Do we actually know enough about crypto and co? About network-based payment systems? About business models for digital internet services? The digital transformation of the financial sector is in full swing. Private digital financial services are coming onto the market, the digital euro is to be introduced in five years – but the associated upheavals for citizens, democracy and the future European society are largely unknown. Specialists know their stuff – but often only in individual segments – and what about broader debates and participation?
In order to open up a discourse space that highlights relevant issues, impulses are needed. Civil society participation and co-design, indeed only positioning and broader public discussion, require understanding and interdisciplinary exchange. This is where the eFin & Democracy project comes in as a strong initiative that goes beyond science to bring broad target groups and thus citizens as well as companies and politicians into dialogue with each other.
What is this project about?
Questions are:
- How is digitalisation transforming payment methods and the financial sector?
- What are blockchain, fintech, cryptocurrencies, decentralised financial applications and co. anyway?
- Which new players define a “digitised” financial world and how would they be subjected to state regulation?
- How are sovereign tasks in the financial sector changing and what will become of the currency – specifically the euro – in European democracy?
- How can democracies react when the financial world changes as profoundly as it is currently doing?
- What opportunities are there for citizens to participate in the digital transformation of the financial sector?
Structures will be established when the project starts on 1 April 2022. These include an endowed professorship, a Mercator Journalist in Residence programme, and a think tank.
At the core of the project are two lines of discourse that gradually integrate stakeholders and target groups into the project. Thus, two complementary perspectives – system perspective and individual perspective – are developed into independent thematic platforms with targeted event formats.
The project is funded by Mercator Foundation.
Previous events
Short Exhibition The BitBlockCryptoComic – The Making of a Graphic Novel
16 December 2022
Event in cooperation with Kunstforum der TU Darmstadt; with Mercator-Journalist in Residence Martin Karcher| more about this event»
Public Lecture & Discussion Bitcoin – Gefahr oder Bereicherung für unsere Gesellschaft?
9 August 2022
Event in cooperation with Kultur einer Digitalstadt e. V. (KeD); with Mercator-Journalist in Residence Friedemann Brenneis | more about this event»
Public Lecture & Discussion Warum Bitcoin?
26 July 2022
Event with Mercator-Journalist in Residence Friedemann Brenneis | more about this event»
Panel Discussion Digitaler Euro: Pro und Contra
18 July 2022
Event within the framework of eFin & Democracy | more about this event»
Citizen Lecture Verstehen Sie Krypto !
Summer Semester 2022
Event within the framework of eFin & Democracy | more about this Citizen Lecture»
more on the Mercator Journalist in Residence programme (in German)»
eFin & Democracy on Twitter
The latest news from the project work and references to interesting content on the topics are also available on Twitter at @eFin_Diskurs. @eFin_Diskurs.
