Toda Peace Institute Co-Organizes Workshop on Digital Technology and Peacebuilding

From June 24 to 27, a workshop titled “Deliberative Technologies, Democracy, and Peacebuilding” was co-organized by the Toda Peace Institute and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA. Held at the university, the workshop was part of the Toda Peace Institute’s “Social Media, Technology and Peacebuilding” program that is directed by Senior Research Fellow Dr. Lisa Schirch. Scholars and representatives of NGOs and IT companies from over 15 countries and territories discussed how a new class of deliberative technologies could facilitate dialogue and reduce polarization between opposing groups to strengthen democracy and social cohesion. Audrey Tang, former Minister of Digital Affairs for Taiwan, and Glen Weyl, founder and research lead of a Microsoft Research Special Project, presented on digital democracy. The Toda Peace Institute was founded by President Daisaku Ikeda in 1996.