How digital innovation can fight pandemics and strengthen democracy
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0:01 - 0:03Audrey Tang: Very happy to be joining you,
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0:03 - 0:04and good local time, everyone.
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0:06 - 0:08David Biello: So, tell us about --
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0:09 - 0:10Sorry to --
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0:10 - 0:13Tell us about digital tools and COVID.
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0:14 - 0:15AT: Sure.
-
0:15 - 0:18Yeah, I'm really happy to share with you
-
0:18 - 0:21how Taiwan successfully
countered the COVID -
0:21 - 0:23using the power
of digital democracy tools. -
0:24 - 0:28As we know, democracy improves
as more people participate. -
0:28 - 0:32And digital technology remains one
of the best ways to improve participation, -
0:32 - 0:35as long as the focus
is on finding common ground, -
0:35 - 0:39that is to say, prosocial media
instead of antisocial media. -
0:39 - 0:42And there's three key ideas
that I would like to share today -
0:43 - 0:47about digital democracy
that is fast, fair and fun. -
0:48 - 0:50First about the fast part.
-
0:50 - 0:54Whereas many jurisdictions began
countering coronavirus only this year, -
0:54 - 0:56Taiwan started last year.
-
0:56 - 1:00Last December, when Dr. Li Wenliang,
the PRC whistleblower, -
1:00 - 1:02posted that there are new SARS cases,
-
1:02 - 1:05he got inquiries
and eventually punishments -
1:05 - 1:07from PRC police institutions.
-
1:07 - 1:08But at the same time,
-
1:08 - 1:11the Taiwan equivalent
of Reddit, the Ptt board, -
1:11 - 1:13has someone called nomorepipe
-
1:13 - 1:16reposting Dr. Li Wenliang's
whistleblowing. -
1:16 - 1:19And our medical officers
immediately noticed this post -
1:19 - 1:20and issued an order that says
-
1:20 - 1:23all passengers flying in
from Wuhan to Taiwan -
1:23 - 1:25need to start health inspections
the very next day, -
1:26 - 1:28which is the first day of January.
-
1:28 - 1:29And this says to me two things.
-
1:29 - 1:32First, the civil society
trusts the government enough -
1:32 - 1:35to talk about possible
new SARS outbreaks in the public forum. -
1:35 - 1:37And the government trusts citizens enough
-
1:37 - 1:40to take it seriously and treat it
as if SARS has happened again, -
1:40 - 1:44something we've always
been preparing for, since 2003. -
1:44 - 1:46And because of this open civil society,
-
1:46 - 1:50according to the CIVICUS Monitor
after the Sunflower Occupy, -
1:50 - 1:53Taiwan is now the most open society
in the whole of Asia. -
1:53 - 1:56We enjoy the same freedom
of speech, of assembly, -
1:56 - 1:58[unclear] as other liberal democracies,
-
1:58 - 2:01but with the emphasis
on keeping an open mind -
2:01 - 2:03to novel ideas from the society.
-
2:03 - 2:07And that is why our schools
and businesses still remain open today, -
2:07 - 2:08there was no lockdown,
-
2:08 - 2:11it's been a month
with no local confirmed cases. -
2:12 - 2:13So the fast part.
-
2:13 - 2:16Every day, our Central Epidemic
Command Center, or CECC, -
2:16 - 2:19holds a press conference,
which is always livestreamed, -
2:19 - 2:21and we work with the journalists,
-
2:21 - 2:23they answer all the questions
from the journalists, -
2:23 - 2:26and whenever there's a new idea
coming in from the social sector, -
2:26 - 2:28anyone can pick up
their phone and call 1922 -
2:28 - 2:30and tell that idea to the CECC.
-
2:30 - 2:33For example, there was one day in April
-
2:33 - 2:36where a young boy has said
he doesn't want to go to school -
2:36 - 2:38because his school mates may laugh at him
-
2:38 - 2:40because all he had is a pink medical mask.
-
2:40 - 2:42The very next day,
-
2:42 - 2:46everybody in the CECC press conference
started wearing pink medical masks, -
2:46 - 2:49making sure that everybody learns
about gender mainstreaming. -
2:49 - 2:51And so this kind of rapid response system
-
2:51 - 2:54builds trust between the government
and the civil society. -
2:54 - 2:56And the second focus is fairness.
-
2:56 - 2:59Making sure everybody can use
their national health insurance card -
2:59 - 3:01to collect masks from nearby pharmacies,
-
3:01 - 3:04not only do we publish the stock level
of masks of all pharmacies, -
3:04 - 3:056,000 of them,
-
3:06 - 3:08we publish it every 30 seconds.
-
3:08 - 3:12That's why our civic hackers,
our civil engineers in the digital space, -
3:12 - 3:16built more than 100 tools
that enable people to view a map, -
3:16 - 3:20or people with blindness
who talk to chat bots, voice assistants, -
3:20 - 3:23all of them can get the same
inclusive access to information -
3:23 - 3:26about which pharmacies near them
still have masks. -
3:26 - 3:29And because the national
health insurance single payer -
3:29 - 3:32is more than 99.9 percent
of health coverage, -
3:32 - 3:33people who show any symptoms
-
3:33 - 3:36will then be able to take
the medical mask, -
3:36 - 3:37go to a local clinic,
-
3:37 - 3:39knowing fully that they will
get treated fairly -
3:39 - 3:41without incurring any financial burden.
-
3:41 - 3:43And so people designed a dashboard
-
3:43 - 3:45that lets everybody see
our supply is indeed growing, -
3:46 - 3:48and whether there's over- or undersupply,
-
3:48 - 3:50so that we codesign
this distribution system -
3:50 - 3:53with the pharmacies,
with the whole of society. -
3:53 - 3:55So based on this analysis,
-
3:55 - 3:59we show that there was
a peak at 70 percent, -
3:59 - 4:03and that remaining 20 percent of people
were often young, work very long hours, -
4:03 - 4:06when they go off work,
the pharmacies also went off work, -
4:06 - 4:08and so we work with convenience stores
-
4:08 - 4:11so that everybody can collect
their mask anytime, -
4:11 - 4:1224 hours a day.
-
4:12 - 4:14So we ensure fairness of all kinds,
-
4:14 - 4:17based on the digital democracy's feedback.
-
4:17 - 4:21And finally, I would like to acknowledge
that this is a very stressful time. -
4:21 - 4:23People feel anxious, outraged,
-
4:23 - 4:24there's a lot of panic buying,
-
4:24 - 4:27a lot of conspiracy theories
in all economies. -
4:27 - 4:29And in Taiwan,
-
4:29 - 4:31our counter-disinformation
strategy is very simple. -
4:31 - 4:34It's called "humor over rumor."
-
4:34 - 4:37So when there was a panic buying
of tissue paper, for example, -
4:37 - 4:39there was a rumor that says,
-
4:39 - 4:41"Oh, we're ramping up mass production,
-
4:41 - 4:42it's the same material as tissue papers,
-
4:42 - 4:45and so we'll run out
of tissue paper soon." -
4:45 - 4:49And our premier showed
a very memetic picture -
4:49 - 4:51that I simply have to share with you.
-
4:51 - 4:52In very large print,
-
4:52 - 4:55he shows his bottom,
-
4:55 - 4:57wiggling it a little bit,
-
4:57 - 4:59and then the large print says
-
4:59 - 5:02"Each of us only have
one pair of buttocks." -
5:02 - 5:05And of course, the serious table shows
-
5:05 - 5:08that tissue paper came
from South American materials, -
5:08 - 5:10and medical masks
come from domestic materials, -
5:10 - 5:12and there's no way that ramping up
production of one -
5:12 - 5:15will hurt the production of the other.
-
5:15 - 5:17And so that went absolutely viral.
-
5:17 - 5:19And because of that,
the panic buying died down -
5:19 - 5:21in a day or two.
-
5:21 - 5:24And finally, we found out the person
who spread the rumor in the first place -
5:24 - 5:26was the tissue paper reseller.
-
5:26 - 5:29And this is not just
a single shock point in social media. -
5:29 - 5:30Every single day,
-
5:30 - 5:32the daily press conference gets translated
-
5:32 - 5:34by the spokesdog of the Ministry
of Health and Welfare, -
5:34 - 5:37that translated a lot of things.
