Democracy in the Digital Era: Manifesto: Difference between revisions
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==About this book== | ==About this book== | ||
The | The '''Democracy in the Digital Era: Manifesto''' emerged through contributions from about 100 carefully chosen young leaders (plus 1000 Shadow Participants) from almost 50 countries. Participants have collaborated for more than 4,000 person hours in face-to-face [[Structured Democratic Dialogue| Structured Democratic Dialogues]]. They have collectively identified Shortcomings of current systems of governance that could be improved through technology, and proposed concrete Actions to address them. The dialogues were implemented in compliance with the emerging [[Science of Dialogic Design]]. The purpose of the process was to collectively discover key concepts and themes for drafting a Manifesto to guide future reforms. The 4-page Manifesto presented in pages 10-13 was scientifically grounded on extensive analysis of all data collected during the implementation of the five, weeklong, regional Structured Democratic Dialogues. Each regional process (separate Reports available) produced distinct [[Influence Map| Influence Maps]] with Challenges and respective Actions that could be undertaken to enhance democracy in the digital age. The analysis that led to the key concepts and themes of the Manifesto included also word/tag clouds, data mining and advanced visualization techniques, visual representations of the connection of topics of interest, multiple rounds of voting, term frequency analysis, clustering analysis and cluster prioritization, and Interpretive Structural Modeling (embedded in the [-[Structured Democratic Dialogue]] Process). | ||
The report has been developed in the context of the | |||
The report has been developed in the context of the [[Reinventing Democracy in the Digital Era]] Project<ref>http://reinventdemocracy.info Reinventing Democracy in the Digital Era </ref>, which was funded by the [[United Nations Democracy Fund]], and implemented by [[Future Worlds Center]]. | |||
==About the author== | ==About the author== | ||
Latest revision as of 09:39, 23 August 2025
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About this book
The Democracy in the Digital Era: Manifesto emerged through contributions from about 100 carefully chosen young leaders (plus 1000 Shadow Participants) from almost 50 countries. Participants have collaborated for more than 4,000 person hours in face-to-face Structured Democratic Dialogues. They have collectively identified Shortcomings of current systems of governance that could be improved through technology, and proposed concrete Actions to address them. The dialogues were implemented in compliance with the emerging Science of Dialogic Design. The purpose of the process was to collectively discover key concepts and themes for drafting a Manifesto to guide future reforms. The 4-page Manifesto presented in pages 10-13 was scientifically grounded on extensive analysis of all data collected during the implementation of the five, weeklong, regional Structured Democratic Dialogues. Each regional process (separate Reports available) produced distinct Influence Maps with Challenges and respective Actions that could be undertaken to enhance democracy in the digital age. The analysis that led to the key concepts and themes of the Manifesto included also word/tag clouds, data mining and advanced visualization techniques, visual representations of the connection of topics of interest, multiple rounds of voting, term frequency analysis, clustering analysis and cluster prioritization, and Interpretive Structural Modeling (embedded in the [-[Structured Democratic Dialogue]] Process).
The report has been developed in the context of the Reinventing Democracy in the Digital Era Project[1], which was funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund, and implemented by Future Worlds Center.
About the author
Yiannis Laouris is a medical doctor, neurophysiologist, systems scientist, and peace entrepreneur based in Cyprus. He studied medicine at Leipzig University during the Cold War, completed a Ph.D. in neurophysiology at the Karl-Ludwig Institute (Leipzig), and earned an MS in systems and industrial engineering at the University of Arizona. Trained in Germany and the US, Laouris became known in the late 1990s for his innovative tech4peace.org project, which helped bridge communication divides in conflict settings. He chairs Future Worlds Center, serves as CEO and Lead Scientist, and holds leadership roles in several innovation and peace-focused organizations, including the Institute for 21st Century Agoras and the International Society for the Systems Sciences. A long-standing member of the Conflict Resolution Trainers Group, he has trained thousands in structured dialogue and conflict resolution and remains active in the bi-communal peace movement advocating for the reunification of Cyprus.
Laouris has significantly advanced the science of Structured Dialogic Design and is credited with discovering the Law of Requisite Action. His team works closely with Aleco Christakis, a pioneer in the field, applying these methods to peace-building efforts in Cyprus, the Middle East, and pan-European networks. In the early 1990s, he co-launched CYBER KIDS, a groundbreaking initiative introducing IT to young children, reaching nearly 15% of Cyprus’s population and expanding to seven countries. His contributions have been widely recognized, including the 1998 Industrialists and Employers Federation First Award for Creativity and Innovation and the 2008 Award of the Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies.
In addition to his peace and innovation work, Laouris has a strong academic record, having published over 50 peer-reviewed papers, contributed chapters to about 20 books, and presented more than 130 conference papers. Early in his career, working with leading cyberneticians and systems physiologists, he applied digital signal processing to study neural transmission properties and muscle function, making important contributions to neuroscience.
Selected publications of Yiannis Laouris are available at:
- ↑ http://reinventdemocracy.info Reinventing Democracy in the Digital Era