Tech on Politics

It’s become something of a mantra for the Tech On Politics team, but there is no doubt we’re living in interesting political times. Last year, Brits voted to leave the EU, populist movements and candidates were on the rise, and US President Trump continues to whip the news media into a daily frenzy. So what does this mean for our current political systems and what role is technology playing in the democratic protest? In the final episode of season 1, Tech On Politics sit down with Steve Hilton. A former strategist and senior advisor to UK’s former Prime Minister David Cameron, Hilton now bases himself in America where he’s worked as an Stanford professor, authored the book ‘More Human: Designing a World Where People Come First’, and founded CrowdPac, a platform which makes it easy to crowdfund and run for public office. Tom and Steve talk political campaigning, why Steve firmly believes that Brexit has been a long time coming, how it was a win for democracy and just how much of that is rooted not just in technological advancements but in an underlying apathy for the current political party system and voting processes. Via Crowdpac, Steve believes in democratizing the political process and putting the power directly in the people’s hands. Can populism be spun positively via technological transparency? Join us for an action packed finale of the first season of Tech on Politics.

Should the Internet be a new political jurisdiction? Pia Mancini certainly thinks so. Tom chats to her about the future of politics and the nation state for Episode 9: A Democracy Fit for the 21st Century. Pia is a founder of the Net Party, a political party headquartered in Argentina, and co-founder of Democracy OS, a platform for collaborative decision making. Pia only has one goal: to pioneer the democracy of the 21st Century, and in her chat with Tom she explains how we could use tech to open up our current political systems to create a much fairer and more transparent democracy. And this is where Democracy OS - or Democracy Earth in its latest incarnation - comes in. Through this platform we can stop thinking of the nation state as the only political entity and jurisdiction. The Internet has the potential to become a new jurisdiction and can give people a voice in locations where they are currently only represented by undemocratic governments. By rethinking representation this way, Pia argues we can move from territorial representation to a much more fluid, non-territorial form of representation. Even though the nation state won’t disappear anytime soon, it could quickly become less important and will lose its current monopoly. One way people can make the nation state weaker is by using cryptocurrencies rather than its own money, that is often entrenched in the particular state’s ideals and values. By choosing the currency we use, we are telling the world what we believe. Is now the time to fight and decide on these alternatives?

Welcome back to Episode 8 of Tech on Politics! In our show today, I am honored to visit with Howard Rheingold - one of the earliest pioneers of the internet, a member of The Well, a critic, a writer, and a teacher. Howard's specialties are on the cultural, social and political implications of modern communication media such as the Internet, mobile telephony and virtual communities (a term he is credited with inventing). We discuss everything from Fake News to Internet Literacy - topics he has notably vocalized, shared, and taught since the earliest days of the internet.

Well, hello 2017! What a wild and crazy political year we had in 2016, and it only stands to get quite a bit more interesting - to say the least. So, welcome to Episode 7 of Tech on Politics! In this episode, Tom Serres interviews Matt Mahan, The Founder and CEO of of Brigade Media. Brigade has one singular and simple mission: Become the worlds largest network for voters. In Today's show, Matt and Tom discuss everything from the mission and vision behind Brigade Media, What happened with the Polls during 2016, The tensions behind the business goals of media and their responsibility as journalists, and most importantly the decentralization of content creation, distribution, and the impact this is having on users navigating the world of "news". --- Brigade media is building the worlds largest network of voters and has been backed by investors such as Sean Parker of Facebook, Ron Conway of SV Angel, and Sales Force Founder and CEO - Marc Benioff. To learn more goto www.brigade.com.

Welcome back to Episode 5 of Tech on Politics. Today we are joined by Andrew Bleeker, Head of Digital Marketing for Hilary Clinton 2016 Fat Pope, Skinny Pope...Fat Pope? On this episode of Tech on Politics, Andrew and Tom discuss everything from Ad Tech to the Three M's of Political Campaigns, Persuasion vs. Engagement, and what was going on inside campaign headquarters when Hilary Clinton called to concede the election to President Elect, Donald Trump.

The Internet is entering a second era. We’ve had the Internet of Information. With blockchain we’re seeing the rise of the Internet of Value. There are profound opportunities to improve the economy and also the operations of government. Technology is all around us. In our work, in our transportation, in our homes, even in our dating lives. But where is technology going to play a role in our government? A lot of attention in the news has spun to Silicon Valley’s reaction to the election of Donald Trump as the 45th president, and what this means for technology. The latest episode of Tech on Politics, the podcast at the intersection of technology and politics, gets into these dualities with the author and digital transformation communicator, Don Tapscott. Having written tombs like Wikinomics, Growing Up Digital, and most recently, the Blockchain Revolution, Tapscott is one of the few people helping explain the ramifications of technology for society. So what should Donald Trump as president-elect begin focusing on? Where will innovation have to meet policy and vice versa? In his interview, Tapscott lays out some of the critical ways in which a second age of democracy will emerge over the next decade.

Welcome back to Episode 3 of Tech on Politics! On today's show, we interview crypto hacker math genius Jutta Steiner. Jutta is the co-founder and COO of Ethcore - an EU based company pioneering some of the most interesting advancements in Blockchain Technology. Perhaps you've heard of Bitcoin - but maybe not Blockchain, its underlying technology. Today we talk about Blockchain, Blockchain Nation States, Decentralized Autonomous Governments, AI's building Blockchains, cryptography, internet voting, and the new emerging landscape around The Internet of Value. Ethcore is the creator of Parity: The worlds fastest ethereum client that integrates directly into your browser. They are a mixture of alumni from the Ethereum project and new faces - but dedicated to bringing the decentralised web to life.

On Episode 2 of Tech on Politics, Tom Serres interviews Michael Fertik, Entrepreneur and Founder of Reputation.com. Michael and Tom discuss everything from government as the game of inches, mechanisms to disrupt Washington, DC, Vatican 2 - "The meeting of the framers", privacy, infinitely powerful search, infinitely free storage, and the Age of Big Analysis.

On Episode 1 of Tech on Politics, host Tom Serres talks with Eric Ries, Author of The Lean Startup and Entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley, about Political Campaigns, Lean Government, and -- of course -- tech startups.

Get a sneak peak at Season 1 of Tech on Politics with Tom Serres. Featuring guests like Eric Ries, Michael Birch, Ben Knight, Andrew Bleeker, Michael Fertik, Mark McKinnon, Susan McCue, and Zac Moffett — with many more entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists, and political elites bringing new voices to the ongoing debate.