-
5:37 - 5:41For example, our physical distancing
is phrased as saying -
5:41 - 5:44"If you are outdoors,
you need to keep two dog-lengths away, -
5:44 - 5:47if you are indoor,
three dog-lengths away," and so on. -
5:47 - 5:49And hand sanitation rules, and so on.
-
5:49 - 5:51So because all this goes viral,
-
5:51 - 5:54we make sure that the factual humor
spreads faster than rumor. -
5:54 - 5:57And they serve as a vaccine,
as inoculation, -
5:57 - 5:59so that when people see
the conspiracy theories, -
5:59 - 6:01the R0 value of that will be below one,
-
6:01 - 6:04meaning that those ideas will not spread.
-
6:04 - 6:07And so I only have
this five-minute briefing, -
6:07 - 6:09the rest of it will be driven
by your Q and A, -
6:09 - 6:11but please feel free to read more
-
6:11 - 6:13about Taiwan's
counter-coronavirus strategy, -
6:13 - 6:15at taiwancanhelp.us.
-
6:15 - 6:16Thank you.
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6:19 - 6:21DB: That's incredible.
-
6:21 - 6:25And I love this "humor versus rumor."
-
6:26 - 6:28The problem here in the US, perhaps,
-
6:28 - 6:33is that the rumors seem to travel
faster than any response, -
6:33 - 6:35whether humorous or not.
-
6:35 - 6:38How do you defeat that aspect in Taiwan?
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6:40 - 6:42AT: Yeah, we found that, of course,
-
6:42 - 6:45humor implicitly means
there is a sublimation -
6:45 - 6:49of upsetness, of outrage.
-
6:49 - 6:53And so as you see, for example,
in our premier's example, -
6:53 - 6:55he makes fun of himself.
-
6:55 - 6:59He doesn't make a joke
at the expense of other people. -
6:59 - 7:00And this was the key.
-
7:00 - 7:02Because people think it hilarious,
-
7:02 - 7:03they share it,
-
7:03 - 7:06but with no malicious or toxic intentions.
-
7:06 - 7:08People remember the actual payload,
-
7:08 - 7:11that table about materials
used to produce masks, -
7:11 - 7:13much more easily.
-
7:13 - 7:17If they make a joke
that excludes parts of the society, -
7:17 - 7:20of course, that part of society
will feel outraged -
7:20 - 7:22and we will end up
creating more divisiveness, -
7:22 - 7:24rather than prosocial behavior.
-
7:24 - 7:27So the humor at no expense,
-
7:27 - 7:30not excluding any part of society,
-
7:30 - 7:32I think that was the key.
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7:34 - 7:35DB: It's also incredible
-
7:35 - 7:41because Taiwan has such close ties
to the origin point of this. -
7:41 - 7:42AT: PRC, yes.
-
7:42 - 7:43DB: The mainland.
-
7:43 - 7:47So given those close economic ties,
-
7:47 - 7:51how do you survive
that kind of disruption? -
7:53 - 7:56AT: Yeah, I mean, at this moment,
-
7:56 - 8:00it's been almost a month now
with no local confirmed cases, -
8:00 - 8:01so we're doing fine.
-
8:01 - 8:03And what we are doing, essentially,
-
8:03 - 8:07is just to respond faster
than pretty much anyone. -
8:07 - 8:09We started responding last year,
-
8:09 - 8:13whereas pretty much everybody else
started responding this year. -
8:13 - 8:16We tried to warn the world
last year, but, anyway. -
8:16 - 8:17So in any case,
-
8:17 - 8:20the point here is
that if you start early enough, -
8:20 - 8:23you get to make sure
that the border control -
8:23 - 8:29is the main point where you quarantine
all the returning residents and so on, -
8:29 - 8:32instead of waiting until
the community spread stage, -
8:32 - 8:36where even more human-right
invading techniques -
8:36 - 8:38would probably have to be deployed
one way or the other. -
8:38 - 8:42And so in Taiwan, we've not declared
an emergency situation. -
8:42 - 8:44We're firmly under the constitutional law.
-
8:44 - 8:47Because of that, every measure
the administration is taking -
8:47 - 8:50is also applicable
in non-coronavirus times. -
8:50 - 8:52And this forces us to innovate.
-
8:52 - 8:56Much as the idea of
"we are an open liberal democracy" -
8:56 - 8:58prevented us from doing takedowns.
-
8:58 - 9:02And therefore, we have to innovate
of humor versus rumor, -
9:02 - 9:04because the easy path,
the takedown of online speech, -
9:04 - 9:06is not accessible to us.
-
9:06 - 9:09Our design criteria,
which is no lockdowns, -
9:10 - 9:13also prevented us
from doing any, you know, -
9:13 - 9:17very invasive privacy encroaching
response system. -
9:17 - 9:18So we have to innovate at the border,
-
9:18 - 9:21and make sure that we have
a sufficient number of, for example, -
9:21 - 9:24quarantine hotels
or the so-called "digital fences," -
9:24 - 9:29where your phone is basically connected
to the nearby telecoms, -
9:29 - 9:33and they make sure that if they go out
of the 15-meter or so radius, -
9:33 - 9:38an SMS is sent to the local
household managers or police and so on. -
9:38 - 9:41But because we focus
all these measures at the border, -
9:41 - 9:44the vast majority of people
live a normal life. -
9:45 - 9:47DB: Let's talk about that a little bit.
-
9:47 - 9:49So walk me through the digital tools
-
9:50 - 9:52and how they were applied to COVID.
-
9:53 - 9:54AT: Yes.
-
9:54 - 9:58So there's three parts
that I just outlined. -
9:58 - 10:01The first one is the collective
intelligence system. -
10:01 - 10:02Through online spaces
-
10:02 - 10:06that we design to be devoid
of Reply buttons, -
10:06 - 10:09because we see that,
when there's Reply buttons, -
10:09 - 10:13people focus on each other's
face part, not the book part, -
10:13 - 10:15and without "Reply" buttons,
-
10:15 - 10:17you can get collective intelligence
-
10:17 - 10:22working out their rough consensus
of where the direction is going -
10:22 - 10:24with the response strategies.
-
10:24 - 10:26So we use a lot of new technologies,
-
10:26 - 10:27such as Polis,
-
10:27 - 10:30which is essentially a forum
that lets you upvote and downvote -
10:30 - 10:33each other's feelings,
-
10:33 - 10:35but with real-time clustering,
-
10:35 - 10:38so that if you go to cohack.tw,
-
10:38 - 10:40you see six such conversations,
-
10:40 - 10:43talking about how to protect
the most vulnerable people, -
10:43 - 10:44how to make a smooth transition,
-
10:44 - 10:48how to make a fair
distribution of supplies and so on. -
10:48 - 10:50And people are free to voice their ideas,
-
10:50 - 10:53and upvote and downvote
each other's ideas. -
10:53 - 10:56But the trick is that we show people
the main divisive points, -
10:56 - 10:58and the main consensual points,
-
10:58 - 11:00and we respond only to the ideas
-
11:00 - 11:03that can convince
all the different opinion groups. -
11:03 - 11:07So people are encouraged
to post more eclectic, more nuanced ideas -
11:07 - 11:10and they discover,
at the end of this consultation, -
11:10 - 11:13that everybody, actually,
agrees with most things, -
11:13 - 11:15with most of their neighbors
on most of the issues. -
11:15 - 11:18And that is what we call
the social mandate, -
11:18 - 11:19or the democratic mandate,
-
11:19 - 11:23that then informs our development
of the counter-coronavirus strategy -
11:23 - 11:26and helping the world with such tools.
-
11:26 - 11:27And so this is the first part,
-
11:27 - 11:30it's called listening at scale
for rough consensus. -
11:30 - 11:34The second part I already covered
is the distribute ledger, -
11:34 - 11:36where everybody can go
to a nearby pharmacy, -
11:36 - 11:40present their NHI card,
buy nine masks, or 10 if you're a child, -
11:40 - 11:43and see the stock level
of that pharmacy on their phone -
11:43 - 11:47actually decreasing by nine or 10
in a couple of minutes. -
11:47 - 11:49And if they grow by nine or 10,
-
11:49 - 11:51of course, you call the 1922,
-
11:51 - 11:53and report something fishy is going on.
