Marketplace of ideas: testing the application of data and digitalisation to empower democracy in Malaysia
Can you help us to develop a frontier tech enabled platform to provide voters in Malaysia with access to verified information on electoral candidates and monitor elected representatives’ performance to enhance democratic participation?
The problem
Outdated election processes can result in limited voter engagement and serve maintenance of the status quo. Access to information can enable informed voter choice, resulting in a strengthened democratic process, which can lead to a government better equipped to address inequality and critical needs across security, health, education and income generation. In turn this may increase voter turnout, encourage a more diverse range of electoral candidates increase accountability and increase integrity amongst elected officials.
The Idea
We believe a data backed digital platform can provide voters with more and verified information on electoral candidates and elected officials monitor their performance/deliverables?
The Frontier Tech Hub works with partners to understand the potential for innovative tech to address global challenges. The FT Hub is supporting a pilot that aims to understand how technology can enhance election processes and promote democracy in Malaysia.
We believe that if we create a data backed digital platform that directly connects voters with candidates and elected representatives to provide verified information on their capabilities, ambitions monitorable pledges and record in office, make that data easily available to voters and even directly connect voters with candidates, we will create an informed electorate that will make rational decisions at elections and actively participate in democracy.
The ambition is to enable people (electorate) in Malaysia to participate as deeply as possible in the democratic system. The FT Hub aims to generate learning and evidence, and this pilot will seek to understand what works in Malaysia and how the idea might be scaled to enhance democracy in Malaysia and beyond.
How you can help
The pilot aims to explore how a big data and a tech enabled platform could give voters access to accurate, verified data about electoral candidates and elected officials. We are interested in developing and testing a minimum viable product to learn how information might be gathered and verified, which technologies would be needed to underpin the platform and the governance and ownership structures needed to both ensure financial sustainability and maintain neutrality and trust in the platform.
To get started, we are seeking to invite a range of stakeholders to a Marketplace of Ideas This will be an opportunity to share more about the idea and how we envision testing it, gather feedback and catalyse future activity and collaboration to turn this idea into a reality.
This event will inform an Invitation to Tender which will lay out our requirements for a partner to take this work forward.
We are looking to work with a range of experts including Government representatives, civil society organisations, technologists and academics, and are particularly interested. If this sounds like a good fit, please put the date below in your diary and fill out the form to register interest.
Date: Tuesday 10 January 2023
Time: 4pm — 5.30pm Malaysia (8am — 9.30am UK)
Location: Online
Register here: LINK
With thanks,
the Frontier Tech Hub
For more information, please contact ftlenquiries@dt-global.com
