Join us for the global EXPO on Technology and Social Cohesion
Practical tools, emerging evidence and global insights will be featured in this HYBRID event on June 26
In a world fractured by algorithms, misinformation, and manufactured outrage, what if technology didn’t divide us—but helped us rebuild trust?
That’s the central challenge behind the Global EXPO of the Council on Tech and Social Cohesion —a global gathering where technologists, peacebuilders, researchers, and policymakers come together to explore how technology can foster trust, connection, and collaboration in an increasingly polarized world.
Join us on June 26th in person in Washington DC or Kathmandu —or online from anywhere around the world. This hybrid event is accessible across time zones, so no matter where you are, you can be part of this conversation.
As we look around at our digital public sphere, we see predictable structural outcomes of digital systems that were never designed for public trust. This isn’t just about minimizing harm—it’s about maximizing potential.
The Expo has been curated to highlight concrete tools, fresh thinking, and global insights that show what it takes to design and deploy technology which supports democracy, peace, and social cohesion. This is the guiding challenge that binds together the 65 members across 22 countries as part of the Council on Tech and Social Cohesion. If you’re in Washington, DC, join us in person at the Alliance for Peacebuilding, and if you’re in Kathmandu, join us at Dignity in Difference. If not — join us online! Click here to find out more about the program and register.
The Expo reflects ideas captured by the recently released Blueprint on Prosocial Tech Design Governance, developed by Council on Tech and Social Cohesion with the University of Notre Dame and the Toda Peace Institute. It lays out nine actionable recommendations across three sections to guide governments, civil society, researchers, and industry in shaping platforms through design—not just content moderation. From policy levers to programmatic practice and tech innovation, the Expo features members of the Council and expert guests from across Europe, North America, Africa and Asia.
What to Expect
You’ll find the full agendas for each of the events HERE, but here’s a glimpse of the standout sessions shaping the Expo:
🧪 Expert Briefing: Healthy Online Spaces by Design
Members of the Prosocial Design Network present research-backed design principles that promote civility, bridge-building, and constructive dialogue. Using evidence from platform experiments, they show how simple changes in UX and algorithms can shift entire communities toward more prosocial behaviors.
🛠️ Tools demo: Social media listening and analysis amidst conflict
A hands-on look at Build Up’s Phoenix open-source tool developed for peacebuilders to ethically analyze social media conversations during conflict and crisis, providing insights that strengthen mediation, early warning, and peace process design. A fresh update from ongoing work on how Didi’s Ripeness Index is harnessing AI to analyze large data and surface avenues for dialogue in the Middle East conflict.
🔥 Fireside Chats: Regulating social media and AI for Prosocial Design
Several sessions will explore where there is traction in uptake of policies and regulations seeking to reach upstream to incentivize healthier digital spaces. We’ll be comparing insights from the United States, Europe, Canada, West Africa and South Asia through sessions featuring the Knight-Georgetown Institute, the Neely Center at USC’s Marshall Center, GoodBot, and Search for Common Ground’s Bamako Forum on Digital and Social Cohesion. We’ll also look at the plethora of efforts for governance of artificial intelligence, together with policy experts from the Global Network Initiative and the Alliance for Peacebuilding, probing whether these frameworks sufficiently take peacebuilding and social cohesion into consideration.
🧭 Demo and landscape update: Deliberative Tech
The promise of deliberative tech to drive collaboration in polarized contexts will be explored through a landscape update by Dr. Lisa Schirch, a demo by Common Good AI, and a discussion about its potential to strengthen inclusive and participatory governance across divides, as seen through the eyes of Nepali civil society and political leaders in a session hosted by Dignity in Difference.
🧱 Building an infrastructure for trust
If you're local to Kathmandu or Washington DC, come experience it live. You’ll meet the people shaping the future of tech for good, build networks, and join deeper conversations in person.
If you're joining remotely, we’ve timed this event so you can participate wherever you are. You’ll get access to live sessions, exclusive digital content, and the chance to engage with speakers and participants from across the globe.
This isn’t just a conference—it’s an invitation to step into a global community of practitioners and thinkers committed to doing the hard, hopeful work of reimagining our digital spaces. Whether you’re building tools, shaping policy, facilitating dialogue, or simply searching for better ways to connect and collaborate, there’s a place for you at the Expo. Let’s meet the urgency of this moment not just with critique, but with creativity, courage, and the collective will to build something better.
Lena Slachmuijlder Co-Chairs the Council on Tech and Social Cohesion.