Beth Noveck (New Jersey, USA, 1971) makes it clear in each of her answers that she refuses to fall into defeatism. She offers solutions, gives examples of success, and argues that AI can help improve the functioning of institutions. And she knows what she's talking about, not only because she is an expert in how to use technology to make governments more open, but because she knows institutions from the inside: she was the first Chief Technology Officer of the United States during the administration of Barack Obama. She visits Barcelona to sponsor the presentation of the Pompeu Fabra University's 2026-2037 Strategy.

In times of distrust of institutions, talking about citizen participation may seem like a risky proposition. But precisely for this reason, tools that strengthen democracy and bring citizens closer to decision-making are needed more than ever. Catalonia, in this regard, has a pending issue: passing its citizen participation law. (In the area of electoral participation, it also has another: passing an electoral law of its own.)

The people of Barcelona have already chosen a small part of the municipal budgets and have decided, among other projects, to allocate more pedestrian space to Balmes street; to build bike lanes in places like Via Augusta or Travessera de les Corts; to create a green lung in the Farigola del Clot school and to remodel the Parc de l'Espanya Industrial. In total, 39,433 Barcelona residents took part in the voting, which could be done from the 10th to the 20th June among the 200 finalist projects, 20 for each district. The Councillor for Participation, Marc Serra, has congratulated the citizens who had submitted their proposals and also those who have ended up voting and the technicians who have made it possible. "This was the first edition and it was a political challenge", he said. The 76 projects chosen will cost 29 million euros, a little below the 30 million that the City Council had set as a limit. The councillor for participation has assured that "participatory budgets are here to stay", since "citizens are not satisfied with voting every four years and when they are given the opportunity they respond massively".