Tech on Politics

It’s become something of a mantra for the Tech On Politics team, but there is no doubt we’re living in interesting political times. Last year, Brits voted to leave the EU, populist movements and candidates were on the rise, and US President Trump continues to whip the news media into a daily frenzy. So what does this mean for our current political systems and what role is technology playing in the democratic protest?

In the final episode of season 1, Tech On Politics sit down with Steve Hilton. A former strategist and senior advisor to UK’s former Prime Minister David Cameron, Hilton now bases himself in America where he’s worked as an Stanford professor, authored the book ‘More Human: Designing a World Where People Come First’, and founded CrowdPac, a platform which makes it easy to crowdfund and run for public office.

Tom and Steve talk political campaigning, why Steve firmly believes that Brexit has been a long time coming, how it was a win for democracy and just how much of that is rooted not just in technological advancements but in an underlying apathy for the current political party system and voting processes. Via Crowdpac, Steve believes in democratizing the political process and putting the power directly in the people’s hands. Can populism be spun positively via technological transparency? Join us for an action packed finale of the first season of Tech on Politics.

Should the Internet be a new political jurisdiction? Pia Mancini certainly thinks so. Tom chats to her about the future of politics and the nation state for Episode 9: A Democracy Fit for the 21st Century. Pia is a founder of the Net Party, a political party headquartered in Argentina, and co-founder of Democracy OS, a platform for collaborative decision making.

Pia only has one goal: to pioneer the democracy of the 21st Century, and in her chat with Tom she explains how we could use tech to open up our current political systems to create a much fairer and more transparent democracy. And this is where Democracy OS - or Democracy Earth in its latest incarnation - comes in. Through this platform we can stop thinking of the nation state as the only political entity and jurisdiction. The Internet has the potential to become a new jurisdiction and can give people a voice in locations where they are currently only represented by undemocratic governments. By rethinking representation this way, Pia argues we can move from territorial representation to a much more fluid, non-territorial form of representation.

Even though the nation state won’t disappear anytime soon, it could quickly become less important and will lose its current monopoly. One way people can make the nation state weaker is by using cryptocurrencies rather than its own money, that is often entrenched in the particular state’s ideals and values. By choosing the currency we use, we are telling the world what we believe. Is now the time to fight and decide on these alternatives?

Right now there are 400,000 bots creating around 20% of all Internet chatter. How are we meant to determine the authority of the online content we read if there are now robots and non-humans generating such a large percent of it? In Episode 8, Howard Rheingold—critic, writer, teacher, and one of the earliest pioneers of the Internet—and Tom Serres discuss Fake News and the Real Politics of Technology.

Howard has always been ten-years ahead of everyone else, and was writing about social media way back in the 90s. He has written various books on the cultural, social, and political implications of modern communication media, cementing his status as a leading thinker in social media. In this episode we look at the issues of fake news and Internet literacy.

There are various things that have an effect on the way we experience tech, from the type of political environment we are into our own individual knowledge of certain technology. So the best way we can currently improve our use of tech and the Internet is to ensure we have the best fact-checking tools and sites at our disposal. But then, who’s fact-checking the fact-checking sites?

Howard also discusses the need to control our own attention. As the web was created by people, the way we think of it affects how it evolves. If we only use the web as an echo chamber, we only reinforce our own opinions, which makes it incredibly difficult for people to look beyond what they believe. For the Internet to continue being valuable, we need to figure out how to give people the tools and desire to fact-check.

Brigade Media has only one goal: to become the world’s largest network of voters. And how exactly does the company plan on doing that? In Episode 7: The Decentralization, Creation, and Distribution of Information, Brigade’s founder and CEO, Matt Mahan, chats to Tom about this singular mission.

After the political upheaval of 2016, it’s clear that we still have a lot to learn about social media’s effect on politics. And now companies, such as Brigade, are trying to harness the power of these platforms to help transition causes that start out on the likes of Facebook and Twitter into real action. But there are many challenges to face along the way, from fake news and the huge cultural divide that is now a feature of our current political landscape.

Now that content creation and news output have been decentralized, Brigade aims to create meaningful debate about policy and legislation, to tempt the electorate out of their polarizing echo chambers, and help them find news on the issues they care about from the fragmented distribution method of social media.

Matt explains how Brigade offers users platform positions to help users feel comfortable expressing their political beliefs. The network also helps people to better understand their political outlook and to compare and contrast their views and beliefs with those around them. And, reassuringly, every pair of users—even though their political outlook may vary significantly—has something in common.

