When historians write the chapter on the COVID-19 pandemic, they will have plenty of cautionary examples, except maybe Taiwan.\u00a0 Taiwan may well provide the lesson in not only battling a public health crisis but also in civic engagement, innovation and digital democracy. Informed by lessons from a 2003 SARS epidemic, Taiwan employed rigorous contact tracing, and technology to communicate and solicit innovative ideas. Moreover, Taiwan employed technology in striking ways, from providing transparency on public health info to crowdsourcing innovative ideas on engaging civil society to hold government accountable. The credit for Taiwan\u2019s approach goes to the Taiwan\u2019s Minister in charge of Social Innovation – Audrey Tang. \u00a0The youngest minister in Taiwan\u2019s history and a child prodigy who is largely self-taught, Audrey is credited demonstrating the potential power of harnessing technology to combat the pandemic AND to safeguard democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our guest is Audrey Tang, the youngest and the first ever transgender minister in Taiwan\u2019s history, known as one of the world\u2019s top open-source software developers. Audrey is also a computational linguist credited for their work with Apple (Siri) as well as with Oxford University Press on crowd lexicography. In 2019 Audrey was named in \u201c100 Global Thinkers\u201d list published by Foreign Policy magazine. <\/a>\u00a0Audrey is acknowledged globally for innovation and leadership in steering Taiwan\u2019s response to the COVID-19 crisis and for successful integration of civil society, technological innovation and democratic governance.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Guest:<\/strong> Audrey Tang<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hosted by:<\/strong> Alexa Raad & Leslie Daigle<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n