Alberto Fernandez Gibaja from International IDEA on Technology and Democracy
Ep. 54

Alberto Fernandez Gibaja from International IDEA on Technology and Democracy

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Episode description

Alberto Fernandez Gibaja leads International IDEA’s global work at the intersection of technology and democracy. In this conversation, he discusses how the early optimism around digital technology changed after Brexit, Trump, and the rise of disinformation, why tech companies can be as powerful as medium-sized countries, and why democratic societies need more control over data, infrastructure, foundation models, and AI applications. We also discuss digital sovereignty, data rights, the limits of direct democracy, political parties, expertise, and why the difficult part of democratic innovation is often political will rather than technology.

0:00Alberto Fernandez Gibaja and International IDEA
1:02From digital optimism to disinformation
4:20International IDEA's work
6:39Regional views on democracy and technology
10:20Europe, regulation, and tech-company power
14:41Chokepoints and the AI stack
26:40AI, education, and cognitive change
29:59Digital sovereignty and data rights
39:04The agentic state and trust in data
41:53Democratic societies, rule of law, and AI
44:29Direct democracy, representation, and expertise
53:25Political parties and representation
58:19The hard part is political will