One Vote Annual Conference

Context #

In recent years, electoral processes, results and integrity of the results have been the focus of heated discussions. Alongside this, there have been continuous collaborative efforts to determine the security of the technology along with impact on rights, privacy and data governance. The various reports around the prototyping of blockchain based technology to be used for elections in India provide a perfect opportunity to examine the topic and acquire sufficient insights.

Many countries are exploring and experimenting a set of different approaches to enable more streamlined voting that is secure, efficient and auditable. As part of the conference, we will discuss some of the following topics:

1. Challenges in transitioning traditional and established voting processes to more digital and auditable models.
2. Examining the approaches and experiments underway (in other countries) to better understand technical, social and rights centric challenges.
3. How to examine and evaluate the various technology choices being made specific to electoral processes.

Key takeaways for participants #

1. A framework with which to examine technology choices and policy decisions.
2. Knowledge about the key challenges being addressed by various countries, researchers and governing bodies as they seek to make the transition to digital technologies.

Who should participate #

A topic of this nature is designed to appeal to the widest cross section of the audience, including:

• Researchers and practitioners at the intersection of technology, rights and data.
• Cybersecurity and data security practitioners and experts.
• Policy designers who are engaged in developing the guidelines for the transition.
• Organization leaders who have elections on a smaller scale as part of the governance processes, and seek to examine new approaches.
• Journalists and columnists who write about current affairs and politics.

Who should speak at the conference #

This list is indicative, and not exhaustive:

1. Experts undertaking research and development on voting related technologies.
2. Academic researchers examining the impact of technology interventions in electoral processes.
3. Cybersecurity researchers and experts.
4. Policymakers.

About the conference curators #

1. Sankarshan Mukhopadhyay
2. Dr. Syed Taha Ali, teacher at NUST; information security practitioner.
3. Maansi Varma and Praavita of Article 21 Trust

Contact details: For information about speaking and participation, leave a comment on Comments Page. The organizing team will get back to you.