Too often, the worlds of government and technology can feel disconnected and devoid of a common language. Bridging this gap, the series will bring together leading voices at the intersection of government and technology, crafting conversations between entrepreneurs, public servants, researchers and investors interested in digital innovation with public purpose.

For Dr. Tanya Filer, founder and director of StateUp, “there is an urgent need for skilled digital ‘translators’ equipped to navigate between with the different languages, cultures, priorities and ambitions both across the technological and policymaking dimensions of government and between technology firms and the state.” The series aims to illuminate examples of current digital translation, and to start a conversation about bridging these divides going forward.

Webinar 2

The second Digital Translators webinar, ‘How to be a Digital Translator‘, will take place on 27 October at 5pm (GMT), in partnership with the Centre for Science and Policy at the University of Cambridge.

This webinar shines a light on individuals who have carved out stellar careers at the intersection of government and technology—often serving as a bridge between two worlds—and asks how we can create cohorts of digital translators able to lead work, generate ideas, and broker key conversations at this critical juncture. Confirmed speakers include Camilla Rygaard-Hjalsted (CEO, Digital Hub Denmark), Ciaran Martin (Professor of Practice in the Management of Public Organisations; Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford) and Michael Macdonnell (COO, Sensyne Health).

Register for this webinar via Eventbrite.

Webinar 1

The first Digital Translators webinar, ‘Virtual Parliaments, Engaged Citizens’, took place on 8th September 2020 at 5pm (BST), in partnership with UK Parliament and the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge. We discussed “What options are most effective for including citizens’ voices in virtual parliaments?”. Our conversation included leading international voices drawn from UK Parliament, academia, and the participatory technologies ecosystem.

Speakers for this webinar included Cristina Leston-Bandeira (Co-Director of the Centre for Democratic Engagement and Chair of the UK Study of Parliament Group), Tiago Peixoto (Senior Public Sector Specialist, World Bank Group), and Miguel Arana Catania (Research Fellow at Warwick University and the Alan Turing Institute; former Director of Madrid’s Citizen Participation project; founding team at Consul).

You can access a recording of ‘Virtual Parliaments, Engaged Citizens’ here.

StateUp insights on digital engagement in virtual parliaments are available here.

Our partners in the Digital Translators series include UK Parliament, the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, the Centre for Science and Policy (University of Cambridge), and Unit.