P9Yyli

Digital revolution
Rapporteur exposing ideas from EYE panels at the closing plenary
While it may seem odd to associate these
topics with the concept of a unified European
identity, reading between the lines offers some
insights:
“For decades, game developers and gamers
have perceived video games as a means of
entertainment. Inevitably, sceptics insisted that
video games were producing a generation of
alienated, anti-social, aggressive young people,
said game design consultant Konstantin
Mitgutsch. Today, we are moving towards the
development of educational video games that
make you move, make you think, and make you
avoid conflict. We are developing video games
which are more than simply entertaining,
but could lead to a revolutionary milestone
in education and impact society in a positive
way”, he continued.
A real dialogue between politicians
and citizens
Could digital solutions truly bring different
groups of people together and thus facilitate
societal cohesion The Union feels abstract and
distant to many EU citizens, and they don’t see
its impact on their everyday lives.
“Current digital platforms are about delivering
a message, not about conversation. GovFaces
uses the power of social media to connect
citizens and politicians. Politicians have
Facebook and Twitter accounts where they
talk, they post photos, but they do not interact.
On GovFaces, however, they cannot broadcast,
but only interact”, said Connor Sattely, Chief
Operating Officer of GovFaces.com.
Here, the politician has a profile, and citizens
add questions, ideas or proposals, which can
be up-voted or down-voted. The politician
can then answer the questions with a written
answer or a video message. Currently, 45
politicians are using the platform to interact
with citizens.
In a fast-changing global community
where everyone is immersed in data, where
information travels around the world in
seconds, and people from different continents
can connect with each other by simply clicking
a mouse, the potential impact of the internet
on the future of our world is top of the agenda
in the European Union.
“I believe that through virtual spaces, young
Europeans can communicate their ideas freely,
irrelevant of where they live”, said Benedicte
King from the Ludwigsbourg Initiative.
According to her, the increasingly powerful
online communication system could serve as
a bridge between different cultures, ideas, and
people from all over Europe, and could begin
to shape the future of Europe in collaboration
with the young people that will be responsible
for it in a few years’ time.
24 Ideas for a better Europe – EYE2014 Report