Giving Thought

In this episode we talk to Lucy Bernholz, Director of the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University’s Center on Philanthropy & Civil Society (Stanford PACS) about how technology is reshaping civil society and the challenges and opportunities this will bring. Including:   Digital civil society Is there any meaningful distinction between “civil society” and “digital civil society” now? Has the current period of enforced digitisation as a consequence of the COVID pandemic led to more CSOs engaging with tech and tech issues? What dangers are there for CSOs in assuming that platforms are objective or neutral public spaces? Are these problems likely to be exacerbated by the enforced pivot to digital for so many orgs as a result of COVID? Are funders (e.g. foundations) getting to grips with the challenges and opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution? Influencing the wider development & implementation of tech Can nonprofits play a meaningful role in ensuring that tech is designed and implem