Prototype Fund Demo Day

  • Prototype Fund
Ankündigungsbild von opendata.ch für «Demo Day»

2 March 2021, 17:30–20:05 @ Online

On 2 March 2021, the Prototype Fund closed its first funding round with its first Demo Day — online because of the pandemic, rather than at the Generationenhaus in Bern. Around 100 people joined on Zoom; 123 had registered. Vera Eichenauer and Nikki Böhler moderated, and Torben Stephan spoke for the Mercator Foundation Switzerland.

In the debate, Jörg De Bernardi (Federal Chancellery) and Daniel Graf (WeCollect, Public Beta) argued over who has to deliver the update of Swiss democracy. Then five teams showed what they had built in six months: smartask, FairElection, owlly, CH+ Games for Democracy and voty.ch — all open source. In breakout rooms, people could try the prototypes themselves. The debate and the five pitches are on YouTube; the second funding round opened on 7 April 2021.

Documentation and recordings

Debatte Daniel Graf und Jörg De Bernardi

Programme

  1. 17:15–17:30
    Joining on Zoom
  2. 17:30–17:40
    Welcome: the Prototype Fund and the Mercator Foundation Switzerland

    The vision and mission of the Prototype Fund, the five projects of the first funding round and a word from Torben Stephan for the Mercator Foundation Switzerland.

    Vera EichenauerModerationNikki BöhlerPrototype Fund, Opendata.chTorben StephanStiftung Mercator Schweiz
  3. 17:40–18:07
    Debate: does Swiss democracy need an update – and who provides it?

    Whether e-ID, e-voting or e-collecting: the road to digital democracy is slow and bumpy. After a short input each, Jörg De Bernardi, head of internal services at the Federal Chancellery, and civic tech activist Daniel Graf (WeCollect, Public Beta) cross swords: who has to get moving on updating democracy, the federal government or civil society? In German.

    Jörg De BernardiBundeskanzleiDaniel GrafWeCollect, Public BetaVera EichenauerModeration
  4. 18:07–18:10
    Project pitches

    The five teams of the first round present the civic tech prototypes they have been working on for six months and invite people to their demo rooms. In English, questions welcome in all national languages.

    Vera EichenauerModeration
  5. 18:10–18:20
    smartask

    smartask develops a platform through which citizens can address questions or concerns directly and publicly to parliamentarians.

    smartask.ch · Project page

    Carine HunzikerPitchMichael ErnePitchGiorgio NadigFlavio Muff
  6. 18:20–18:30
    FairElection

    FairElection creates a tool for political organisations to select candidates according to their self-chosen criteria of diversity or the diversity of the Swiss population. Everyone can use the tool to simulate the results of a past election by modifying these same diversity criteria.

    fairelection.ch · Project page

    Johan RochelPitchPreeti DamonPitchFlorian EvéquozLeonard StalderGladys Ançay
  7. 18:30–18:35
    Democracy Fitness Session

    Digital democracy needs fitness: a warm-up for voting (saying yes and no), elbows, and stretching up as at a Landsgemeinde so that every voice is counted.

    Nikki BöhlerPrototype Fund, Opendata.ch
  8. 18:35–18:45
    owlly

    owlly enables the secure and easy electronic signing, validation and counting of popular initiatives and referenda for campaign platforms and offers a holistic e-collecting approach for Switzerland.

    owlly.ch · Project page

    Sandro ScalcoPitchJonathan DotzlerFabian BolliManuel StammDavid dal Busco
  9. 18:45–18:55
    CH+ Games for Democracy

    CH+ Games for Democracy uses game mechanics for political self-education and helps voters select their ideal candidates during elections. CH+ is based on co-design and invites users to be part of the design process. At Demo Day the team showed the app «DOPE Elections».

    projektchplus.ch · Project page

    Sophie WalkerPitchMela KocherEmma McMillinFlorian MeyerOliver Detig
  10. 18:55–19:05
    voty.ch

    voty brings democracy to schools and promotes the understanding of democracy among young people in a sustainable way through three modules: learning, testing and living democracy. Learning materials have been live since February 2021, class votes since November 2020.

    voty.ch · Project page

    Stefan NiederhauserPitchRoger WiezelUrs WildeisenBarbara Reichen
  11. 19:05–19:10
    Thanks and next steps

    The second funding round opens on 7 April 2021; proposals until 16 May, up to CHF 100,000 for six months.

    Vera EichenauerModeration
  12. 19:10–19:40
    Demos in breakout rooms

    Five rooms, five tools: in two rounds of 15 minutes each, try out the prototypes yourself and ask the teams questions.

  13. 19:40–20:05
    Closing and online apéro
Read the original announcement

Updates for Swiss democracy

At the first Demo Day of the Prototype Fund, five project teams present their digital solutions to strengthen political participation: with more diversity, more transparency and, not least, more fun. Anyone can try out the prototypes straight away. Daniel Graf (WeCollect, Public Beta) and Jörg De Bernardi (Federal Chancellery) also debate: who slept through the update of Swiss democracy?

Because of the pandemic the event took place online rather than, as first planned, at the Generationenhaus in Bern.

The Prototype Fund is a joint initiative of Opendata.ch and the Mercator Foundation Switzerland.

Organising team

  • Vera EichenauerOpendata.ch
  • Nikki BöhlerOpendata.ch
  • Florin HaslerOpendata.ch

Sponsor

  • Stiftung Mercator Schweiz