Date: 25 May, 2010
Location: Vienna

Diplomats from embassies, permanent missions and the Austrian Foreign Ministry, as well as officials from a number of international organisations based in Vienna, participated in the final awareness building event for the June International Conference on E-diplomacy, hosted by the Vienna Diplomatic Academy. Ambassador Hans Winkler, Director of the Academy, opened the event and started an interesting discussion on the cost and utility of new technology. Maltese Ambassador to Austria Christopher Grima provided an interesting insight into Malta’s investment in ICT and provision of e-government services.  Dr Jovan Kurbalija, Director of DiploFoundation, explained how diplomats can better manage information by using information aggregation. Diplo staff member Ms Ginger Paque presented a wide variety of remote participation tools from very simple and free ones (video-broadcasting, Skype, Dimdim) to highly professional and sophisticated (telepresence) systems. Diplo associate Ms Mary Murphy reflected on the influence of e-communication on language. 

See photos  of the event or read the article on the website of the Maltese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malta.

Date: 19 May, 2010
Location: Geneva

The Geneva launch of the E-diplomacy Initiative was attended by over 60 diplomats from UN missions and other participants. Ambassador Dante Martinelli of the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN, Geneva, opened the meeting and welcomed attendees. He was followed by Ambassador Victor Camilleri of the Permanent Mission of Malta; Mr Mike Corkerry, Executive Director of AT&T, EMEA Government Affairs; and Ambassador Fred Tanner, Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. The event focused, in part, on tools for remote participation in meetings and conferences, and the changes in practices brought about by use of such tools. Ms Ginger Paque of the IGF Remote Participation Working Group noted that remote participation may complement, but not replace, face-to-face meetings. Remote participation can increase inclusion while lowering costs in time, funds and carbon footprint. Responding from the audience, Internet Governance Thematic Ambassador Bertrand de la Chapelle noted that this move from 'attendance' to 'participation' is also changing the way people interact during physical meetings. As 'attendees' become 'participants', the focus is moving away from speeches towards interaction and discussion in conferences and meetings. 

View some video 'blips' with speakers and participants in the event.

See pictures from the session.

Date: 29 - 30 April, 2010
Location: Baku

Continuing Diplo’s programme of cooperation with the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy, Diplo faculty member Dr Andrei Mikheyev delivered a two-day workshop on E-Diplomacy for students of Advanced Foreign Service Program at Baku. Some 29 participants attended the workshop, 16 of them from the Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the rest from various ministries (culture, population, agriculture, tourism) and companies of Azerbaijan. The participants learned about the main trends of the Internet and how they affect governmental activities (diplomacy in particular), with a special focus on social media. Workshop participants were introduced to various online tools they can use to increase the effectiveness of their everyday work (organizing information, online collaboration, communicating with the target audiences through websites and other online media). The workshop included hands-on exercises, discussions and student presentations.

Date: 27 April, 2010
Location: New York

The third in a series of launch events for the E-diplomacy Initiative was held on 27 April, 2010 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. It was organized by the Permanent Missions of Malta and Switzerland to the UN in partnership with DiploFoundation, with the support of the UNDCPI, the OICT, UNPAN and AT&T, and was attended by over 70 diplomats and other officials.

Several UN high officials participated in the event: United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Mr Kiyo Akasaka; United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Chief Information Technology Officer, Mr Choi Soon-Hong; and Director of the United Nations Division for Public Administration and Development Management of DESA, Ms Haiyan Qian. In their address to the participants, they confirmed their readiness to partner and support the E-diplomacy Initiative. Welcome addresses were delivered by E-diplomacy core partners: Malta (Ambassador Saviour Borg), Switzerland (Ms Heidi Grau) and AT&T (Mr Jeff Brueggeman).

For more information about the event visit http://edip.diplomacy.edu, read the report on the website of the Permanent Mission of Malta to the UN in New York, and a Twitter report from the event.