Digital-o-Mat: Campaigning for freedom in the state elections of North Rhine-Westphalia
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Written by Erik Albers
North Rhine-Westphalia is Germany's most populated state which is having its next general elections on May 14, 2017. For this election, a "coalition of Free knowledge" developed for the first time a "Digital-o-Mat". The "Digital-o-Mat" is a tool to help those voters who are concerned about digital rights and freedoms, to decide about which party to vote for. Therefor, eight questions guide any user to choose his own preferences on important topics about the digital society - like questions about the use of Free Software, Open Data or Open Educational Resources. After filling them out, a user will see which party matches best with his own preferences and he can additionally browse detailed explanations on the party's positions.
The "coalition of Free knowledge" is an alliance of different NGOs who care about freedom in the digital age, including the Free Software Foundation Europe. The tool is Free Software, the version for the elections in North Rhine-Westphalia in German. More detailed background-information in German in Erik Albers' blog.