Global Innovation Hub
The Global Innovation Hub of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom was reopened in Taipei in 2021. The hub focuses on the topics of "Digital Transformation" and "Innovation for Democracy". With an international network of experts, the hub supports the Foundation as a creative innovation platform for liberalism.
News
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How Does Taiwan's Civil Society Leverage Technology and Citizen Activism to Enhance the Transparency of Parliament?
In 2025, many citizens in Taiwan were dissatisfied with how parliament reviewed and cut the national budget. Civil society organizations and advocates criticized the budget review process for turning budget cuts into a tool of political retaliation between parties, with essential funding for national defense, critical infrastructure, and social welfare being significantly cut or frozen without clear justification. Rather than waiting for solutions, these groups took action. By leveraging technology, data, and citizen participation, they developed a crowdsourcing social media bot and a data visualization website to monitor how legislators decided to cut or freeze government budgets. This initiative not only increased transparency in the budget review process but also addressed long-standing issues in parliamentary open data, which for decades had been released in fragmented, unstructured, and non–machine-readable formats. In this article, data journalist Zoe Lee from READr, who led the project, explains how Taiwan’s civic tech community once again mobilized to advance parliamentary transparency.
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AI for Democracy, More Digital Participation Best Practices from across the World, and More in the New Digital Participation Guide!
This year, People Powered collaborated with us again to update their Digital Participation Guide and Rating by adding a chapter on how AI can facilitate public participation, as well as including more case studies of best practice from around the world. Come and take a look!
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Tech Radar Episode 2
Quantum technologies have been hailed for years as the key technology of the future. Europe has a strong scientific foundation in this field.
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Students in Bonn Test an AI Tool for Public Debate
The Global Innovation Hub is exploring how digital tools can support transparent and inclusive public deliberation. One such tool is “Talk to the City” (T3C), an open source system that collects participants’ arguments, organizes them by theme and provides an overview of the discussion.This opportunity arose when Iris Müller from the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s NRW office and Zoë van Doren from the Berlin office organized a student event in Bonn on the potential reintroduction of conscription.
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A Guide to Win Democracy Back: Civic Tech Project and Community Handbook
As a citizen, have you recently felt powerless to influence the decision-making process of public policy or to make a change in society? Do you find it more difficult to shape the development of technology than engineers or big tech companies do? Civic Tech Project & Community Handbook—From Taiwan’s g0v Community to the World: The Collaborative Wisdom of Digital Citizens is here to help you to regain your strength as an active citizen.
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We Proudly Supported TICTeC 2025, Where 212 Technology for Democracy Advocates from 37 Countries Inspired Each Other.
TICTeC 2025 brought together 212 experts and advocates of pro-democracy technology. They showcased their incredible digital initiatives and digital projects for democracy and shared their perspectives on how to address the current democracy crisis. We and our partners were also honoured to present our projects there: Civic Tech Project and Communities Handbook, Dream Con project, and Tainan City Council Watchbot.
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Better than Human? AI-Assisted Moderation Sparks Innovative Dialogue on Deliberative Democracy
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s Global Innovation Hub hosted the 7th episode of its Innovation for Democracy (I4D) Café webinar series— How Can AI Facilitate Public Participation and Deliberation? Featuring Dr. Alice Siu, Associate Director of the Deliberative Democracy Lab at Stanford University, and Mr. Yen-Ting Hsu, co-founder of Taiwan Reach-Out Association for Democracy (T-ROAD), the webinar explored how AI-assisted participation platform, like Stanford’s Online Deliberation Platform, could enhance a democratic dialogue and citizen’s public participation. Beyond showcasing its features, the event prompted critical discussions on the role of AI in public discourse and its implications for democracy.
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The Discourse on Existential Risks of Artificial Intelligence
Between panic and acceleration: The discourse on AI risks is driven by ideologies, money and geopolitical interests - often bypassing real problems. A look behind the narratives and power structures.
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The Tech Radar: A publication series on emerging technologies and strategic foresight
The Tech Radar: A new publication series at the intersection of emerging technologies and strategic foresight by the Global Innovation Hub of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom
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Register for Open Parliament Hackathon on Dec. 6-7, 2024!
Have you tried to know what the congressmen, Members of Parliament, or legislators that we elected are doing, but in the end found it difficult to find the data you need from the websites of our congresses or parliaments? Come join our Open Parliament Hackathon with the help of technology on Dec. 6-7, 2024 in Meeting Room 201 and 202, 2F, GIS MOTC Convention Center to find the solution together!
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Internet Shutdowns: The Rising Tactic of Authoritarian Control
Imagine waking up to a world with no internet—no news, no social media, no contact with loved ones. For millions, this is reality. Our new publication explores Internet Shutdowns and successful countermeasures.
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Civic Tech and Digital Citizenship Education Workshop in Berlin: Let’s co-create a manual to foster democracy together
Civic tech, short for "civic technology," refers to the use of technology to improve the relationship between citizens and their government. A leading example is the Taiwanese civic tech community g0v ("gov zero"), which has gained international recognition for its successful collaboration with the government. One of their most well-known initiatives was the real-time visualization of mask availability in stores during the COVID-19 pandemic. Examples like this inspire communities worldwide to start similar initiatives in their regions. But how can such a fruitful collaboration between civil society and government be initiated?
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Cyber Hygiene for Politicians: An Essential Protection in the Digital Age
In an increasingly digital world, politicians need to protect themselves from cyberattacks to ensure the integrity of democratic processes. Patricia Egger from Proton explains how important measures such as strong passwords, end-to-end encryption and the separation of private and professional activities help to minimize security risks.
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Webinar: When Globalisation Meets Geopolitics in the Semiconductor Supply Chain
Join us for the online publication launch event as we unveil a deep dive into the global semiconductor industry's intricate supply chain dynamics. Date and Time: 2023/11/30 17:00-18:30 (GMT+8)
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Our New Global Innovation Hub in Taipei
On March 21, 2023, the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation for Freedom (FNF) inaugurated its "Global Innovation Hub" with a reception in Taipei. Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Germany’s Minister of Education and Research, was the guest of honour and opened the new Global Innovation Hub as a member FNF´s Board of Trustees. She was in Taiwan in her capacity as a Minister.
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