PDF Brussels 2012

Finding Europe’s Public Place – PIAZZA DIGITALE

The Personal Democracy Forum (PdF) is the definitive event in the world on technology and politics. Now in its ninth year in the United States and its third year in Europe, PDF brings together top opinion makers, political practitioners, technologists, and journalists from across the ideological spectrum for two days to network, exchange ideas, and explore how technology and wired citizens are changing politics, governance, and civil society.

On May 31 at the Brussels Press Club Europe, we will start the conversation in Brussels on how technology is changing the European Institutions, diplomacy, lobbying, working and journalism in its quest to final capture a European public sphere. For information, you can check back here or subscribe to our Europe Weekly Digest and be the first to know.

This is a bipartisan event and in past years has included such notable speakers as Eric Schmidt of Google; Thomas Friedman, New York Times; Ann-Marie Slaughter, Princeton University; Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post; Ralph Reed, Christian Coalition; Mike Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand; Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark; Alaa Abd Al Fattah, Egyptian blogger, software developer, democracy activist; Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter; Vivek Kundra, former U.S. CIO; and Newt Gingrich, former U.S. House Speaker.

Brussels speakers include the Head of the Brussels Office for Facebook Erika Mann, Marietje Schaake MEP, Aurelie Valtat Digital Media Manager European Council, Stephen Clark of the European Parliament Social Media Team, the European Journalism Centre, New Europe Media Group, the Euractiv PoliTech Foundation, NPRs freelance correspondent in Brussels Teri Schultz, Tech Crunch Columnist and Author Andrew Keen and many more to be announced before the day itself.

Each year we look broadly at how technology is changing politics and governance; this year we plan to look closely at how citizens and governments alike are using new interactive communications technologies to address critical civic problems, make government more efficient, transparent, and accountable and in Europe search for that elusive Public Sphere online. We will also be analyzing how technology and social media have played a role in supporting democracy movements all over the world and how to support an open Internet for all people.

Our first ever event in Brussels is curated by Alia Papageorgiou | @eurocentrique.