-
11:53 - 11:55But this is participatory accountability.
-
11:55 - 11:57This is published every 30 seconds.
-
11:57 - 11:59So everybody holds each other accountable,
-
11:59 - 12:01and that massively increases trust.
-
12:01 - 12:05And finally, the third one,
the humor versus rumor, -
12:05 - 12:07I think the important thing to see here
-
12:07 - 12:11is that wherever there's a trending
disinformation or conspiracy theory, -
12:11 - 12:13you respond to it with a humorous package
-
12:13 - 12:15within two hours.
-
12:15 - 12:17We have discovered,
if we respond within two hours, -
12:18 - 12:22then more people see the vaccination
than the conspiracy theory. -
12:22 - 12:25But if you respond four hours
or a day afterwards, -
12:25 - 12:26then that's a lost cause.
-
12:26 - 12:30You can't really counter that
using humor anymore, -
12:30 - 12:33you have to invite the person
who spread those messages -
12:33 - 12:35into cocreation workshops.
-
12:35 - 12:37But we're OK with that, too.
-
12:38 - 12:39DB: Your speed is incredible.
-
12:39 - 12:42I see Whitney has joined us
with some questions. -
12:43 - 12:45Whitney Pennington Rodgers: That's right,
-
12:45 - 12:47we have a few coming in already
from the audience. -
12:47 - 12:48Hi there, Audrey.
-
12:48 - 12:52And we'll start with one
from our community member Michael Backes. -
12:52 - 12:56He asks how long has humor
versus rumor been a strategy -
12:56 - 12:57that you've implemented.
-
12:57 - 12:59Excuse me.
-
12:59 - 13:01"How long has humor versus rumor
strategy been implemented? -
13:01 - 13:05Were comedians consulted
to make the humor?" -
13:06 - 13:07AT: Yes, definitely.
-
13:07 - 13:10Comedians are our most
cherished colleagues. -
13:10 - 13:16And each and every ministry has a team
of what we call participation officers -
13:16 - 13:19in charge of engaging
with trending topics. -
13:19 - 13:22And it's a more than 100
people-strong team now. -
13:22 - 13:25We meet every month
and also every couple of weeks -
13:25 - 13:26on specific topics.
-
13:26 - 13:31It's been like that since late 2016,
-
13:31 - 13:35but it's not until our previous
spokesperson, Kolas Yotaka, -
13:35 - 13:38joined about a year and a half ago,
-
13:38 - 13:40do the professional comedians
get to the team. -
13:40 - 13:47Previously, this was more about inviting
the people who post, you know, -
13:47 - 13:51quotes like "Our tax filing system
is explosively hostile," -
13:51 - 13:53and gets trending,
-
13:53 - 13:55and previously, the POs
just invited those people. -
13:56 - 13:57Everybody who complains
-
13:57 - 13:59about the finance minister's
tax-filing experience -
13:59 - 14:02gets invited to the cocreation
of that tax filing experience. -
14:02 - 14:04So previously, it was that.
-
14:04 - 14:07But Kolas Yotaka and the premier
Su Tseng-chang said, -
14:07 - 14:09wouldn't it be much better
and reach more people -
14:09 - 14:12if we add some dogs to it
or cat's pictures to it? -
14:12 - 14:15And that's been around
for a year and a half. -
14:17 - 14:20WPR: Definitely, I think it makes
a lot of difference, just even seeing them -
14:20 - 14:23without being part
of the thought process behind that. -
14:23 - 14:28And we have another question here
from G. Ryan Ansin. -
14:29 - 14:32He asks, "What would you rank
the level of trust -
14:32 - 14:34your community had before the pandemic,
-
14:34 - 14:36in order for the government
to have a chance -
14:36 - 14:38at properly controlling this crisis?"
-
14:39 - 14:42AT: I would say that a community
trusts each other. -
14:42 - 14:45And that is the main point
of digital democracy. -
14:45 - 14:48This is not about people
trusting the government more. -
14:48 - 14:51This is about the government
trusting the citizens more, -
14:51 - 14:53making the state transparent
to the citizen, -
14:53 - 14:55not the citizen transparent to the state,
-
14:55 - 14:57which would be some other regime.
-
14:57 - 14:59So making the state
transparent to the citizens -
14:59 - 15:01doesn't always elicit more trust,
-
15:01 - 15:04because you may see something wrong,
something missing, -
15:04 - 15:07something exclusively hostile
to its user experience, -
15:07 - 15:08an so on, of the state.
-
15:08 - 15:12So it doesn't necessarily lead
to more trust from the government. -
15:12 - 15:14Sorry, from the citizen to the government.
-
15:14 - 15:18But it always leads to more trust
between the social sector stakeholders. -
15:18 - 15:21So I would say the level of trust
between the people -
15:21 - 15:23who are working on, for example,
-
15:23 - 15:26medical officers,
-
15:26 - 15:29and people who are working
with the pandemic responses, -
15:29 - 15:31people who manufacture medical masks,
-
15:31 - 15:32and so on,
-
15:32 - 15:33all these people,
-
15:33 - 15:35the trust level between them is very high.
-
15:35 - 15:38And not necessarily
they trust the government. -
15:38 - 15:42But we don't need that
for a successful response. -
15:42 - 15:44If you ask a random person on the street,
-
15:44 - 15:48they will say Taiwan is performing so well
because of the people. -
15:48 - 15:50When the CECC tells us to wear the mask,
-
15:50 - 15:51we wear the mask.
-
15:51 - 15:53When the CECC tells us not to wear a mask,
-
15:53 - 15:55like, if you are keeping
physical distance, -
15:55 - 15:57we wear a mask anyway.
-
15:57 - 15:58And so because of that,
-
15:58 - 16:02I think it's the social sector's trust
between those different stakeholders -
16:02 - 16:04that's the key to the response.
-
16:06 - 16:09WPR: I will come back shortly
with more questions, -
16:09 - 16:11but I'll leave you guys
to continue your conversation. -
16:11 - 16:13AT: Awesome.
-
16:13 - 16:17DB: Well, clearly,
part of that trust in government -
16:17 - 16:22was maybe not there in 2014
during the Sunflower Movement. -
16:22 - 16:25So talk to me about that
-
16:25 - 16:30and how that led to this,
kind of, digital transformation. -
16:32 - 16:33AT: Indeed.
-
16:33 - 16:39Before March 2014, if you asked
a random person on the street in Taiwan, -
16:39 - 16:43like, whether it's possible
for a minister -- that's me -- -
16:43 - 16:47to have their office in a park,
literally a park, -
16:47 - 16:50anyone can walk in and talk to me
for 40 minutes at a time, -
16:50 - 16:53I'm currently in that park,
the Social Innovation Lab, -
16:53 - 16:55they would say that this is crazy, right?
-
16:55 - 16:57No public officials work like that.
-
16:57 - 17:01But that was because on March 18, 2014,
-
17:01 - 17:04hundreds of young activists,
most of them college students, -
17:04 - 17:05occupied the legislature
-
17:05 - 17:09to express their profound opposition
to a trade pact with Beijing -
17:09 - 17:11under consideration,
-
17:11 - 17:15and the secretive manner in which
it was pushed through the parliament -
17:15 - 17:17by Kuomintang,
the ruling party at the time. -
17:17 - 17:19And so the protesters
demanded, very simply, -
17:19 - 17:21that the pact be scraped,
-
17:21 - 17:24and the government to institute
a more transparent ratification process. -
17:25 - 17:27And that drew widespread public support.
-
17:27 - 17:30It ended a little more
than three weeks later, -
17:30 - 17:33after the government promised and agreed
-
17:33 - 17:37on the four demands [unclear]
of legislative oversight. -
17:37 - 17:40A poll released after the occupation
-
17:40 - 17:43showed that more than 75 percent
remained dissatisfied -
17:43 - 17:45with the ruling government,
-
17:45 - 17:49illustrating the crisis of trust
that was caused by a trade deal dispute. -
17:49 - 17:51And to heal this rift
and communicate better -
17:51 - 17:53with everyday citizens,
-
17:53 - 17:56the administration reached out
to the people who supported the occupiers, -
17:57 - 17:59for example, the g0v community,
-
17:59 - 18:02which has been seeking
to improve government transparency -
18:02 - 18:04through the creation of open-source tools.
