The Informed Citizen in Digital Society

A #DECIDIS conference, which puts the idea of the informed citizen up for debate.

Friday, November 25 2016 from 13.00-16.00.

#DECIDIS

The information citizen has become a basic principle of modern democracy, however, it seems like only very few of us have actually engaged in the question of what it exactly means to be an informed citizen and more importantly, what an informed citizen means: Informed about what and by whom? These are pressing questions in contemporary society, not at least because the model of participatory democracy explicitly emphasizes the role of the informed citizen as a central one to a functioning democracy. In the panel debate we will question this fundamental idea of being informed.

Sign up for the conference

To participate in the #DECIDIS conference, all you have to do is go to eventbrite and book your ticket. Its free to participate but please sign up so we know how many to plan for.

New ideals for informed citizens?

We want to provoke the notion that all information is equally valid for questioning whether a citizen can participate in a democracy without having a basic knowledge or skill about it. At the same time we aim to create a definition of what it takes to be informed. Are these the new ideals for the informed citizen?

Ideal #1

It is necessary to read society-related news.

Ideal #2

It is more important to engage with active media (written news and books) than with passive news (TV and radio).

Ideal #3

One has to actively plan out his or her daily media usage.

Ideal #4

One has to be critically in his or her media selection.

Ideal #5

One has to seek information with a politically different view than one’s own.

Ideal #6

One has to seek actively for democracy-related news.

Ideal #7

One has to articulate his or her mind in a democratic discussion in order to test and adjust his or her view upon a society.

Ideal #8

One has to choose books or informative entertainment (e.g. documentaries) instead of game- and reality shows.

Ideal #9

One has to reduce his or her entertainment consumption to become less than one’s consumption of society-related news.

Ideal #10

It is necessary to have a foundation of sociological, democratic and philosophical knowledge.

Panel debate

In the panel debate we will discuss the fundamental ideas of being informed: Is the traditional ideal of the informed citizen outdated in times of Facebook & Co.? What is the role of modern information technologies in supporting or preventing the possibilities to be informed citizens?

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Gitte Bang Stald

IT Universitetet i København

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Henrik Dahl

Liberal Alliance

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Rolf Bjerre

Alternativet

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Ingrid Ank

Grundtvigsk Forum

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Frank Piasecki Poulsen

Moderator

Program

Where can I participate?

Ankomst og registrering // Arrival and registration

15mins

AUD 1

Paneldebat // Panel debate (på dansk with English translation)

Speakers:
Gitte Stald, IT Universitetet
Henrik Dahl, Liberal Alliance
Rolf Bjerre, Alternativet
Ingrid Ank, Grundtvigsk Forum

Moderator:
Frank Piasecki Poulsen

60 minutter

AUD 1

Session 1: Den oplyste borger (på dansk) & EU General Data Protection Regulation (in English)

WS 1: Den oplyste borger i et meningsmålingsdemokrati (på dansk)
WS 2: The EU General Data Protection Regulation – an Overview for Data Citizens (in English)
ART 1: Immerse yourself I: Information Overload (Danish & English)

45 min

Session 2: ATLAS for digitalt demokrati (på dansk) & den digitale postfaktualitets trussel (på dansk)

WS 3: ATLAS for digitalt demokrati (in Danish) WS 4: Digital misinformation – Den digitale postfaktualitets trussel mod den velinformerede borger (in Danish) ART 2: Immerse yourself II: The Echo Chamber (Danish and English)

45 min

Opsamling // Wrap-Up

15 min

Intermedia Lab

Social Event

Fredagsøl og hygge // Friday bar and fun

open end

Intermedia Lab & Scroll Bar

Social Event

Rasmus Jønsson

Den oplyste borger i et meningsmålingsdemokrati

Valgkampsperioder kan ses som en essentiel mulighed for det parlamentariske system, at nå ud til deres publikum, til borgere, informere dem om politiske temaer borgerne kan relatere til - og herfra fordre borgernes demokratiske deltagelse. Og de fleste borgere føler sig forpligtet til at gøre deres part; de sætter krydset på papiret, de tager stilling, udfører deres demokratiske pligt. De deltager. Med medierne og de politiske partiers øgede brug af meningsmålinger og exit polls under valgkampe, skabes der ifølge kritikere et horserace-demokrati, hvor fokus rettes hen imod valgkampens vindere og tabere, frem for diskussioner og fokus på det politiske indhold. Denne workshop vil udforske om og hvordan denne binære forståelse af valgkampens tabere og vindere, som brugen af meningsmålinger og exitpolls medfører, bidrager til oplysning af borgerne?

