Prefiguration group of the International Observatory on Information and Democracy (IOID)

Enable the constitution of the IPCC of information and communication

In order to find appropriate responses to the information chaos, society as a whole must have a common and shared understanding of the situation and the stakes. Similar to the IPCC for climate change, the International Observatory on Information and Democracy should enable States, stakeholders and the entire society to have a periodic and complete overview of the situation by aggregating all scientific results.

The prefiguration group of the International Observatory on Information and Democracy (IOID), composed of recognized personalities from the world of research and international governance, has the task of specifying the objectives, methodology and means of this Observatory.

The Observatory will allow a necessary global evaluation of the digital space in order to feed the global reflection on the regulation of the digital space and to respond effectively to the challenges of new technologies.

Scope

Chapter 1

Objectives of the IOID

Define the general and specific objectives of the Observatory so that it responds to the needs in a relevant way, including the main fields and levels of evaluation, the phenomena and their causes, the related effects and risks, and the structure of the report.

Define recommendations on how the IOID can structure exchanges between States, digital platforms and the research community.

Chapter 2

Methodology of the IOID

Produce recommendations on IOID’s methodology, considering that it will be based on a meta-analysis of the information space, i.e., on an aggregation and synthesis of all available research and data.

Define the research areas within the scope of this meta-analysis and how it will be cross-referenced with data on democratic developments

Chapter 3

Means of the IOID

The working group will assess the human, technical and financial needs for IOID’s activities. It will make recommendations on the skills to be integrated into the Observatory, the technical means necessary for the evaluation of the information and communication space and the analysis of data (computer infrastructure, hardware, software, secure collaborative work environment, etc.).

Steering Committee

Members of the steering committee will be announced soon.

Calendar

October to November 2020

Meetings of the steering committee and drafting of a framework document specifying the objectives and the needs in terms of contributions.

December 2021 to February 2022

Global call for contributions based on the scoping document. Collection of existing recommendations by the team of rapporteurs.

March to April 2022

Processing of the contributions and drafting of the report under the guidance of the steering committee.

May 2022

Publication of the report.