-
18:04 - 18:07And so, Jaclyn Tsai,
a government minister at the time, -
18:07 - 18:09attended our hackathon
-
18:09 - 18:12and proposed the establishment
of novel platforms -
18:12 - 18:15with the online community
to exchange policy ideas. -
18:15 - 18:18And an experiment was born called vTaiwan,
-
18:18 - 18:21that pioneerly used tools such as Polis,
-
18:21 - 18:25that allows for "agree" or "disagree"
with no Reply button, -
18:25 - 18:29that gets people's rough consensus
on issues such as crowdfunding, -
18:29 - 18:31equity-based crowdfunding, to be precise,
-
18:31 - 18:35teleworking and many other
cyber-related legislation, -
18:35 - 18:38of which there is no existing
unions or associations. -
18:38 - 18:40And it proved to be very successful.
-
18:40 - 18:43They solved the Uber problem, for example,
-
18:43 - 18:45and by now, you can call an Uber --
-
18:45 - 18:48I just called an Uber this week --
-
18:48 - 18:51but in any case,
they are operating as taxis. -
18:51 - 18:54They set up a local
taxi company called Q Taxi, -
18:54 - 18:58and that was because on the platform,
people cared about insurance, -
18:58 - 18:59they care about registration,
-
18:59 - 19:03they care about all the sort of,
protection of the passengers, and so on. -
19:03 - 19:06So we changed the taxi regulations,
-
19:06 - 19:09and now Uber is just another taxi company
-
19:09 - 19:11along with the other co-ops.
-
19:12 - 19:14DB: So you're actually, in a way,
-
19:14 - 19:19crowdsourcing laws
that, well, then become laws. -
19:19 - 19:22AT: Yeah, learn more at crowd.law.
-
19:22 - 19:23It's a real website.
-
19:25 - 19:29DB: So, some might say
that this seems easier, -
19:29 - 19:32because Taiwan is an island,
-
19:32 - 19:35that maybe helps you control COVID,
-
19:35 - 19:37helps promote social cohesion,
-
19:37 - 19:41maybe it's a smaller country than some.
-
19:41 - 19:45Do you think that this could be
scaled beyond Taiwan? -
19:46 - 19:47AT: Well, first of all,
-
19:47 - 19:5023 million people
is still quite some people. -
19:50 - 19:52It's not a city,
-
19:52 - 19:56as some usually say, you know,
"Taiwan is a city-state." -
19:56 - 20:00Well, 23 million people,
not quite a city-state. -
20:00 - 20:02And what I'm trying to get at,
-
20:02 - 20:07is that the high population density
and a variety of cultures -- -
20:07 - 20:09we have more than 20 national languages --
-
20:09 - 20:14doesn't necessarily lead
to social cohesion, as you said. -
20:14 - 20:19Rather, I think, this is the humbleness
of all the ministers -
20:19 - 20:22in the counter-coronavirus response.
-
20:22 - 20:27They all took on an attitude
of "So we learned about SARS" -- -
20:27 - 20:30many of them were in charge
of the SARS back then, -
20:31 - 20:33but that was classical epidemiology.
-
20:33 - 20:36This is SARS 2.0,
it has different characteristics. -
20:36 - 20:38And the tools that we use
are very different, -
20:38 - 20:40because of the digital transformation.
-
20:40 - 20:43And so we are in it to learn
together with the citizens. -
20:43 - 20:46Our vice president at the time,
-
20:46 - 20:48Dr. Chen Chien-jen, an academician,
-
20:48 - 20:52literally wrote the textbook
on epidemiology. -
20:52 - 20:54However, he still says,
-
20:54 - 20:57"You know, what I'm going to do
is record an online MOOC, -
20:57 - 20:59a crash course on epidemiology,
-
20:59 - 21:00that shares with,
-
21:01 - 21:03I think, more than 20,00 people
enrolled the first day, -
21:03 - 21:04I was among them,
-
21:04 - 21:06to learn about important ideas,
-
21:06 - 21:10like the R0 and the basic transmission
-
21:10 - 21:13and how the various
different measures work, -
21:13 - 21:15and then they asked people to innovate.
-
21:15 - 21:19If you think of a new way
that the vice president did not think of, -
21:19 - 21:21just call 1922,
-
21:21 - 21:24and your idea will become
the next day's press conference. -
21:24 - 21:27And this is this colearning strategy,
-
21:27 - 21:31I think, that more than anything
enabled the social cohesion, -
21:31 - 21:32as you speak.
-
21:32 - 21:36But this is more of a robust
civil society than the uniformity. -
21:36 - 21:38There's no uniformity at all in Taiwan,
-
21:38 - 21:40everybody is entitled to their ideas,
-
21:40 - 21:42and all the social innovations,
-
21:42 - 21:44ranging from using
a traditional rice cooker -
21:44 - 21:47to revitalize, to disinfect the mask,
-
21:47 - 21:49to pink medical mask, and so on,
-
21:49 - 21:52there's all variety
of very interesting ideas -
21:52 - 21:54that get amplified
by the daily press conference. -
21:56 - 21:58DB: That's beautiful.
-
21:59 - 22:01Now -- oh, Whitney is back,
-
22:01 - 22:03so I will let her ask the next question.
-
22:04 - 22:07WPR: Sure, we're having
some more questions come in. -
22:07 - 22:10One from our community member Aria Bendix.
-
22:10 - 22:14Aria asked, "How do you ensure
that digital campaigns act quickly -
22:14 - 22:16without sacrificing accuracy?
-
22:16 - 22:20In the US, there was a fear
of inciting panic about COVID-19 -
22:20 - 22:21in early January."
-
22:23 - 22:25AT: This is a great question.
-
22:25 - 22:32So most of the scientific ideas
about the COVID are evolving, right? -
22:32 - 22:37The efficacy of masks, for example,
is a very good example, -
22:37 - 22:42because the different characteristics
of previous respiratory diseases -
22:42 - 22:44respond differently to the facial mask.
-
22:44 - 22:46And so, our digital campaigns
-
22:46 - 22:50focus on the idea of getting
the rough consensus through. -
22:50 - 22:53So basically, it's a reflection
of the society, -
22:53 - 22:57through Polis, through Slido,
through the joint platform, -
22:57 - 22:59the various tools
that vTaiwan has prototyped, -
22:59 - 23:03we know that people are feeling
a rough consensus about things -
23:03 - 23:06and we're responding
to the society, saying, -
23:06 - 23:07"This is what you all feel
-
23:07 - 23:10and this is what we're doing
to respond to your feelings. -
23:10 - 23:13And the scientific consensus
is still developing, -
23:13 - 23:14but we know, for example,
-
23:14 - 23:18people feel that wearing a mask
mostly protects you, -
23:18 - 23:21because it reminds you
to not touch your face -
23:21 - 23:22and wash your hands properly."
-
23:22 - 23:25And these, regardless of everything else,
-
23:25 - 23:27are the two things
that everybody agrees with. -
23:27 - 23:29So we just capitalize on that and say,
-
23:29 - 23:31"OK, wash your hands properly,
-
23:31 - 23:32and don't touch your face,
-
23:32 - 23:34and wearing a mask reminds you of that."
-
23:34 - 23:36And that lets us cut through
-
23:36 - 23:39the kind of, very ideologically
charged debates -
23:39 - 23:43and focus on what people
generally resonate with one another. -
23:43 - 23:47And that's how we act quickly
without sacrificing scientific accuracy. -
23:49 - 23:53WPR: And this next question
sort of feels connected to this as well. -
23:53 - 23:56It's a question from an anonymous
community member. -
23:56 - 23:58"Pragmatically, do you think
any of your policies -
23:58 - 24:02could be applied in the United States
under the current Trump administration?" -
24:02 - 24:03AT: Quite a few, actually.
-
24:03 - 24:08We work with many states
in the US and abroad -
24:08 - 24:13on what we call "epicenter
to epicenter diplomacy." (Laughs) -
24:13 - 24:16So what we're doing essentially is,
-
24:16 - 24:18for example,
there was a chat bot in Taiwan -
24:19 - 24:22that lets you, but especially
people under home quarantine, -
24:22 - 24:24to ask the chat bot anything.
