DiploNews – Issue 233 – 1 August 2013
Autumn 2013 online courses
Now is the right time to plan your professional development for the autumn. Diplo offers several stimulating online courses on important contemporary diplomacy topics:
Apply by 5 August for University of Malta accredited courses and by 2 September for Diplo Certificate Courses. For further information or to apply, click on the titles of the courses above, or visit our courses website. Register now to reserve your place.
Applications open for 2014 Master in Contemporary Diplomacy
We are now accepting applications for the 2014 Master in Contemporary Diplomacy, and the Master in Contemporary Diplomacy with an Internet Governance specialisation. These unique postgraduate programmes, offered in cooperation with the University of Malta, include a 10-day residential workshop in Malta followed by 16–20 months of online learning. To learn more about what it's like to participate in this programme, you can read an interview with current programme participant Kevon Swift, or view a video with participant Lutine de Boer. Please visit the Master in Contemporary Diplomacy webpage to read more and to apply. The programme starts at the end of January 2014 and the application deadline is 1 October 2013.
Sign up for our courses mailing list to be informed about upcoming courses!
Information security for non-technical managers
‘Information security is not someone else’s job; everyone has a role.’ So says Senior Diplo Fellow, Dr Eduardo Gelbstein, in his new book Information security for non-technical managers. This short book is intended for those who want to broadly understand information security and their role in protecting information assets. In it, Gelbstein looks at information security in context. He explores the lessons we have learned in the last ten years and advises on managing and measuring information security. He also considers the four domains of vulnerability: government, people, process, and technology. This practical book signposts other relevant information available on an issue that currently has no solution. Information security is an issue we all have to deal with – and Gelbstein’s book is as good a starting point as any. Download your free copy.
What's going on in Dipo's blogosphere
YouTube videos and TV footage, whether captured by professionals or what are now known as ‘citizen journalists’, portray what the documentarist sees, i.e. the action that is unfolding in front of them. But, without proper context, this type of reporting can be misleading. What is going on off camera might tell a different story. Mary Murphy looks at The medium and how it can colour the message.
2012 was the year of the MOOC. MOOC, an acronym for massive open online courses, grabbed the media attention and became a widely discussed topic in education. Yet as Katharina Höne reports, all is not well in the MOOC camp. In her post We still need to learn how to learn online: the backlash of the MOOC-hype, Katharina concludes that ‘a lot needs to be done before online learning can re-shape higher education. We need to learn how to learn online, both as teachers and as students.’ Daniel Beaudoin is a consultant on humanitarian diplomacy and civil-military affairs, as well as a lecturer on humanitarian diplomacy and aid operations at Tel Aviv University. In an interview with Diplo, Daniel talks about Real learning in the virtual classroom.
Cyberthreats are real. Numerous cases certify this. Motives vary: from hacktivism (with political or ideological backgrounds, simple curiosity, or personal assertion), via crime (economic or other benefits), to espionage (industrial or intelligence), to terrorism, to warfare. Targets vary as well. If you missed our webinar, check out the Webinar digest: Cybersecurity for e-diplomats: Hype and reality
Fine Tuitupou-Arnold, who works as Advocacy and Policy Advisor for the Cook Islands Red Cross Society, took some time out to talk to us about Strengthening the status of Red Cross Societies in the Pacific.
In his post Wrong metaphors Aldo Matteucci advises that before we use metaphors, we should ‘check the points of similitude – superficial commonality of traits may hide fundamental differences. The power of analogy is so strong, unfortunately, that once established they rule the thinking – unthinkingly. A lot of useful time is wasted in picking the unspoken assumptions apart.’
Remember, you too can have your say by commenting on these or any of our blog posts. And, if you’d like to be a guest blogger, let us know.
Discussing Internet governance
The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) community is holding tight as rumours that the 2013 IGF meeting might be cancelled spread across discussion groups and on social media. Join us on Twitter and Facebook as we follow the latest updates.
Related to the IGF, community member Luca Belli has announced a new ‘arrival’: the Dynamic Coalition on Network Neutrality. The Dynamic Coalition will provide a common platform involving stakeholders, and includes a mailing list to allow members to discuss Net neutrality in an open and interactive way. A call for contributions for the first annual report of the Dynamic Coalition has also been announced. Read more here.
On a different note, Valerie Vlasenko shares an infographic on aspects and statistics related to cyber threats. The data was collected from various sources, including the World Economic Forum, the IGF, the ITU, and NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.
Follow more IG-related news and discussions on Diplo’s Internet governance channel, and on Diplo’s IG community blog roll.
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