:00:00. > :00:33.I don't know if you have noticed, but there seems to have been a lot
:00:34. > :00:40.This week, Click is taking a trip to Paris, where this weekend,
:00:41. > :00:43.the French take to the polls in the first round of
:00:44. > :00:47.And curiously, from a technology point of view, the way we vote
:00:48. > :00:52.seems, if anything, to be going backwards.
:00:53. > :00:55.In the last election, France did allow online voting
:00:56. > :01:01.For both the presidential elections and the legislative elections,
:01:02. > :01:05.in June, it is back to pen and paper.
:01:06. > :01:08.And that is due to the fear of cyber attacks, which the French national
:01:09. > :01:11.cyber security agency says are an extremely high risk.
:01:12. > :01:16.Queues of people, paper voting - surely there has to be a better way.
:01:17. > :01:19.Well, we asked BBC Newsbeat's political editor Jonathan Blake
:01:20. > :01:26.Ancient institutions and modern technology.
:01:27. > :01:33.As elections are held worldwide throughout 2017,
:01:34. > :01:34.that could radically reshape the political landscape,
:01:35. > :01:38.most people will cast their vote in the same way it has been done
:01:39. > :01:52.for decades, using a pencil and paper to put a cross in a box.
:01:53. > :01:55.One company is working on a way to make voting more convenient and,
:01:56. > :01:58.they say, more secure, with an app that lets you register
:01:59. > :02:02.It uses facial biometrics, and combines that with some sort
:02:03. > :02:05.of government document, whether it is a passport or driver's
:02:06. > :02:07.licence, to create a digital identity, which the voter
:02:08. > :02:12.So this is a demonstration version of the app which Smartmatic have
:02:13. > :02:18.We will start by registering, first of all.
:02:19. > :02:27.We'll go with driver's licence, because I have that handy.
:02:28. > :02:30.Once the ID is matched to your face, the app confirms
:02:31. > :02:33.And we are voting for Rushfield Borough Council,
:02:34. > :02:48.It's asked me to take a photo, so if I hold up the camera,
:02:49. > :02:53.So here there is a list of candidates, the same
:02:54. > :02:55.as you would see on the ballot paper.
:02:56. > :02:57.I don't need to tell you who I'm voting for,
:02:58. > :03:03.You are asking people to take a photo of their face,
:03:04. > :03:04.capture an image of the photo identification.
:03:05. > :03:07.How secure is that information, where does it go?
:03:08. > :03:09.The digital identity you create is unique to you,
:03:10. > :03:12.and it stays on your device, on your personal mobile phone
:03:13. > :03:15.or tablet, whatever it is you use to take it.
:03:16. > :03:20.You are in control of it at all times, and you are in control
:03:21. > :03:23.of what pieces of information you use to create that idea,
:03:24. > :03:27.But concerns about cyber security mean countries once embracing
:03:28. > :03:38.the use of technology in democracy are having second thoughts.
:03:39. > :03:40.In the Netherlands, where the voting system has been computerised
:03:41. > :03:46.since 2008, this year they are counting votes by hand.
:03:47. > :03:49.But the country that has earned a reputation as the electronic
:03:50. > :03:57.voting capital of the world is sticking to its guns.
:03:58. > :03:59.Estonia is almost obsessive about its digital identity.
:04:00. > :04:02.Here in Estonia, everyone from the age of 15 carries
:04:03. > :04:11.Using this, and accompanying PIN numbers, you can access your bank,
:04:12. > :04:15.phone company, energy firm, but also a lot of official information.
:04:16. > :04:17.You can see this man's name, address, date of birth,
:04:18. > :04:20.where he went to school, health records, everything down
:04:21. > :04:26.In Estonia, voting is just another thing you can do online.
:04:27. > :04:30.Download software, use your ID card and PIN to make a selection,
:04:31. > :04:33.and vote from the comfort of your home, or wherever is convenient.
:04:34. > :04:36.Around one in three votes is now cast online, but officials admit it
:04:37. > :04:45.The internet voter is a transformed paper voter.
:04:46. > :04:50.Having a novelty, a convenient method of voting, is not enough
:04:51. > :04:54.to bring people from the "no voting" zone back to voting,
:04:55. > :05:09.Of course, you need other incentives.
:05:10. > :05:11.Other countries seem reluctant to follow Estonia's lead.
:05:12. > :05:14.The British Minister responsible for elections told me the Government
:05:15. > :05:16.is looking only at taking very small steps.
:05:17. > :05:18.They have identification cards, and they keep the systems.
:05:19. > :05:22.It is a very different space to what we have in the UK,
:05:23. > :05:25.where they don't have a privacy agenda, about protecting individual
:05:26. > :05:26.citizens' rights, and protecting their own data.
:05:27. > :05:29.Going forwards, we have got to make sure that,
:05:30. > :05:32.while we embrace technology and we embrace things like online
:05:33. > :05:34.registration, online voting is a situation where,
:05:35. > :05:36.if we believe the current paper-and-pen method is the best way
:05:37. > :05:39.forward, then actually, it means that each individual's vote
:05:40. > :05:43.As technology advances, calls to digitise democracy
:05:44. > :05:45.will continue, but so will concerns about cyber security,
:05:46. > :05:48.so the pencil and paper may well always have its place.
