Deliberation & Technology (DelibTech) Network

The DelibTech Network is coordinated by DemocracyNext (Claudia Chwalisz and Sammy McKinney) and the AI & Democracy Foundation (Aviv Ovadya and Kyle Redman).

Purpose

We are collaborating to:

• Guide technological innovation around a critically informed repertoire of deliberative technologies.
• Develop principles and protocols for deploying emerging technologies in deliberative processes.
• Share information and good practices with one another to encourage mutual learning, the cross-pollination of expertise, and a thriving community of practice.
• Disseminate research into the media and other public channels.
• Enable strategic collaboration and coordination between network members.

Membership

• Membership in the network is invite-only. We would like to keep the group size such that everybody knows one another, and that we have a good mix of expertise and geographies.
• Members commit to participating in virtual and in-person convenings as often as they can, held under Chatham House rules to encourage open exchange.
• Members’ profiles are publicly shared.
• Members are invited as individuals, but membership is limited to no more than two people per organisation. Members are able to suggest an alternative participant from their organisation to a convening if unable to attend.
• People can express interest to join the group, but we intend to keep the group small to begin with. We will prioritise the functioning of the group over openness and we seek to broaden the group’s geographic diversity.

Activities

• Convenings (in-person or online). Network convenings/learning calls will occur three to four times per year. In general, there will be materials for convenings distributed in advance that will form the basis for group discussion and activities. A first virtual convening took place on 23 September 2025 to launch the network, and a first in-person convening is happening on 14 October 2025 to examine ecosystem gaps and to comprehensively map applications. Beyond this, other proposed convenings in the first 12 months include a deep dive into risk mitigation and to provide a space for network members to share core learnings/experiences/challenges from the field.
• Developing resources for the field. The materials prepared for the convenings will be iterated upon and published following network feedback/engagement to provide shared resources for the field.
• Quarterly email or newsletter for members and funders with latest research findings, news of related events and opportunities.
• Webpage that has information about network members. We are seeking additional resources to develop this into a standalone website that could also feature projects underway, papers, and other relevant resources that can become a coordinated point of reference.
• Supporting/encouraging working groups or more formalised collaborations between members - e.g., on sortition, on deliberation, on sense making, on group building, on aiding the consensus formation process, on voting methods in assemblies, on virtual deliberative space, on different philosophies and approaches to ‘scaling’ deliberation, on the pros and cons of AI ‘facilitation’, on online versus offline, etc. A working group would need a clear lead.

Funding

We have a small amount of seed funding to support these initial meetings, but we will require dedicated funds to continue the sustainability of network activities and will be seeking this over the next months. If you would like to support the DelibTech Network, please get in touch.