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Episode details

World Service,28 Feb 2017,26 mins

Retrofitting Democracy with Robust Digital Tools

Digital Planet

Available for over a year

Democracy faces new and global challenges: new notions of expertise, fake news and a disillusioned electorate. Click talks to Nesta’s Director of Government Innovation, Eddie Copeland, about how a number of governments and parliaments around the world are using every day online platforms, forums and other digital tools in innovative ways to achieve broader participation. Plastics pose a big problem in the sea, as is reflected when they wash up on the shoreline. The Plastic Tide is an initiative to use drones to monitor this waste along the British coastline. They aim to unroll a similar project along the west coast of Africa next year. Click talks to Ellie Mackay, the co-founder of The Plastic Tide. Advances in sensors and hardware have enabled computers to more easily observe the physical world. These devices can monitor the physical environment and connect internet servers with physical places and objects. But how will we guard against the new vulnerabilities they open up? Roland Pease reports. Ahead of International Women's Day 2017 on 8 March , Click discusses with Dr Sue Black the campaign #BeBoldForChange, a call for a more inclusive, gender equal world, and TechMums’schemes for retraining mothers aiming to go back into work. (Photo: Social Network Vector Concept © Thinkstock)

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