DiploNews – Issue 274 – 16 April 2015

Upcoming study opportunities

Call for applications: Listening and Engaging: Public Diplomacy in Asia-Europe Relations

The next session of the online course Listening and Engaging: Public Diplomacy in Asia-Europe Relations, part of the Asia-Europe Public Diplomacy Training Initative, starts on 4 May 2015. If you come from one of the Asia-Europe Meeting countries and are engaged in communication and public diplomacy, ideally at your country’s ministry of foreign affairs, please read more and apply by 24 April. The cost of participation for the training is covered fully by the organisers. For any questions, please contact Andrej Skrinjaric.

Summer online courses

Diplo’s summer online course on diplomacy start on 20 July 2015:

• 21st Century Diplomacy
• Diplomatic Law: Privileges and Immunities
• Infrastructure and Critical Internet Resources
• Multilateral Diplomacy

NEW: Scholarships are available for applicants from small and developing states.

Apply by 18 May 2015 for University of Malta accredited courses and by 15 June 2015 for Diplo certificate courses. For further information or to apply, click on the titles of the courses above, or visit our courses webpage. Register now to reserve your place.

Sign up for our courses mailing list to be informed about upcoming courses.
 

Geneva: MIKTA Diplomacy – Current Developments and Vision for the Future

Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Turkey, and Australia have developed a cooperation scheme within a framework called MIKTA. It is based on a mutual interest in strengthening multilateralism by supporting worldwide efforts in stability and prosperity, facilitating pragmatic and creative solutions to regional and international challenges, and implementing needed reforms in global governance structures. Join us on 24 April in Geneva for an event organised in the MIKTA framework.
 

Malta: Conference on the Internet as a Global Public Resource

While users, businesses, governments, and civil society have different roles in the development and use of the Internet, they share the common concern of preserving a functional and safe Internet as a global public resource. Dealing with the Internet as a global public resource requires a mix of innovative policy solutions and well-tested approaches.

The conference on the Internet as a Global Public Resource will capitalise both on Malta’s identity as a vibrant digital society, and its long tradition of promoting global public resources and related concepts (e.g. the common heritage of mankind). It will also initiate a research and policy project aimed at discussing the future developments of the Internet as a global public resource. Join us in Malta on 29-30 April; read more and register.
 

Diplo and GIP Team in The Hague for the Global Conference on Cyberspace

This week, the fourth Global Conference on Cyberspace is taking place in The Hague. The conference addresses freedom, growth, and security in cyberspace. A Global Forum on Cyber Expertise is also expected to be launched during the conference. Diplo and GIP’s Jovan Kurbalija, Vladimir Radunovic and Stephanie Borg Psaila will attend and report from the conference.

Cybersecurity will be high on the agenda, and the conference will present a good opportunity to make our cybersecurity concerns heard. Send your cybersecurity message using one of Diplo’s new cybersecurity postcards, adding #GCCS2015. We are sharing ours too on social media.

Many Diplo alumni are expected to attend the conference. Diplo is organising a get-together for Diplo alumni and friends on Thursday, 16th April, at 16:30 local time. For more details, contact Stephanie Borg Psaila.

For updates, bookmark the webpage on our website.
 

April Briefing on Internet Governance

Join us for the summary of April in Internet governance – and what has been up and down according to our IG-barometer. You may join us at our office in Geneva, or online via the webinar. Your monthly dose of IG on Tuesday, 28th April at 13:00 CET.
 

WSIS Prizes 2015 – Vote for Diplo’s capacity building programme and for the Geneva Internet Platform

We need your support: vote for Diplo’s two projects in the WSIS Project Prizes 2015 voting process.

DiploFoundation’s Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme (ICGBP) has been nominated for a WSIS Project Prize under Category 4 – Capacity Building; Project ID 1423239952.

The Geneva Internet Platform (GIP) has been nominated for a WSIS Prize under Category 1 – The role of governments and all stakeholders in the promotion of ICTs for development; Project ID 1423239402.

Please visit our website to read more details and learn how to vote.
 

Discussing Internet governance

Diplo’s illustrated cybersecurity postcards from cyberspace aim at raising awareness about main challenges and related issues. Send a postcard from cyberspace during #GCCS2015 week.

A digital magna carta between two doors explains how two doors: the fascinating bronze entrance door to the U.S. Supreme Court Building, and the cockpit door which remained closed during the tragic Germanwings flight, inspired Diplo director and Geneva Internet Platform head Dr Jovan Kurbalija’s interventions at a panel on the Digital Magna Carta organised by the New America NYC and the Swiss Consulate in New York. 

The IG Barometer for March showed high pressure for online privacy and data protection, net neutrality, jurisdiction, and the IANA transition process, compared to previous weeks.

The second event in the Cybersecurity Days series ‒ Fighting cybercrime through closer international cooperation ‒ took place on 30 March and was co-organised by the Geneva Internet Platform and the Division for Security Policy, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland.

Simona Cioroiu comments: ‘As the old saying goes, there are two sides to every coin’ and notes that ‘some positive and also some negative movements have been noticed lately around Bitcoin’ in Online WORLD and its movements…

The correlations between the IPR protection regime (a barrier to innovation?) on one side, and innovation and growth on the other, were the main topics explored on 19 March at a roundtable on Open Innovation in the Proprietary World. The event was organised in the framework of MAPPING project, funded by the European Commission within the FP7 programme.

On Diplo’s IG community space, we are seeing more posts in Spanish from Romina Cabrera: Términos de Referencia de Netmundial ,que se publicaron para comentarios and Economía, Seguridad y Privacidad.  Pocelet Ileleji comments on Internet governance in relation to open data and our communities in his report from the Open Data Africa session in Addis Ababa. Zero-rated Internet Boon or Bane? from Mwende Njiraini discusses what zero-rated Internet might mean to users. Weekly web reviews from Mamadou LO give many links to current events in IG, in case you have not kept up online.

Follow more IG-related news and discussions on Diplo’s Internet governance channel, and on Diplo’s IG community blog roll.
 

 What’s happening in Diplo’s blogosphere?

In her latest blog post, Katharina Höne asks What is diplomacy? What is education diplomacy? She reflects on the practical and normative dimensions of these two terms, beyond the traditional understanding of diplomacy.

In a ten-part blog series on Understanding United Nations Reform, Ambassador Dr Petru Dumitriu, Diplo’s lecturer on Multilateral Diplomacy, offers a theoretical outlook on how to further enhance the ability of the United Nations to tackle today’s global challenges. In Part 6, Ambassador Dumitriu examines the balance between universality and regionalism, drawing on the value of economic regional commissions in bringing regional interests to the international arena. Part 7, on multilateralism and ‘invisible hands’ confronts the adverse effects of economic globalisation and emphasises the need for a more active UN role in fostering equitable development. Watch Diplo’s blog roll for more posts from Ambassador Dumitriu’s series.

Comments on any of Diplo’s blog posts are welcome. Let us know if you’d like to be a guest blogger.