Citizen-led, ethical tech platform for democratic change

D-CENT is a Europe-wide project providing citizens working for democratic change access to the latest ethical online engagement tools and systems.

D-CENT (Decentralised Citizens ENgagement Technologies) provides interested citizens and organizations a platform from which to plan and manage local policy campaigns. The D-CENT toolbox uses open-source, privacy aware technology in all of its digital engagement tools. Tools include collaborative policy writing support, a social media app and electronic voting. Blockchain technology is used to provide ethical and transparent reward schemes.

Anyone can propose a policy idea for debate, and then collective discussion takes place online. D-CENT prioritizes privacy and security, so all data is owned by the community running the project. Citizens can also sign up for local municipal news alerts through D-CENT. Currently being used in large-scale projects in Barcelona, Reykjavik, Madrid and Helsinki, D-CENT wants to get more people, local governments and countries involved.

As citizens become more mobile, governments have had to play catch-up. Mexico City’s crowd-sourced constitution is a recent experiment, and a number of projects are helping make vast amounts of open data usable. How else could mobile democracy be used to connect more frequently with citizens via their daily routines?