IE University’s Tech4Democracy Global Challenge Culminates at the Summit for Democracy with EVoting as Winner

The Tech4Democracy Global Final, a competition for startups developing technologies that reinforce democratic principles and values, was held on March 28 at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., on the sidelines of President Biden’s Summit for Democracy. This event is the culmination of Tech4Democracy, a global IE University initiative in partnership with the U.S. Department of State. IE University has also received the strategic support of Microsoft in furtherance of its Tech4Democracy efforts.

EVoting, a startup from Chile that provides electronic voting systems using cryptography, was crowned the global democracy-affirming tech champion. The other four finalists were Atlos (United States), Citibeats (Spain), FloodGates (Ghana) and Right2Vote (India). As part of Tech4Democracy, IE University hosted tech startups competitions in five continents: Africa (at the University of Cape Town), Asia-Pacific (with ORF and in conjunction with the Raisina Dialogue during the G20 in New Delhi), Europe (at IE University in Madrid), North America (at Stanford University in Silicon Valley) and South America (at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá), with the participation of 300 technology startups from 66 countries. These continent-wide events have been attended by global figures like Jacinda Arden, the former prime minister of New Zealand; Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum; Melvyn Lubega, founder of the first South African unicorn, or Samantha Power, the Administrator of USAID.

The event included a keynote speech by the United States’ Acting National Cyber Director Kemba Walden, who emphasized the importance of a safe digital space and outlined some of the pillars of the Biden's administration new National Cybersecurity Strategy.

The jury panel assessing the startups was composed of public policy experts, leading members of the investor community and former government officials. The judges were Lilian Coral, Senior Director of Technology and Democracy Programs at New America; Alex Engler, Fellow in Governance Studies at the Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings; Emily Frye, Director of Cyber Integration at MITRE; Alec Ross, author and former Senior Advisor for Innovation to the U.S. Secretary of State; and Sheel Tyle, Founder and CEO of Amplo.

“We should strive to make the responsible management of technology our ultimate goal and advance democratic values and principles through technology.”
Irene Blázquez, Director of the Center for the Governance of Change at IE University

On March 30, EVoting will participate alongside Manuel Muñiz, IE University Provost, and Teresa Hutson, Corporate Vice President for Technology and Corporate Responsibility at Microsoft, at the Tech Cohort Event hosted by New America “Championing Digital Democracy for All: Collective Action from the Technology for Democracy Cohort.” In this event, Manuel Muñiz and Teresa Hutson will showcase Tech4Democracy’s global competition and share a preview of the forthcoming report Tech4Democracy: Fostering Technology for Social Good, produced as part of the Tech4Democracy initiative.