July 6, 2022
On June 28, 2022, Citibeats was awarded as the best solution in Europe at the first edition of Tech4Democracy, an event organized by IE University in partnership with the U.S. Department of State and Microsoft, as part of Joe Biden’s Summit for Democracy.
Governments and Universities Working Together for Democracy
The first edition of the Tech4Democracy Venture Day took place at the IE Tower in Madrid, Spain, and counted the presence of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand among other dignitaries. Prime Minister Ardern delivered a keynote about the role of governments in creating democratic societies that look after the well-being of citizens and use technology in a responsible way to guarantee human rights.
The CEO of IE University, Diego del Alcázar Benjumea, underlined the importance of universities in the process of freely exchanging ideas and helping train the next generation of policy- and decision-makers with a strong focus and awareness towards global issues such as gender equality, representativity, and inclusiveness.
The key role of technology in democracy was stressed also by the White House Special Assistant to the President, Rob Bershinski, who emphasized how imperative it is for technology to be “ built, deployed, used, and governed in ways that reaffirm democratic values and protect human rights.”
Technology for Democracy
Citibeats’ Product Manager Darío García de Viedma introduced our technology to the audience as a game-changer in the decision-making process.
In fact, Citibeats presents itself as a democracy-enabling tool. The platform helps policy- and decision-makers understand changes in society and the needs and opinions of people in real-time to make faster and better-informed decisions. It also helps citizens feel part of a community because their opinions and voices are heard, valued, and included in the decision-making process.
“Like Prime Minister Ardern was saying, transparency is key for the private sector. That’s why I am super proud to announce that we are going open source. We are building a platform in which data scientists and citizens all over the world will be able to engage because we believe that a well-functioning democracy is a democracy in which all of us participate. They will be training our data models using more real and more local datasets.”
Darío García de Viedma, Product Manager at Citibeats
The Future of Democracy
Citibeast was one of the six finalists developing digital solutions that defend and support democratic values such as inclusion, privacy, transparency, liberty, and equality. From Citibeats, we would like to thank the other finalists for their work for a fairer and more just society: PoliticAlly, Kuorum, Maldita, Sigo, and Civocracy.
IE University will host similar Venture Days in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa to select the most promising digital businesses that offer solutions to defend and promote democracy.
In September, there will be a Venture Day in New York, U.S., and in October, another one in Bogotá, Colombia. The final globe Venture Day will take place in the lead-up to President Biden’s second Summit for Democracy.
This award represents for Citibeats an encouragement to continue working to enable democracy through technology and give voice to all the citizens around the world for a truly inclusive and representative society.
Citibeats is clearly not the only company fighting for an equal world, and this first edition of Tech4Democracy proved once more that the ‘old way’ of doing business just focused on profit simply cannot work anymore. It is never too late to change things and we hope that, together, we can really do something meaningful and impactful for this and the next generations. If you think we can work together on a project for social good, please get in touch with us.