45mins

4A16

Rasmus Jønsson

Currently at PR-firm ‘New Deals'. Rasmus was formerly spindoctor for Ny Alliance and for the previous Minister of Transport, Magnus Heunicke (S).

Birgitte Kofod Olsen (Data Ethics)

The EU General Data Protection Regulation – an Overview for Data Citizens

In 2016, the EU General Data Protection Regulation – known as GDPR – has been adopted and is scheduled to come into effect in 2018. Some call the regulation a milestone for privacy rights, while others find its complexity confusing and doubt its effectiveness. Overall, the GDPR is designed to give citizens back the control over their personal data, and unify privacy standards across Europe. What does this mean to the informed citizen? What are my rights and responsibilities as a data citizen after the GDPR goes into effect in 2018? As an informed data citizen, knowing about one’s data / privacy rights has become increasingly important in today’s digital democracy – yet overwhelming and at times discouraging. This session aims to bring the EU GDPR into the knowledge sphere of citizens and open the floor for questions and discussions.

45mins

AUD 3 (2A56)

Birgitte Kofod Olsen (Data Ethics)

Birgitte has been involved with human rights, privacy protection and CSR since for a long time. She holds a Ph.D. in Law, Biometrics and Privacy Protection from the Copenhagen University. She is currently the spokesperson of the Danish ThinkTank DataEthics, and leads CSR and privacy consultancy at Carve Consulting. Birgitte has been the Chairperson of the Board of the Danish Council for Digital Security, and has worked many years for the Danish Institute of Human Rights, partly as its Vice Director.

http://dataethics.eu/en/

Art installation

Immerse yourself I: Information Overload

The first of two art installations allowing participants to immerse themselves into the world of digital information. The first installation presents an immersive experience of the phenomenon many scholars conceptualize as ‘information overload’. The installation gives the participants a bodily experience of the vast amount of informations available online, forcing the participants to re-evaluate the question: “Can we truly be informed?”

50mins

Intermedia lab

Art installation

Kristoffer Granov

ATLAS for digitalt demokrati

Hvordan forholder man sig som digitalt samtidsmagasin til demokratiske principper? Og hvilken indflydelse har det i den daglige praksis? Det er nogle af de spørgsmål Kristoffer Granov vil komme ind på i sit oplæg om hvad det vil sige at være redaktør på et magasin med en digital tilstedeværelse. Kom forbi Auditorium 3 (2A56) på fredag kl. 15.05, og hør mere, samt stil dine spørgsmål til Kristoffer.

45 minutter

Aud 3 (2A56)

Kristoffer Granov

Kristoffer Granov er redaktør på samtidsmagasinet Atlas Magasin. Han er cand.scient.soc i samfundsvidenskab og filosofi, og jourhavende redaktør på ATLAS Magasin, hvor han skriver og redigerer kultur, faglitteratur, debat, idé- og samfundsstof.

http://atlasmag.dk/

Digital misinformation – Den digitale postfaktualitets trussel mod den velinformerede borger

Postfaktualitet er i den seneste tid blevet diskuteret vidt og bred. Særligt i forbindelse med Donald Trumps valgkampagne i USA og Brexit-fortalernes kampagner i Storbritannien er begrebet blevet brugt som symptom på massiv misinformation og deciderede skævvridninger af faktiske forhold.   Hvordan påvirker den nye digitale post faktualitet borgeres muligheder for at være velinformerede? Denne workshop vil stille skarpt ved en diskussion foretaget i en simuleret postfaktuel virkelighed.

45 minutter

4A20

Art installation

Immerse yourself II: The Echo Chamber

The second of two art installations allowing participants to immerse themselves into the world of digital information. The second installation presents an immersive experience of an information echo chamber. A notion of online spheres, or chambers, where the same opinions are produced and reproduced without confrontation.  The installation gives participants a bodily experience of online echo chambers and its effects on information, concluding with the question: “Do you feel informed?”

55mins

Intermedia lab

Art installation

venue

The IT University has research groups that work with identifying and developing innovative communication, computer games, improving IT-design, IT-technologies, and software development.

Rued Langgaards Vej 7,
2300, København S
Danmark

more information

The conference team

From left to right: Joachim Thomsen, Mark Serritzlev, Sonja Zell, Søren Henriksen, Josefine Grunnet, Martina Mahnke Skrubbeltrang

(Missing: Nicolai Tarp)