Democracy and technology
Digital transformation touches all aspects of life and is accelerating at great speed, fuelled by progress in computing power, connectivity and the increased availability of data and capacities to process it. Digital transformation promises to improve efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and openness of governance, to promote sustainability and to increase accountability and civil participation. At the same time, digital technologies pose risks to democracy and governance, in particular with regards to privacy, data protection and undue surveillance to name just a few areas.
The CDDG provides guidance to member States on the above subject-matters, at all levels of government, with a view to strengthening trust in public institutions.
Currently, the CDDG is working on:
New technologies in the electoral process
The Committee of Ministers Guidelines on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in electoral processes in Council of Europe member States prepared by the CDDG have been adopted by the Committee of Ministers in 2022. The Guidelines aim at ensuring the integrity of the electoral process and therefore enhancing citizens’ trust in democracy. They propose a set of requirements and safeguards to be introduced in the legislation and practices of the Council of Europe member States when using ICT in the different stages of the electoral process. The Guidelines cover the use of ICT solutions by, or on behalf of the relevant electoral authorities, in all the stages of the electoral process, except e-voting and e-counting which are covered by the Recommendation CM/Rec(2017)5 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on standards for e-voting.
The CDDG is tasked with holding a review meeting on the implementation of Recommendation CM/Rec(2017)5 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on standards for e-voting every two years. To prepare the review meeting at the end of 2023, the Democratic Governance Division together with the Division on Elections and Participatory Democracy organised a conference on E-voting and ICT in elections: staking stock and moving forward, highlighting main takeaways.
The impact of digital transformation on democracy and governance
The CDDG adopted a Study on the impact of the digital transformation, including artificial intelligence and automated decision-making, on democracy and good governance in 2022. With regards to governance in particular, the study explored how the 12 Principles of Good Democratic Governance are impacted by the use of digital technologies, including AI, in the public sector. Furthermore, the CDDG continues to contribute to the activities in the field of AI, in particular to the work of the Committee on Artificial Intelligence.
E-democracy
The Recommendation CM/Rec(2009)1 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on electronic democracy (e-democracy) sets out the key principles of e-democracy. The main objective of e-democracy is to support existing democratic processes. E-democracy opens up additional channels of communication among citizens themselves, between citizens and public authorities, among public authorities themselves and with all other stakeholders. At the same time, traditional channels will continue to be used.
The Recommendation is accompanied by a series of indicative guides: a set of generic tools and policies for an electronic democracy, a roadmap approach to e-democracy, a checklist for the introduction of e-democracy tools, a framework for reporting e-democracy initiatives, a guide to evaluating e-democracy, and a glossary.
To complement this set of standards, the CDDG has developed a Handbook to help all stakeholders in the democratic process to make best use of digital technologies in the interests of democracy and governance.
