Taiwan's former digital minister, Audrey Tang, says technology and a concept called "Plurality" can make democracy. Tang was speaking at the Asia Blockchain Summit on a panel that also included actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt; Microsoft researcher Glen Weyl; and Vitalik Buterin, the founder of blockchain platform Ethereum.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The Asia Blockchain Summit is back in Taipei.
00:03It's the first time it's been held in person in five years, and it's bringing together
00:06big names from across the blockchain industry, the technology behind cryptocurrencies like
00:11Bitcoin.
00:12Now we're here on the third day of the summit, which is focused on the concept of plurality,
00:16which aims to use technologies like blockchain to improve democracy.
00:21While the two might not seem related, blockchain's traceable digital fingerprint is well-suited
00:26to democratic principles like consensus and accountability.
00:29The idea has been spearheaded by Taiwan's former digital minister Audrey Tong and Microsoft
00:33researcher Glenn Weil, who participated in a panel with founder of blockchain platform
00:38Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, and actor-entrepreneur Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
00:43They say plurality aims to use technology to make democracy more inclusive and better
00:47reflect people's real preferences.
00:50As an example, Audrey Tong pointed to a platform started by Taiwanese hacking group GovZero
00:54where young people were able to get their issues on the legislative agenda.
00:58There was a couple years ago a petition by mostly high school students that says science
01:04shows that if you sleep for one more hour instead of study for one more hour, it actually
01:10gets your score better.
01:11So they petitioned to instead of going to school on 7.30 or something, they want to
01:16go to school like 8.45 or something, right?
01:19So you just got every high schooler's attention just now.
01:22Yeah, I mean, it is backed by science, you know.
01:26And so after deliberation, actually, they succeeded, right?
01:29Supporters of plurality say that by using these concepts, Taiwan can become a place
01:33not where technology is just made, but where it is used for good.
01:37Luffy Lee and Chris Gorin for Taiwan Plus.