| Election ICT Capacity Building Program |
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| Last updated 2017-11-22 |
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(October 26, 2017 _ Group picture during the opening ceremny)
A ten-day Election ICT Capacity Building Program was held at the Secretariat of A-WEB in Songdo, Incheon with 17 participants from eight member EMBs (Brazil, Iraq, Kosovo, Thailand, Palestine, South Africa, Mongolia, and Papua New Guinea) from October 25 to November 3. Participants from the Papua New Guinea Electoral Commission were the first to represent the Commission after it became a member at the third General Assembly of A-WEB. The last training program of the year focused on modes and effectiveness of introducing technologies in electoral processes.
(October 26, 2017 _ Dr Raad Al-Tmimi, Chief of Electoral Education Institute of Iraq, gave a presentation on introducing ICT during the country report.)
On the first session, participants introduced election system and election management practices with a focus on introducing ICT in their own countries with presentation materials they prepared for the country report. Different cases were discussed with members that have already introduced ICT (Brazil and Mongolia) and members that have plans to introduce ICT (Papua New Guinea and Iraq). Each presentation was followed by a Q&A session where participants discussed different aspects of various electoral systems.
(October 27, 2017 _ Professor Daniel Connolly of Korea University delivering his lecture From Fake News to Emotional AI: Emerging Threats to Tomorrows' Elections.)
Professor Daniel Connolly from Korea University gave a lecture titled From Fake News to Emotional AI: Emerging Threats to Tomorrows' Elections. It was an opportunity to think about influence of fake news and social media on electoral integrity and growing threats of hacking attempts on electoral transparency. The three-hour long lecture was followed by a heated debate on how to respond to challenges related to fake news and technological advances as electoral officials.
(October 29, 2017 _ Participants experiencing Korean traditional attire.)
(October 29, 2017 _ Excursion to Royal Palace.)
During the weekend, participants had the chance to experience Korean traditional attire Hanbok and visit cultural highlights of Seoul including Lotte World Tower and Gyeongbokgung Palace that show the present and past of Korea.
(October 30, 2017 _ Visit to the National Election Commission of Korea.)
The next week, participants visited the National Election Commission (NEC) of Korea and were introduced to the structure, role, and responsibility of the Commission. They had a Q&A session at the meeting room where the Chairperson and eight Commissioners have meetings.
(October 31, 2017 _ Mr Luke Butcher giving a presentation on Early Voting System in Korea.)
On October 31, Mr Luke Butcher from the Department of Administration and International Affairs at NEC delivered a presentation on Early Voting in Korea: The Effects of Implementing ICT in Election Management on Voters. It was followed by a demonstration in which participants could experience the Early Voting System that enhanced voter convenience and raised the turnout in Korea.
(October 31, 2017 _ Commissioner Al A. Parre?o of the Philippine Commission on Elections delivering a presentation on the Philippine’s experience of introducing technologies in election management.)
During the afternoon of October 31, Commissioner Al A. Parre?o of the Philippine Commission on Elections gave a lecture on Automated National and Local Elections in 2016. He shared his experiences on how the Commission came to introduce PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scanner), how political parties and civil society responded, and challenges of incorporating technologies in election management. It was a meaningful opportunity to compare and analyze different cases of Mongolia and Iraq as well.
(November 1, 2017 _ Professor Jordi Barrat leading a seminar on The Present and Future of Electric Elections)
It was the second visit to A-WEB for Professor Jordi Barrat of University Rovira i Virgili in Spain who came to the Secretariat during the training program of 2016. The theme of the lecture was Status Quo in and the future of E-voting. It was particularly helpful for those who have plans to introduce ICT as the lecture was filled with a global trend in the field of elections, success as well as failure cases of introducing technologies.
(November 2, 2017 _ Participants experiencing election ICT during a lecture on Introducing ICT in Electoral Processes.)
The last session of the program was led by Mr Michael Hamasaki from the Secretariat on Modes of Introducing ICT for Election Day Procedure. Participants had the change to experience some of the most frequently introduced devices and have an in-depth understanding on Election ICT.
(November 2, 2017 _ Participants during the closing ceremony. Secretary General Kim Yong-hi (left), Ms Millena Damasio and Mr Julio Valente Costa of Tribunal Superior Eleitoral do Brasil.)
(November 2, 2017 _ Group photo during the closing ceremony)
Ten days of training program were completed with a closing ceremony and farewell luncheon. Participants were awarded their certificates of completion and presents were exchanged to commemorate the program. We hope all participants return to their home and apply all the diverse experiences and knowledge they have gained through this last CBP of this year.
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