Innovation in digital technology is increasingly affecting everyday life, creating a need for more just and equitable policies that protect people’s rights and interests. For instance, digital technology impacts marginalized communities and human rights particularly on issues of justice and equity. That’s why People Powered offers the Digital Democracy Accelerator, a training and support program for governments and civil society organizations that want to design and launch participatory programs to develop policies to govern this space.
To be selected for this program applicants must be governmental organizations, civil society organizations or non-governmental organizations based in Europe. The first accelerator cohort is open to 12 participants. Future programs will focus on other regions.
Over six months, program participants will develop action-oriented solutions that effectively engage citizens in making decisions about digital policy governing concerns such as security, privacy, equity and ethics.
Selected applicants will have access to:
A dedicated mentor with experience in this arena.
Step-by step resources such as the Participation Playbook, our interactive online tool for designing participatory programs.
Practice-oriented live sessions and online courses.
A US$15,000 grant to help implement their projects.
The opportunity to apply for an additional $100,000 award for the two best projects developed by program participants.
Applications for the DDA are now closed and the program has kicked-off. Stay tuned for updates.
Links to the interpretation in Spanish, French and Portuguese are in the description box on Vimeo.
What is the application process?
Read through the program requirements and selection criteria below, and register for the orientation webinar.
Complete the application form and submit required documents by July 24.
Program timeline
May-July: Call for applications opens
July-September: Selected participants are notified
September: Program begins
March: Program ends
May-June 2024: Participants share learnings
Eligibility: Who is this program for?
Governmental organizations in the following European countries who want to launch a participatory program for making decisions on digital policies and digital issues. Please note: If a government organization is the applicant, they must be in a partnership with a civil society organization, as the grant recipient must be a non-governmental entity. Countries eligible: Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and United Kingdom.
Civil-society organization and non-governmental institutions such as schools and universities or other community organizations that want to implement a participatory program focused on digital policies and digital issues. Partnership with a government institution is desirable but not a requirement for the CSO/NGO applicants.
How much time must participants dedicate to the program?
Participants are expected to spend an average of two hours per week from September 2023 to March 2024.
In addition, they will be asked to set aside a few key dates on their calendars to participate in the program’s live sessions.
What are the other expectations of participants?
Develop an action plan (project) to be implemented, with the support of the program resources.
Engage internal and external stakeholders to develop an action plan.
Attend and participate in dedicated training and mentorship/peer support activities and discussions.
Report on project progress and lessons.
Learn more about the DDA Expert Committee
(From left to right)
Annie Cook, Scotland
Director at Deciding Matters
Annie is an experienced project manager, engagement design specialist and facilitator with a background in delivering deliberative democratic processes and events, research, policy and advocacy-based work. She is the director of Deciding Matters, a small, independent, participatory democracy organization supporting governments, communities, and people to re-think power and shape the decisions that will impact them. It achieves this by running events, processes and workshops that bring policy-makers, experts and ‘typical’ decision-makers together with the public and those affected.
Jon Stever, Rwanda
Managing Director of i4Policy
Jon co-initiated and coordinated the world's first global citizen's assembly, the 2021 Global Assembly on the climate and ecological crisis. Jon is a co-founder and managing director of Innovation for Policy Foundation (i4Policy) and co-founder of Impact Hub Kigali, among other initiatives. He has advised and trained senior government officials and communities across more than 80 countries. For his efforts in supporting regulatory and legal reforms for startups, he was recently listed by Jeune Afrique among the top 20 people driving Africa’s digital transformation.
Domenico Di Siena, Italy
City Learning Manager of Democratic Society
Domenico is an experienced professional with a solid background in civic design and urban planning. He specializes in the dynamics that create blanded Realms, effectively bridging the gap between the Spatial and Digital realms and providing a unique perspective in his work.
Throughout his career, Domenico has demonstrated a consistent commitment to supporting public and private organizations, NGOs, universities, and civic groups in their pursuit of civic innovation and collective intelligence. His diverse skill set as an activist, consultant, researcher, and entrepreneur has enabled him to foster vibrant communities of practice in the fields of Civic Design and Citizen-led Urbanism. Additionally, his deep understanding of the Dynamics that create Blanded Realms has allowed him to establish physical spaces that facilitate social and civic economic practices.
Currently, Domenico holds the position of City Learning Manager at the Democratic Society, where he applies his expertise to the esteemed European project, Net zero Cities. In this role, he plays an integral part in the team developing the Capacity and Capability Building Programme for the 112 cities participating in the mission, ensuring their successful transition to sustainable urban environments.
Reema Patel, United Kingdom/Global
Research Director and Head of Deliberative Engagement of Ipsos
Reema Patel (she/her) is a thought leader in the fields of technology, data and AI ethics, public engagement and participation, and diversity, equity and inclusion. She is an engaging speaker on subjects including technology ethics, diversity, AI-emerging tech, future of healthcare, among others. She leads global research agency Ipsos's work on deliberative engagement.
Reema has undertaken work at the cross-section of three fields- technology ethics, public engagement and diversity. She co-founded the Ada Lovelace Institute where she established its work on public engagement and participation. She is an author of several Ada Lovelace Institute’s reports, including Beyond Face Value, Rethinking Data, The Data Divide and Participatory Data Stewardship among others. She also co-authored a report for On Think Tanks on the global evidence base for public engagement.
Tomáš Rákos, Czech Republic
CEO of Participation Factory
Tomáš is a leading participation expert who builds on his rich field experience and transfers it to conceptual work and design of tailor-made participation processes combining international best practices and the local specifications. His expert areas include participation process design, stakeholder engagement, youth participation strategies, civic tech consulting. data analysis, strategic planning for communities of various sizes, and capacity building. Tom co-founded and ran D21, a social enterprise that provided software and consulting services on public engagement processes. He led a team that for the past four years implemented a digital voting solution for the NYCC Participatory Budgeting (PB) process.
Valentin Chaput, France
Co-founder of Open Source Politics and Open Democracy Now
Valentin has a 10-year background in French and European politics and public affairs. He co-founded Open Source Politics and Open Democracy Now hackathons to promote the development of civic digital commons. He wrote a report for point d’aencrage (think-tank) and gave lectures in several universities on the impact of the digital revolution on democracy and society.
Our current DDA cohort
Nil Homedes, Spain, Decidim Free Software Association / Foundation for Public Code
Marcela Guerrero Gaitán, Spain, Coglobal
Esben Gadsbøll, Denmark, Danish Tech Startups
Rowan Harris, United Kingdom, Shared Future CIC
Olivier Schulbaum, Spain, Platoniq Foundation
Eva Mackevica, Poland, Fundacja Pole Dialogu (The Field of Dialogue Foundation)
Ljubisa Vrencev, Greece, SYMBIOSIS
Ximena Arrieta, Spain, Accionar.io
Alin Gabriel Gramescu, Romania, Station Europe
Cornelia Josephineh Ulrich, Germany, Hansestadt Rostock
Tihomira Doncheva, Bulgaria, American University in Bulgaria
Maria Tazi, France, Mission Publiques
You’ll hear more about their bios and work soon!
