DiploNews – Issue 291 – 6 January 2016

Upcoming online courses

The new year has arrived, and the application deadline for our interactive online courses starting in February is fast approaching. Register now to make sure you do not miss the chance to take part in these exciting study opportunities. Partial bursaries (and in some cases, full bursaries) are available for qualified applicants from developing countries for all courses.

For more information on any of our courses please contact admissions@diplomacy.edu

Humanitarian Diplomacy

A 12-week course offered in cooperation with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The course aims to extend the knowledge base and develop the practical skills of current and future practitioners in humanitarian diplomacy and policy.

Start date: 22 February
Application deadline: 11 January
Read more and apply

Introduction to Internet Governance for Geneva-based diplomats

This session of Diplo's popular online Introduction to Internet Governance is offered especially for Geneva-based diplomats and other stakeholders. The course aims to assist permanent missions in Geneva to actively follow the increasingly relevant field of digital politics. Participants must be based in Geneva as in addition to the online learning activities, the course includes a weekly briefing at the Geneva Internet Platform office.

Start date: 18 January
Application deadline: as soon as possible
Read more and apply

Education Diplomacy

Education and development are rapidly being shaped by the influence of new actors, international policy, funding structures, and the proliferation of initiatives. This course, offered in cooperation with the Center for Education Diplomacy, presents the concept of Education Diplomacy, considers the broader impact it may have on education, and allows participants to become more effective and responsive to the dynamic landscape of education. 

Start date: 15 February
Application deadline: 8 January
Read more and apply

Children and Mobile Technology

This interactive 7-week online course, offered in cooperation with GSMA, looks at children's use of ICTs, and the inherent risks and opportunities. The course is aimed at staff and management of national telecommunications regulatory authorities, with priority to developing countries. Participation is fully funded by the GSMA (there is no tuition fee for selected applicants).

Start date: 1 February
Application deadline: 11 January
Read more and apply

Cybersecurity for South-Eastern Europe
(SEE)

This course, organised in cooperation with the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) and with the support of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA of Switzerland, aims to increase cybersecurity capacities of public institutions and the private and civil sectors in SEE. Applicants must be from and working in the SEE region. Participation is fully funded by the FDFA (there is no tuition fee for selected applicants).

Start date: 22 February
Application deadline: 25 January
Read more and apply

Diplomatic Theory and Practice

Diplomats are members of a profession developed over many centuries. But why do we still need them in a world transformed by electronic communications? This course examines the nature of diplomacy, when it is appropriate, the advantages and disadvantages of different diplomatic methods, and the lexicon of diplomacy.

Start date: 15 February
Application deadline: 11 January
Read more and apply

Public Diplomacy

With more public interest in foreign affairs than ever before, ordinary people are demanding open diplomacy. Governments are obliged to respond with public information about the spending of the funds they receive and the results that they achieve. This course covers the goals and methods of public diplomacy, outlining what it can and cannot do, with case studies.

Start date: 15 February
Application deadline: 11 January
Read more and apply

Introduction to Internet Governance

Have you been reading and worrying about the Snowden revelations? Does online surveillance concern you and your colleagues? Net neutrality? Privacy in online storage? Guidelines for cross-border Internet issues? These are important Internet governance issues. Learning more about Internet governance will help you understand these personal and professional issues, and what can and should be done about them.

Start date: 15 February
Application deadline: 11 January
Read more and apply

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


Geneva Engage

DiploFoundation and the Geneva Internet Platform, in co-operation with the Republic and State of Geneva, the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN, the Internet Corporation for the Assigned  Names and Numbers (ICANN), and other international organisations in Geneva, will organise the Geneva Engage conference on 27-28 January 2016 with the aim of addressing e-participation as a way of contributing to more effective, inclusive, and innovative policy processes in International Geneva.

We are planning to bring together remote and face-to-face participants to share the knowledge, experience, and questions around three themes:

1. Widening participation: How can we engage a more diverse group of participants, and use remote participation to help give voice to marginalised groups?

• Contributors will include Child Rights Connect, sharing their experience linking children to UN processes; specialists in enabling participation by disabled people; ITU on working multilingually and other actors in the Internet governance process who have experience of connecting groups of people across the globe to physical meetings.

2. Deepening participation: How can we engage remote participants more actively and strengthen connections between face-to-face and remote participants. We will address key questions like:

• How can we transport/convey emotion and power in messages (through e-participation)?  
• How can small teams deal with the ever broadening policy agenda? 
• How can remote participation share in the kind of informal exchanges that make face-to-face communication so special? 

Contributors will include SDC, Diplo, CERN, and UNOG.

3. How to – practical examples, tips, and tricks

• Session dedicated to learning from the Internet governance process (recently extended for a further 10 years), including the ITU, ISOC, ICANN, and the IGF secretariat. There will also be sessions looking at trainer training, resources, and support available online and in Geneva and what we can learn from the world of eDiplomacy

We are planning the make the event as participative and as creative as possible. We promise to bring you together face-to-face and online using a mix of different methods and activities so that you have a chance to contribute to the knowledge and wisdom you’ve gleaned from your own experiments in running participative events. At the same time you will be able to talk to others who bring different skill-sets and organisational capability to the challenges we have in common.  

Come and help us all learn how to take our events and processes to a new level of connection and engagement. 

Updates from WSIS+10 High-level Meeting

GIP Digital Watch followed the UN WSIS+10 High-level Meeting closely last month, providing just-in-time reports from the plenary and side events, a final summary report, and background materials on the WSIS+10 Review Process. If you missed the event, which took place in New York on 14-16 December, browse all reports and resources at dw.giplatform.org/wsis10.

Discussing Internet governance

Malta urged the UN to consider the Internet as Common Heritage of Mankind, at the WSIS+10 High-level Meeting last month. Special Envoy to the Maltese Prime Minister Dr Alex Sceberras Trigona argued for the legal concept to be applicable to the critical infrastructure of the Internet by analogy with Article 136 et seq of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Why do certain events sell out, and how do other events manage to get a high online turnout? Virginia (Ginger) Paque looks at the relationship between online and in situ components of events, in preparation for the upcoming Geneva Engage: E-participation for International Geneva conference on 27-28 January.

On Diplo’s IG community platform, Paque announces the call for nominations for the IGF 2016 Multistakeholder Advisory Group. Chokri Ben Romdhane announces Tunisia’s invitation by the Council of Europe to accede to the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data and its additional protocol, while Mamadou Lo shares his regular web reviews of IG updates in English and French. View the reviews on the community blog roll.

Open call: Assistant curators needed for GIP Digital Watch

The team of curators behind GIP Digital Watch is growing. Join the team as an assistant curator, and help track developments in Internet governance and digital policy. GIP Digital Watch is a one-stop shop dedicated to Internet governance developments, and includes comprehensive and live updates, explanatory texts, events, resources, quantitative research, and much more. Find out more on how to join the team. The deadline to apply is 31 January. GIP Digital Watch is a product developed in partnership with the Internet Society.