond recognition, and legitimacy too will adopt a different hue. Are such changes necessary or welcome? And with filter bubbles and bots entering the lexicon, how does technology also threaten the efficacy of our governing systems? We filter the issues with Beth Noveck, Director of the Governance Lab; Carl Miller, author of ‘Power: Control and Liberation in the Digital Age’; David Binetti, founder of Votizen; Pia Mancini of Democracy OS and Democracy Earth; and Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s Digital Minister without Portfolio.