What was going through Hillary Clinton’s mind while 2016’s election night unfolded? As a global leader in digital communications and Senator Clinton’s Head of Digital Marketing throughout the 2016 campaign, Andrew Bleeker has a better idea than most people. He joins us for Episode 5: Money, Message, & Mobilization.

Some people may think that we elect our presidents in the same way we choose our popes—but in reality our elections and campaigns are now firmly rooted in tech. And during this divisive election, it was apparent that there are currently three main motivations in all political campaigns: money, message, and mobilization. In this episode of the podcast, Tom and Andrew focus on the role that Ad Tech, digital communications, and social media played in the two very different campaign trails. Even though the Democrats and Republicans were using each strategy in very different ways, they were still key motivators for both parties.

Explaining the importance of search engines, social networks, and video in reaching voters, Andrew takes us through the new challenge of engagement vs. persuasion. Lots of new tech pushes persuasive content out to the target audience but has to also compete for attention with the likes of Buzzfeed and Vox. And if it doesn’t cut, it just doesn’t reach those all-important voters. In a world in which content and social media can win an election, it’s become all too clear that digital communications are now best-placed at the heart of every political campaign.

In the first episode since the election of Donald Trump in November 2016, politics and tech has never been more important. In fact, it’s the perfect time to reflect upon recent a somewhat controversial and surprising political event results to ask each other “What’s next?”

Tom reflects about the election results and shares his (both pre-and-post) election insights on what he believes the next government should be focussing on. Machine learning, advancements in technology, smart algorithms, and more.

If elections are never won on issues, but on values, how are emotions and values connected in the central role in human behaviour? Which core beliefs were voters acting on, when they turned out to vote. Instead of adding fuel to the country’s discontent, Tom calls on those to stop complaining and get to work helping people, and begin to understand where people’s anger is coming. He calls for a more collaborative discourse, not just in the USA, but as a global society.

Don Tapscott also joins Tom on Episode 4. He’s the author of 15 books including The Blockchain Revolution. Tom grills Don on his advice for the incoming government. With the Internet entering a second era—as an Internet of Value—will it now allows us to change every institution in society for the better? Tapscott calls on Blockchain technology to create government as an accountable and transparent platform.

The cities of San Francisco and Washington DC are like opposing bookends. One, a city of rulebreakers and innovators, the other a city of rulemakers and obeyers. However they remain united by one common interest: both cities have the power to bring about revolution.

On Episode 2 of Tech on Politics, Disrupting the Game of Inches, host Tom Serres speaks with Michael Fertik, co-founder of Reputation.com and a NYT bestselling author of The Reputation Economy, a book which explores reputation as the most valuable digital asset.

Fertik and Serres discuss the maturation of the once inward-looking and politically-antagonistic Silicon Valley to the convergence of politics, privacy laws, and tech. Do we have a right to privacy and do we need a digital bill of rights on privacy? Historically, Americans have always approached privacy differently to their European counterparts. But, how is this now changing with the advent of digital transparency? With Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on one hand declaring privacy being “over” and on the other hand buying up houses surrounding his own in order to protect his family’s privacy—can we really have it both ways?

Tom and Michael expand further on the use case for an accurate digital reputation and cite big analysis tools as the next big thing in managing personal data. Take for example a recruiting and performance measuring tool—how do we ensure that our online presence accurately and transparently reflects our professional selves and how do we manage the convergence of personal and professional personas?

Get a sneak peak at Season 1 of Tech on Politics with Tom Serres. Featuring guests like Eric Ries, Michael Birch, Ben Knight, Andrew Bleeker, Michael Fertik, Mark McKinnon, Susan McCue, and Zac Moffett — with many more entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists, and political elites bringing new voices to the ongoing debate.

The first question a tech startup asks is “what problem do I want to solve?”—so why aren’t more politicians thinking like this? In Episode 1 of Tech on Politics, Political Campaigns as Startups, our host Tom Serres chats to Eric Ries.

Ries is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and author of the best seller The Lean Startup, a book that explores the noble art of building a startup. They explore the convergence of politics and tech including political campaigning, lean governments, and the role of tech startups, and why a 20th-century approach is no longer cutting it for solving 21st-century issues.

At first glance, politicians, and technologists seem the least likely of bedmates however, are these two industries actually more compatible than meets the eye? Where startups ask, [what problem do I want to solve], Tom and Eric discuss what problems governments want to solve and what methodologies are they implementing in a world where voters are way more unforgiving and cynical to political campaigns.

Explaining the importance of influencing and engaging the voter on a daily basis instead of every four years, Ries emphasizes the importance of political engagement as a sustained investment, the need to “forget lists” and to “focus on product”, and how to engage voters as humans and not just statistics on spreadsheet.