-
24:24 - 24:27And if there is a scientific adviser
-
24:27 - 24:29who already wrote
a frequently asked question, -
24:29 - 24:31the chat bot just responds with that,
-
24:31 - 24:34but otherwise, they will call
the science advisory board -
24:34 - 24:37and write an accessible response to that,
-
24:37 - 24:41and the spokesdog would translate that
into a cute dog meme. -
24:41 - 24:43And so this feedback cycle
-
24:43 - 24:47of people very easily accessing,
finding, and asking a scientist, -
24:47 - 24:50and an open API
that allows for voice assistance -
24:50 - 24:54and other third-party developers
to get through it, -
24:54 - 24:57resonates with many US states,
-
24:57 - 24:59and I think many of them
are implementing it. -
24:59 - 25:03And before the World Health Assembly,
I think three days before, -
25:03 - 25:08we held a 14 countries
[unclear] lateral meeting, -
25:08 - 25:09kind of, pre-WHA,
-
25:09 - 25:13where we shared many small,
like, quick wins like this. -
25:13 - 25:16And I think many jurisdictions
took some of that, -
25:16 - 25:18including the humor versus rumor.
-
25:18 - 25:19Many of them said
-
25:19 - 25:21that they're going to recruit
comedians now. -
25:21 - 25:23WPR: (Laughs) I love that.
-
25:23 - 25:25DB: I hope so.
-
25:25 - 25:26WPR: I hope so too.
-
25:26 - 25:29And we have one more question,
which is actually a follow-up, -
25:29 - 25:32from Michael Backes,
who asked a question earlier. -
25:32 - 25:35"Does the Ministry plan
to publish their plans in a white paper?" -
25:35 - 25:38Sounds like you're already sharing
your plans with folks, -
25:38 - 25:40but do you have a plan
to put it out on paper? -
25:40 - 25:41AT: Of course.
-
25:41 - 25:43Yeah, and multiple white papers.
-
25:43 - 25:47So if you go to taiwancanhelp.us,
-
25:47 - 25:50that is where most of our strategy is,
-
25:50 - 25:54and that website is actually
crowdsourced as well, -
25:54 - 25:57and it shows that more
than five million now, I think, -
25:57 - 26:00medical masks donated
to the humanitarian aid. -
26:00 - 26:02It's also crowdsourced.
-
26:02 - 26:05People who have some masks in their homes,
-
26:05 - 26:08who did not collect the rationed masks,
-
26:08 - 26:09they can use an app, say,
-
26:09 - 26:13"I want to dedicate this
to international humanitarian aid," -
26:13 - 26:16and half of them choose
to publish their names, -
26:16 - 26:19so you can also see the names
of people who participated in this. -
26:19 - 26:22And there's also
an "Ask Taiwan Anything" website, -
26:22 - 26:24(Laughs)
-
26:24 - 26:27at fightcovid.edu.tw,
-
26:27 - 26:31that outlines, in white paper form,
all the response strategies, -
26:31 - 26:32so check those out.
-
26:33 - 26:34WPR: Great.
-
26:34 - 26:38Well, I will disappear and be back
later with some other questions. -
26:39 - 26:42DB: A blizzard
of white papers, if you will. -
26:42 - 26:47I'd like to turn the focus
on you a little bit. -
26:47 - 26:52How does a conservative anarchist
become a digital minister? -
26:53 - 26:57AT: Yeah, by occupying
the parliament, and through that. -
26:57 - 26:58(Laughs)
-
26:58 - 26:59More interestingly,
-
26:59 - 27:03I would say that I go
working with the government, -
27:03 - 27:05but never for the government.
-
27:05 - 27:08And I work with the people,
not for the people. -
27:08 - 27:10I'm like this Lagrange point
-
27:10 - 27:13between the people's
movements on one side -
27:13 - 27:16and the government on the other side.
-
27:16 - 27:18Sometimes right in the middle,
-
27:18 - 27:20trying to do some coach
or translation work. -
27:20 - 27:23Sometimes in a kind of triangle point,
-
27:23 - 27:28trying to supply both sides with tools
for prosocial communication. -
27:28 - 27:31But always with this idea
-
27:31 - 27:35of getting the shared values
out of different positions, -
27:35 - 27:37out of varied positions.
-
27:37 - 27:38Because all too often,
-
27:38 - 27:41democracy is built as a showdown
between opposing values. -
27:41 - 27:44But in the pandemic, in the infodemic,
-
27:44 - 27:46in climate change,
-
27:46 - 27:48in many of those structural issues,
-
27:48 - 27:52the virus or carbon dioxide
doesn't sit down and negotiate with you. -
27:52 - 27:56It's a structural issue
that requires common values -
27:56 - 27:58built out of different positions.
-
27:58 - 28:03And so that is why my working principle
is radical transparency. -
28:03 - 28:05Every conversation, including this one,
-
28:05 - 28:06is on the record,
-
28:06 - 28:09including the internal
meetings that I hold. -
28:09 - 28:12So you can see all the different
meeting transcripts -
28:12 - 28:15in my YouTube channel,
in the SayIt platform, -
28:15 - 28:18where people can see,
after I became digital minister, -
28:18 - 28:21I held 1,300 meetings
with more than 5,000 speakers, -
28:21 - 28:25with more than 260,000 utterances.
-
28:25 - 28:28And every one of them has a URL
-
28:28 - 28:31that becomes a social object
that people can have a conversation on. -
28:31 - 28:32And because of that,
-
28:32 - 28:38for example, when Uber's David Plouffe
visited me to lobby for Uber, -
28:38 - 28:39because of radical transparency,
-
28:39 - 28:42he is very much aware of that,
-
28:42 - 28:44and so he made all the arguments
based on public good, -
28:44 - 28:46based on sustainability,
and things like that, -
28:46 - 28:50because he knows that the other sides
would see his positions -
28:50 - 28:52very clearly and transparently.
-
28:52 - 28:55So that encourages people
to add on each other's argument, -
28:55 - 28:58instead of attacking each other's person,
-
28:58 - 29:00you know, credits and things like that.
-
29:00 - 29:02And so I think that, more than anything,
-
29:02 - 29:07is the main principle of conserving
the anarchism of the internet, -
29:07 - 29:08which is about, you know,
-
29:08 - 29:11nobody can force anyone
to hook to the internet, -
29:11 - 29:14or to adhere to a new internet protocol.
-
29:14 - 29:17Everything has to be done
using rough consensus and running code. -
29:19 - 29:22DB: I wish you had more counterparts
all around the world. -
29:22 - 29:25Maybe you wish you had more
counterparts all around the world. -
29:25 - 29:28AT: That's why these ideas
are worth spreading. -
29:28 - 29:29DB: There you go.
-
29:29 - 29:35So one of the challenges that might arise
with some of these digital tools -
29:35 - 29:37is access.
-
29:37 - 29:39How do you approach that part of it
-
29:39 - 29:43for folks maybe who don't have
the best broadband connection -
29:43 - 29:49or the latest mobile phone
or whatever it might be that's required? -
29:50 - 29:51AT: Well, anywhere in Taiwan,
-
29:51 - 29:55even on the top of Taiwan,
almost 4,000 meters high, -
29:55 - 29:57the Saviah, or the Jade Mountain,
-
29:57 - 30:00you're guaranteed to have
10 megabits per second -
30:00 - 30:02over 4G or fiber or cable,
-
30:02 - 30:07with just 16 US dollars
a month, an unlimited plan. -
30:07 - 30:10And actually, on the top
of the mountain, it's faster, -
30:10 - 30:12fewer people use that bandwidth.
-
30:12 - 30:14And if you don't, it's my fault.
-
30:14 - 30:15It's personally my fault.
-
30:15 - 30:18In Taiwan, we have broadband
as a human right. -
30:18 - 30:20And so when we're deploying 5G,
-
30:20 - 30:23we're looking at places
where the 4G has the weakest signal, -
30:23 - 30:27and we begin with those places
in our 5G deployment. -
30:27 - 30:30And only by deploying broadband
as a human right -
30:30 - 30:33can we say that this is for everybody.
