Digital Society

We are struggling to keep pace with digitalisation, both in terms of democratically establishing and applying legal frameworks and in terms of the role and capacity of the state.

“What applies offline must also apply online” is a common demand which is both correct and inadequate. It is correct because it calls for the enforcement of existing laws in digital contexts, which has not yet happened enough. It falls short because digital transformation creates many novel challenges that also require new rules. Our work aims to support the democratic development of these rules.

The European Union has recently passed groundbreaking laws, such as those regulating digital platforms and the development and use of artificial intelligence. Whether these laws will make a tangible difference depends on their implementation. That is why we want to contribute to an ambitious approach to their enforcement that leads to greater security and trust online while strengthening our democratic rights.

To remain effective and enforce rules, the state must also adopt digital technologies and ways of working . Otherwise it risks losing the trust of its citizens, who expect it to function in modern and relevant ways.

To achieve this, merely digitalising existing processes is not enough. Rather, the processes themselves must be re-evaluated, structures changed, and a modern culture established in state institutions. After all, an analogue and cumbersome state will be increasingly unable to fulfill its wide ranging regulatory and service delivery responsibilities in an increasingly digital world.

To take advantage of the opportunities presented by digital transformation and shape it in line with societal goals, we need fair rules and effective state institutions. We work towards the involvement of civil society and scientific perspectives in the digital transformation of the state and the development and implementation of digital policies.

• We create spaces to develop ideas for a democratic digital state and to hold deep discussions on conflicting values and goals, as well as the relationship between the state and the market, and between public and private in a digital society.
• We support civil society and academia to contribute analyses to the political discourse and develop proposals for decision-makers in politics and administration: both for digital policies and their implementation, and for the digital transformation of the state itself.
• We promote dialogue, knowledge transfer, and cooperation between politics, public administration, civil society, and academia ‒ internationally and interdisciplinary.

Digital innovation offers a wide range of opportunities for overcoming societal challenges. However, government frameworks must reconcile economic growth with fair competition, democracy, and fundamental rights. This is the only way to leverage the potential of digital transformation for the benefit of society.

Currently, a few very large US and Chinese tech companies dominate the market. Their market power undermines the sovereignty of users and limits the capacity of state actors to take action. Smaller companies and technological alternatives struggle to compete. This undermines Europe’s potential for innovation. In addition, the business models of large tech companies harm individual users, democracy, and social cohesion: their algorithms disseminate illegal and harmful content because to capture people’s attention and maximise time spent on social media platforms. Traditional journalism and its democratic function are also suffering from the shift to social media platforms. The dominant market position of large tech companies risks growing to also dominate the AI value chain due to their access to users, capital, skilled workers, server infrastructure, and data – crucial resources for the technologies of the future.

To address these challenges and create a public interest-oriented digital economy, we need to better understand the dynamics of the digital economy, new approaches in economic policy, and, in the long term, new economic paradigms.

We work towards the creation of business models and markets that support the development and use of digital technologies in ways that strengthen democracy and promote the public interest.

• We support analyses of dynamics, power structures and societal impacts of the digital economy and strengthen actors who draw attention to these issues.
• We enhance the exchange between civil society, academia, and business to promote a public interest-driven digital economy
• We enable the development of economic policy proposals to shape markets and technologies so that digitalisation serves the public interest.
• We support non-profit actors in developing and communicating proposals to limit the economic and political power of the dominant tech companies.

Although digital transformation permeates all areas of life, explaining and communicating it remains difficult. In Germany and Europe, public discourse about its impact is dominated by US economic actors and is often characterised by black-and-white thinking while pluralistic and nuanced perspectives from European academia and civil society advocating for the democratic shaping of the digital transformation are barely visible. The issue is still primarily perceived as an economic and technology policy issue, but not a question for society as a whole.

Large technology companies’ product launches generate buzz and public conversation. These moments are easy to communicate, but the connection between technological change and democracy is harder to explain. As a result, actors working in the public interest have had little success in sensitising the public to their issues. Although academia and civil society have a lot of technical expertise on digital policy, they often lack the resources and access to communicate effectively.

Outside expert communities, digital transformation and its impact on society are rarely discussed. The topic hardly plays a role at the highest political levels, which means that solutions that require long term structural change are often not prioritised.

However, a pluralistic and nuanced public discourse is essential for democratic decision-making. That is why we aim to amplify European voices in the debate, anchor digital transformation as a cross-cutting issue, and widen the conversation. This is the only way to generate the necessary public pressure for long-term structural changes.

We want to highlight the relevance of digital transformation for democracy and contribute to a pluralistic, informed and nuanced discourse.

• We support digital policy stakeholders from civil society and academia in expanding their communication skills and raising public awareness of their issues.
• We support academia and civil society from other policy fields in taking a closer look at digital transformation, particularly at the interface with the Mercator Foundation’s working areas of Climate Action, Participation and Cohesion and Europe in the World, and in communicating these connections to the outside world.
• We promote connections and networks between actors in digital policy and those from other policy fields. We strengthen cross-sector alliances to make the relationship between digital transformation and democracy more visible.
• We enable media and journalism professionals to report on the societal impact of digital transformation in a nuanced and informed way.