:05:49. > :05:52.And how would you feel about renting your car
:05:53. > :05:56.Well, believe it or not, here, there is an app that lets
:05:57. > :06:07.Drivy has been operating for six years.
:06:08. > :06:11.Over 40,000 car owners have chosen to list their cars on the platform,
:06:12. > :06:13.mainly in France, Germany, and Spain, racking up one-and-a-half
:06:14. > :06:18.The app gives me a list of vehicles available in the designated area
:06:19. > :06:22.And then I can swipe through pictures and details
:06:23. > :06:30.Yeah, it's basically Airbnb, but for your car.
:06:31. > :06:33.Right, first impressions of the Drivy office,
:06:34. > :06:42.But how has this company persuaded thousands of people
:06:43. > :06:49.I don't know whether it is because I'm British,
:06:50. > :06:52.but I think it's a crazy idea to randomly hire my car out
:06:53. > :07:00.Do you not think that no one will partake of this,
:07:01. > :07:04.because of the risk of damage and having your car stolen?
:07:05. > :07:08.We definitely knew from the start that it would sound like a crazy
:07:09. > :07:10.idea to lend your car, to most people.
:07:11. > :07:16.The question was, would some people agree it was a good idea,
:07:17. > :07:20.and that it's efficient, and how do I protect these people
:07:21. > :07:22.who are willing to try, rather than convince the majority.
:07:23. > :07:26.Do you think there is a reason why sharing services do very well here?
:07:27. > :07:29.Yeah, I think that France is special, because it has the right
:07:30. > :07:33.mix of being, like, still a rich country,
:07:34. > :07:36.where the law is really enforced, where business is going well,
:07:37. > :07:44.So I think it's the right balance for sharing economy to thrive.
:07:45. > :07:46.British and Americans are more scared about lending their cars.
:07:47. > :07:51.I'm not really sure, I don't know, but I heard that you teach kids
:07:52. > :08:00.And that is something that I absolutely don't know in France.
:08:01. > :08:03.So maybe less trust of people you don't know, and less willingness
:08:04. > :08:06.to share time, or things, with other people.
:08:07. > :08:08.You have been to London, then, clearly.
:08:09. > :08:17.With Drivy Open, which is our big technological focus,
:08:18. > :08:20.now, we can geo-locate cars, see where the car is going,
:08:21. > :08:24.You can use the accelerometer to see if there were impacts.
:08:25. > :08:36.And basically, the future which is coming, which is all
:08:37. > :08:37.about connected cars, and then autonomous,
:08:38. > :08:41.cars is playing huge in our favour, because increasingly,
:08:42. > :08:45.the amount of data you have on the car, the control over the way
:08:46. > :08:47.it's driven is going to increase until it's autonomous,
:08:48. > :08:51.and then whoever is in the car is no longer a problem,
:08:52. > :09:09.except for sandwich crumbs or stuff like that.
:09:10. > :09:11.Not that red tape is was a problem here.
:09:12. > :09:15.One start-up, in a northern suburb of Paris, has already been given
:09:16. > :09:21.permission to place three of its pods around the city.
:09:22. > :09:23.So, what on Earth is Agricool putting inside these second-hand
:09:24. > :09:24.shipping containers that makes
:09:25. > :09:30.You probably know that fruit sold in city supermarkets has usually
:09:31. > :09:41.been on a long journey, over several days, to get there.
:09:42. > :09:44.And that means it has to be picked before it's ripe,
:09:45. > :09:48.and isn't as sweet or nutritious as it would be if it was left
:09:49. > :09:53.Well, this is a way of keeping fruit on the plant, in cities,
:09:54. > :09:56.There you go, four walls of strawberries bathing
:09:57. > :10:03.Here's all the water that you need, which is pumped in, and then
:10:04. > :10:05.when it's finished, it's pumped back out again.
:10:06. > :10:10.Here are your nutrients, and over here, a box of bumblebees.
:10:11. > :10:12.Did you know you could order bumblebees by the box?
:10:13. > :10:16.That's where they live, that's where they travel in and out,
:10:17. > :10:18.and that's where the pollination happens.
:10:19. > :10:20.Agricool is currently experimenting with different colours of light
:10:21. > :10:23.and different mixes of nutrients in order to get
:10:24. > :10:27.Well, inside each shipping container, we create a real paradise
:10:28. > :10:36.So best air, the CO2 level, the best lights, with LED lights.
:10:37. > :10:39.We can grow the equivalent of 4000 square metres in only
:10:40. > :10:46.So it is like 120,000 times more productive,
:10:47. > :10:48.using 90% less water, using no pesticides,
:10:49. > :10:56.actually, and using only renewable energy.
:10:57. > :10:59.Just to be clear, these shipping containers won't move,
:11:00. > :11:00.they'll be permanent fixtures in cities.
:11:01. > :11:03.And with a minutely controlled climate, a new batch of strawberries
:11:04. > :11:06.can be grown every 11 weeks, meaning city folk can experience
:11:07. > :11:13.the taste of country living all year round.
:11:14. > :11:21.And that is it for the short cut of Click. Plenty more from us online.
:11:22. > :11:29.Thank you for watching. Everyone back to mine
:11:30. > :11:32.for strawberries.