-
30:33 - 30:36That digital democracy
actually strengthens democracy. -
30:36 - 30:40Otherwise, we would be excluding
parts of the society. -
30:40 - 30:41And this also applies to, for example,
-
30:41 - 30:44you can go to a local
digital opportunity center -
30:44 - 30:46to rent a tablet that's guaranteed
-
30:46 - 30:48to be manufactured
in the past three years, -
30:48 - 30:49and things like that,
-
30:49 - 30:52to enable, also,
the different digital access -
30:52 - 30:56by the digital opportunity centers,
universities and schools, -
30:56 - 30:58and public libraries, very important.
-
30:58 - 31:02And if people who prefer to talk
in their town hall, -
31:02 - 31:06I personally go to that town hall
with a 360 recorder, -
31:06 - 31:09and livestream that to Taipei
and to other municipalities, -
31:09 - 31:12where the central government's
public servants can join -
31:12 - 31:14in a connected room style,
-
31:14 - 31:17but listening to the local people
who set the agenda. -
31:17 - 31:19So people still do face-to-face meetings,
-
31:19 - 31:22we're not doing this
to replace face-to-face meetings. -
31:22 - 31:24We're bringing more stakeholders
-
31:24 - 31:26from central government
in the local town halls, -
31:26 - 31:28and we're amplifying their voices
-
31:28 - 31:31by making sure the transcripts,
the mind maps, and things like that -
31:31 - 31:34are spread through
the internet in real time, -
31:34 - 31:37but we don't ever ask the elderly to, say,
-
31:37 - 31:40"Oh, you have to learn typing,
otherwise you don't do democracy." -
31:40 - 31:41It's not our style.
-
31:41 - 31:42But that requires broadband.
-
31:42 - 31:46Because if you don't have broadband,
but only a very limited bandwidth, -
31:46 - 31:48you are forced to use
text-based communication. -
31:49 - 31:50DB: That's right.
-
31:50 - 31:51Well, with access, of course,
-
31:51 - 31:56comes access for folks
who maybe will misuse the platform. -
31:56 - 31:58You talked a little bit
about disinformation -
31:58 - 32:00and using humor to beat rumor.
-
32:00 - 32:05But sometimes, disinformation
is more weaponized. -
32:05 - 32:09How do you combat those kinds
of attacks, really? -
32:10 - 32:13AT: Right, so you mean
malinformation, then. -
32:13 - 32:19So essentially, information designed
to cause intentional public harm. -
32:19 - 32:22And that's no laughing matter.
-
32:22 - 32:27So for that, we have an idea called
"notice and public notice." -
32:27 - 32:29So this is a Reuters photo,
-
32:29 - 32:31and I will read the original caption.
-
32:31 - 32:33The original caption says
-
32:33 - 32:36"A teenage extradition bill
protester in Hong Kong -
32:36 - 32:40is seen during a march to demand democracy
and political reform in Hong Kong." -
32:40 - 32:43OK, a very neutral title by the Reuters.
-
32:43 - 32:47But there was a spreading
of malinformation -
32:47 - 32:49back last November,
-
32:49 - 32:51just leading to our presidential election,
-
32:51 - 32:53that shows something else entirely.
-
32:53 - 32:56This is the same photo -- that says
-
32:56 - 32:59"This 13-year-old thug bought new iPhones,
-
32:59 - 33:01game consoles and brand-name sports shoes,
-
33:01 - 33:03and recruiting his brothers
to murder police -
33:03 - 33:07and collect 200,000 dollars."
-
33:07 - 33:10And this, of course, is a weapon
designed to sow discord, -
33:10 - 33:16and to elicit in Taiwan's voters
a kind of distaste for Hong Kong. -
33:16 - 33:19And because they know
that this is the main issue. -
33:19 - 33:22And had we resorted to takedowns,
-
33:22 - 33:23that will not work,
-
33:23 - 33:25because that would only
evoke more outrage. -
33:25 - 33:27So we didn't do a takedown.
-
33:27 - 33:29Instead, we worked with the fact checkers
-
33:29 - 33:30and professional journalists
-
33:30 - 33:35to attribute this original message
back to the first day that it was posted. -
33:35 - 33:38And it came from Zhongyang Zhengfawei.
-
33:38 - 33:44That is the main political and legal unit
of the central party, -
33:44 - 33:47in the Central Communist Party, in CCP.
-
33:47 - 33:52And we know that it's their Weibo account
that first did this new caption. -
33:52 - 33:54So we sent out a public notice
-
33:54 - 33:57and with the partners
in social media companies, -
33:57 - 33:58pretty much all of them,
-
33:58 - 34:01they just put this very small reminder
-
34:01 - 34:05next to each time that this is shared
with the wrong caption, -
34:05 - 34:08that says "This actually came
from the central propaganda unit -
34:08 - 34:10of the CCP.
-
34:10 - 34:13Click here to learn more.
To learn about the whole story." -
34:13 - 34:15And that, we found, that has worked,
-
34:15 - 34:19because people understand
this is then not a news material. -
34:19 - 34:22This is rather an appropriation
of Reuters' news material -
34:22 - 34:24and a copyright infringement
-
34:24 - 34:26and I think that's part of the [unclear].
-
34:26 - 34:29In any case, the point
is that when people understand -
34:29 - 34:31that this is an intentional narrative,
-
34:31 - 34:33they won't just randomly share it.
-
34:33 - 34:35They may share it,
but with a comment that says -
34:35 - 34:41"This is what the Zhongyang Zhengfawei
is trying to do to our democracy." -
34:42 - 34:46DB: Seems like some
of the global social media companies -
34:46 - 34:51could learn something
from notice and public notice. -
34:51 - 34:52AT: Public notice, that's right.
-
34:52 - 34:55DB: What advice would you have
-
34:55 - 35:00for the Twitters and Facebooks
and LINEs and WhatsApps, -
35:00 - 35:03and you name it, of the world?
-
35:04 - 35:05AT: Yeah.
-
35:05 - 35:09So, just before our election,
-
35:09 - 35:10we said to all of them
-
35:10 - 35:16that we're not making a law
to kind of punish them. -
35:16 - 35:19However, we're sharing
this very simple fact -
35:19 - 35:21that there is this norm in Taiwan
-
35:21 - 35:24that we even have a separate branch
of the government, -
35:24 - 35:25the control branch,
-
35:25 - 35:28that published the campaign
donation and expense. -
35:28 - 35:31And it just so occurred to us
-
35:31 - 35:34that in the previous election,
the mayoral one, -
35:34 - 35:35there was a lot of candidates
-
35:35 - 35:38that did not include
any social media advertisements -
35:38 - 35:40in their expense to the Control Yuan.
-
35:40 - 35:44And so essentially, that means
that there is a separate amount -
35:44 - 35:49of political donation and expense
that evades public scrutiny. -
35:49 - 35:51And our Control Yuan
published their numbers -
35:51 - 35:52in raw data form,
-
35:52 - 35:54that is to say,
they're not statistics, -
35:54 - 35:58but individual records
of who donated for what cause, -
35:58 - 35:59when, where,
-
35:59 - 36:01and investigative journalists
are very happy, -
36:01 - 36:04because they can then make
investigative reports -
36:04 - 36:06about the connections
between the candidates -
36:06 - 36:08and the people who fund them.
-
36:08 - 36:10But they cannot work
with the same material -
36:10 - 36:12from the global social media companies.
-
36:12 - 36:14So I said, "Look, this is very simple.
-
36:14 - 36:16This is the social norm here,
-
36:16 - 36:18I don't really care
about other jurisdictions. -
36:18 - 36:22You either adhere to the social norm
that is set by the Control Yuan -
36:22 - 36:24and the investigative journalists,
-
36:24 - 36:26or maybe you will face social sanctions.
