It's not enough to have better ideals.

Last week I was privileged to contribute to the PublicSpaces conference in Amsterdam, which discussed the impact of technology on democracy. I was there all-too-briefly, but I was reminded how wonderful Amsterdam really is as a city: both culturally rich and a reminder of how a city’s infrastructure can work if it receives the investment and thoughtful attention it deserves.PublicSpaces itself is a marvel: a conference that dives into the underlying power dynamics behind tech and aims to create space to discuss alternatives. Robin Berjon’s ‌We Build On Hope and Erin Kissane’s ‌Holdfast were both standout talks that were both excellent in themselves and representative of the tone of the entire event.On Friday, I participated in a panel that asked whether journalism can use the Open Social Web to strengthen democracy. I shared the stage with Catherine Tait, expert in residence at New_ Public and former president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; Robert Amlung, the Senior…