-
36:26 - 36:28And this is not the government mandate,
-
36:28 - 36:32but it's the people fed up with,
you know, black box, -
36:32 - 36:36and that's part of the Sunflower
Occupy's demands, also. -
36:36 - 36:40And so Facebook actually published
in the Ad Library, -
36:40 - 36:45I think at that time,
one of the fastest response strategies, -
36:45 - 36:51where everybody who has
basically any dark pattern advertisement -
36:51 - 36:53will get revealed very quickly,
-
36:53 - 36:56and investigative journalists
work with the local civic technologists -
36:56 - 37:01to make sure that if anybody dare to use
social media in such a divisive way, -
37:01 - 37:05within an hour, there will be
a report out condemning that. -
37:05 - 37:09So nobody tried that during
the previous presidential election season. -
37:09 - 37:11DB: So change is possible.
-
37:12 - 37:13AT: Mhm.
-
37:16 - 37:19WPR: Hey there, we have
some more questions from the community. -
37:19 - 37:21There is an anonymous one
-
37:21 - 37:26that says, "I believe Taiwan
is outside WHO entirely -
37:26 - 37:29and has a 130-part preparation program --
-
37:29 - 37:31developed entirely on its own --
-
37:31 - 37:33to what extent does it credit
its preparation -
37:33 - 37:35to building its own system?"
-
37:36 - 37:40AT: Well, a little bit, I guess.
-
37:40 - 37:43We tried to warn the WHO,
-
37:43 - 37:44but at that point --
-
37:44 - 37:48we are not totally outside,
we have limited scientific access. -
37:48 - 37:51But we do not have any ministerial access.
-
37:51 - 37:52And this is very different, right?
-
37:52 - 37:55If you only have limited
scientific access, -
37:55 - 38:01unless the other side's top epidemiologist
happens to be the vice president, -
38:01 - 38:03like in Taiwan's case,
-
38:03 - 38:07they don't always do
the storytelling well enough -
38:07 - 38:11to translate that into political action
as our vice president did, right? -
38:11 - 38:13So the lack of ministerial
access, I think, -
38:13 - 38:16is to the detriment
of the global community, -
38:16 - 38:19because otherwise,
people could have responded as we did -
38:19 - 38:21in the first day of January,
-
38:21 - 38:24instead of having to wait for weeks
-
38:24 - 38:28before the WHO declared
that this is something, -
38:28 - 38:30that there's definitely
human to human transmission, -
38:30 - 38:33that you should inspect people
coming in from Wuhan, -
38:33 - 38:34which they eventually did,
-
38:34 - 38:38but that's already two weeks
or three weeks after what we did. -
38:40 - 38:42WPR: Makes a lot of sense.
-
38:42 - 38:45DB: More scientists
and technologists in politics. -
38:45 - 38:47That sounds like that's the answer.
-
38:47 - 38:48AT: Yeah.
-
38:51 - 38:54WPR: And then we have another
question here from Kamal Srinivasan -
38:54 - 38:56about your reopening strategy.
-
38:56 - 39:00"How are you enabling restaurants
and retailers to open safely in Taiwan?" -
39:01 - 39:03AT: Oh, they never closed, so ... (Laughs)
-
39:03 - 39:05WPR: Oh!
-
39:05 - 39:06AT: Yeah, they never closed,
-
39:06 - 39:09there was no lockdown,
there was no closure. -
39:09 - 39:13We just said a very simple thing
in the CECC press conference, -
39:13 - 39:15that there's going to be
physical distancing. -
39:15 - 39:17You maintain one and a half meters indoors
-
39:17 - 39:18or wear a mask.
-
39:18 - 39:20And that's it.
-
39:20 - 39:24And so there are some restaurants
that put up, I guess, red curtains, -
39:24 - 39:29some put very cute teddy bears
and so on, on the chairs, -
39:29 - 39:31to make sure that people spread evenly,
-
39:31 - 39:37some installed see-through
glass or plastic walls -
39:37 - 39:39between the seats.
-
39:39 - 39:42There's various social
innovations happening around. -
39:42 - 39:47And I think the only shops
that got closed for a while, -
39:47 - 39:51because they could not innovate
quick enough to respond to these rules, -
39:52 - 39:54was the intimate escort bars.
-
39:54 - 39:58But eventually,
even they invented new ways, -
39:58 - 40:02by handing out these caps
that are plastic shielding, -
40:02 - 40:06but still leaves room
for drinking behind it. -
40:06 - 40:08And so they opened
with that social innovation. -
40:10 - 40:12DB: That's amazing.
-
40:12 - 40:17WPR: It is, yeah, it's a lot to learn
from your strategies there. -
40:17 - 40:21Thank you, I'll be back towards the end
with some final questions. -
40:22 - 40:26DB: I'm very happy to hear
that the restaurants were not closed down, -
40:26 - 40:30because I think Taipei
has some of the best food in the world -
40:30 - 40:33of any city that I've visited,
-
40:33 - 40:37so, you know, kudos to you for that.
-
40:38 - 40:45So the big concern when it comes
to using digital tools for COVID -
40:45 - 40:47or using digital tools for democracy
-
40:47 - 40:50is always privacy.
-
40:50 - 40:53You've talked about that a little bit,
-
40:53 - 40:57but I'm sure the citizens of Taiwan
-
40:57 - 40:59are perhaps equally concerned
about their privacy, -
40:59 - 41:02especially given the geopolitical context.
-
41:03 - 41:04AT: Definitely.
-
41:04 - 41:06DB: So how do you cope with those demands?
-
41:07 - 41:13AT: Yeah, we design
with not only defensive strategy, -
41:13 - 41:15like minimization of data collection,
-
41:16 - 41:18but also proactive measures,
-
41:18 - 41:21such as privacy-enhancing technologies.
-
41:21 - 41:24One of the top teams
that emerged out of our cohack, -
41:24 - 41:27the TW response from the Polis,
-
41:27 - 41:30how to make contact tracing easier,
-
41:30 - 41:32focused not on the contact tracers,
-
41:32 - 41:35not on the medical officers,
but on the person. -
41:35 - 41:38So they basically said,
"OK, you have a phone, -
41:38 - 41:40you can record your temperatures,
-
41:40 - 41:43you can record your whereabouts
and things like that, -
41:43 - 41:45but that is strictly in your phone.
-
41:45 - 41:47It doesn't even use Bluetooth.
-
41:47 - 41:48So there's no transmission.
-
41:48 - 41:50Technology uses open-source,
-
41:50 - 41:52you can check it,
you can use it in airplane mode. -
41:52 - 41:55And when the contact tracer
eventually tells you -
41:55 - 41:57that you are part of a high-risk group,
-
41:57 - 41:59and they really want your contact history,
-
41:59 - 42:03this tool can then generate
a single-use URL -
42:03 - 42:06that only contains
the precise information, -
42:06 - 42:08anonymized,
-
42:08 - 42:09that the contact tracers want.
-
42:09 - 42:13But it will not,
like in a traditional interview, -
42:13 - 42:14let you ask --
-
42:14 - 42:18they ask a question, they only want
to know your whereabouts, -
42:18 - 42:20but you answer with such accuracy
-
42:20 - 42:23that you end up compromising
other people's privacy. -
42:23 - 42:25So basically, this is about designing
-
42:25 - 42:29with an aim to enhance
other people's privacy, -
42:29 - 42:32because personal data
is never truly personal. -
42:32 - 42:34It's always social,
it's always intersectional. -
42:34 - 42:37If I take a selfie at a party,
-
42:37 - 42:41I inadvertently also take
pretty much everybody else's -
42:41 - 42:44who are in the picture, the surroundings,
the ambiance, and so on, -
42:44 - 42:48and if I upload it to a cloud service,
-
42:48 - 42:51then I actually decimate
the bargaining power, -
42:51 - 42:53the negotiation power
of everybody around me, -
42:53 - 42:56because then their data
is part of the cloud, -
42:56 - 42:58and the cloud doesn't have to
compensate them -
42:58 - 43:00or get their agreement for it.
-
43:00 - 43:02And so only by designing the tools
-
43:02 - 43:06with privacy enhancing
as a positive value, -
43:06 - 43:08and not enhancing only
the person's own privacy, -
43:08 - 43:10just like a medical mask, it protects you,
-
43:10 - 43:12but mostly it also protects others, right?
-
43:13 - 43:16So if we design tools using that idea,
-
43:16 - 43:19and always open-source
and with an open API, -
43:19 - 43:21then we're in a much better shape
-
43:21 - 43:25than in centralized or so-called
cloud-based services. -
43:28 - 43:30DB: Well, you're clearly
living in the future, -
43:30 - 43:33and I guess that's quite literal,
-
43:33 - 43:36in the sense of,
it's tomorrow morning there. -
43:36 - 43:37AT: Twelve hours.
-
43:37 - 43:38DB: Yes.
-
43:39 - 43:42Tell me, what do you see in the future?
-
43:42 - 43:43What comes next?
-
43:45 - 43:49AT: Yes, so I see the coronavirus
as a great amplifier. -
43:49 - 43:53If you start with
an authoritarian society, -
43:53 - 43:56the coronavirus,
with all its lockdowns and so on, -
43:56 - 44:01has the potential of making it
even a more totalitarian society. -
44:01 - 44:03If people place their trust, however,
-
44:03 - 44:04on the social sector,
-
44:04 - 44:07on the ingenuity of social innovators,
-
44:07 - 44:09then the pandemic, as in Taiwan,
-
44:09 - 44:11actually strengthens our democracy,
-
44:11 - 44:15so that people feel, truly,
that everybody can think of something -
44:15 - 44:18that improves the welfare
of not just Taiwan, -
44:18 - 44:21but pretty much everybody
else in the world. -
44:21 - 44:23And so, my point here
-
44:23 - 44:28is that the great amplifier
comes if no matter you want it or not, -
44:28 - 44:32but the society, what they can do,
is do what Taiwan did after SARS. -
44:32 - 44:35In 2003, when SARS came,
-
44:35 - 44:37we had to shut down an entire hospital,
-
44:37 - 44:41barricading it with no definite
termination date. -
44:41 - 44:42It was very traumatic,
-
44:42 - 44:46everybody above the age of 30
remembers how traumatic it was. -
44:46 - 44:47The municipalities
-
44:47 - 44:50and the central government
were saying very different things, -
44:50 - 44:52and that is why after SARS,
-
44:52 - 44:55the constitutional courts
charged the legislature -
44:55 - 44:57to set up the system as you see today,
-
44:57 - 44:59and also that is why,
-
44:59 - 45:02when people responding
to that crisis back in 2003 -
45:02 - 45:06built this very robust response system
that there's early drills. -
45:06 - 45:09So just as the Sunflower Occupy,
-
45:09 - 45:13because of the crisis in trust
let us build new tools -
45:13 - 45:15that put trust first,
-
45:15 - 45:20I think the coronavirus is the chance
for everybody who have survived -
45:20 - 45:21through the first wave
-
45:21 - 45:27to settle on a new set of norms
that will reinforce your founding values, -
45:27 - 45:31instead of taking on alien values
in the name of survival. -
45:33 - 45:35DB: Yeah, let's hope so,
-
45:35 - 45:40and let's hope the rest of the world
is as prepared as Taiwan -
45:40 - 45:43the next time around.
-
45:43 - 45:46When it comes to digital
democracy, though, -
45:46 - 45:48and digital citizenship,
-
45:48 - 45:50where do you see that going,
-
45:50 - 45:52both in Taiwan and maybe
in the rest of the world? -
45:53 - 45:56AT: Well, I have my job description here,
-
45:56 - 45:57which I will read to you.
-
45:57 - 46:01It's literally my job description
and the answer to that question. -
46:01 - 46:02And so, here goes.
-
46:02 - 46:05When we see the internet of things,
-
46:05 - 46:07let's make it the internet of beings.
-
46:08 - 46:10When we see virtual reality,
-
46:10 - 46:12let's make it a shared reality.
-
46:13 - 46:15When we see machine learning,
-
46:15 - 46:17let's make it collaborative learning.
-
46:18 - 46:20When we see user experience,
-
46:20 - 46:23let's make it about human experience.
-
46:23 - 46:26And whenever we hear
the singularity is near, -
46:26 - 46:28let us always remember
-
46:28 - 46:30the plurality is here.
-
46:31 - 46:33Thank you for listening.
-
46:33 - 46:35DB: Wow.
-
46:35 - 46:37I have to give that a little clap,
-
46:37 - 46:38that was beautiful.
-
46:39 - 46:40(Laughs)
-
46:40 - 46:42Quite a job description too.
-
46:42 - 46:44So, conservative anarchist,
-
46:44 - 46:47digital minister,
and with that job description -- -
46:47 - 46:48that's pretty impressive.
-
46:48 - 46:50AT: A poetician, yes.
-
46:50 - 46:52DB: (Laughs)
-
46:53 - 46:58So I struggle to imagine
-
46:58 - 47:01an adoption of these techniques in the US,
-
47:01 - 47:05and that may be my pessimism weighing in.
-
47:05 - 47:10But what words of hope do you have
for the US, as we cope with COVID? -
47:12 - 47:15AT: Well, as I mentioned,
during SARS in Taiwan, -
47:15 - 47:20nobody imagined we could have
CECC and a cute spokesdog. -
47:20 - 47:23Before the Sunflower movement,
during a large protest, -
47:23 - 47:27there was, I think, half a million
people on the street, and many more. -
47:27 - 47:31Nobody thought that we could have
a collective intelligence system -
47:31 - 47:34that puts open government data
-
47:34 - 47:37as a way to rebuild citizen participation.
-
47:37 - 47:39And so, never lose hope.
-
47:39 - 47:45As my favorite singer, Leonard Cohen --
a poet, also -- is fond of saying, -
47:45 - 47:46"Ring the bells that still can ring
-
47:46 - 47:49and forget any perfect offering.
-
47:49 - 47:53There is a crack in everything
and that is how the light gets in." -
47:55 - 47:56WPR: Wow.
-
47:57 - 47:59That's so beautiful,
-
47:59 - 48:02and it feels like such a great message
to, sort of, leave the audience with, -
48:02 - 48:04and sharing the sentiment
-
48:04 - 48:07that everyone seems to be so grateful
for what you've shared, Audrey, -
48:07 - 48:13and all the great information
and insight into Taiwan's strategies. -
48:15 - 48:16AT: Thank you.
-
48:16 - 48:17WPR: And David --
-
48:18 - 48:20DB: I was just going to say,
thank you so much for that, -
48:20 - 48:22thank you for that beautiful
job description, -
48:22 - 48:27and for all the wisdom you shared
in rapid-fire fashion. -
48:27 - 48:30I think it wasn't just one idea
that you shared, -
48:30 - 48:33but maybe, I don't know, 20, 30, 40?
-
48:33 - 48:35I lost count at some point.
-
48:36 - 48:38AT: Well, it's called
Ideas Worth Spreading, -
48:38 - 48:39it's a plural form.
-
48:39 - 48:41(Laughter)
-
48:41 - 48:43DB: Very true.
-
48:43 - 48:45Well, thank you so much for joining us.
-
48:45 - 48:46WPR: Thank you, Audrey.
-
48:46 - 48:48DB: And I wish you luck with everything.
-
48:49 - 48:51AT: Thank you, and have a good local time.
-
48:51 - 48:52Stay safe.
- Title:
- How digital innovation can fight pandemics and strengthen democracy
- Speaker:
- Audrey Tang
- Description:
-
Can technology create a democracy that's fast, fair ... and even fun? Digital minister Audrey Tang shares how Taiwan avoided a COVID-19 shutdown in early 2020 through innovations like developing apps to map mask availability, crowdsourcing ideas that could become laws and creating a "humor over rumor" campaign to combat disinformation with comedy. (This virtual conversation, hosted by TED science curator David Biello and current affairs curator Whitney Pennington Rodgers, was recorded June 1, 2020.)
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 49:05
Shoko Takaki commented on English subtitles for How digital innovation can fight pandemics and strengthen democracy | ||
Shoko Takaki commented on English subtitles for How digital innovation can fight pandemics and strengthen democracy | ||
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Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for How digital innovation can fight pandemics and strengthen democracy | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for How digital innovation can fight pandemics and strengthen democracy | ||
Erin Gregory edited English subtitles for How digital innovation can fight pandemics and strengthen democracy | ||
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Shoko Takaki
4:39 - 4:41
"Oh, we're ramping up mass production, →Oh, we're ramping up mask production.
Shoko Takaki
10:26 - 10:27 such as Polis, →such as Pol.is