Diplo Blog

The hands-on reflection of this blog post distils a couple of key success factors from a mature example of a digital journey of the alumni community of the College of Europe, a leading postgraduate institute for European studies.

Three hundred years ago, Charles Bonnet was born in the thriving intellectual epicentre of Geneva. Botanist, lawyer, philosopher, psychologist, and politician were but a few parts of what was a rich life of academic pursuits.

For delivering secure-by-design digital products, companies currently lack market incentives. Just as governments need industry for developing smart regulations and policies, the industry needs governments for setting the tone and impetus for the market. It is difficult to disagree with Bruce Schneier when he says that, in particular, the ‘Internet of Things (IoT) will remain insecure unless the government steps in and fixes the problem’. But he said that in November 2016; four years later – this is still the case.

Recent official revelations about the ‘special arrangements’ governing the diplomatic status of the US intelligence hub at the Croughton airbase in the English Midlands, which were provoked by the Sacoolas affair, raise important questions.

Article 12* of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 (VCDR), reads as follows:

Title of event: The Potential of Virtual Reality for Peace Mediation

Date 5 Nov 2020 

The Internet, as we know it today, has evolved from a platform of the tech, academic, and research elite, to a tool for the general public, given its wide adoption by the mainstream modern society (Naughton, 2016). Without the benefit of hindsight, few could have predicted the evolution of the Internet and how it’s continuously being shaped by economic and social changes.

Internet governance (IG) is about the rules, policies, standards, and practices that determine how cyberspace is governed. It goes beyond technical and infrastructural considerations, and addresses the legal, economic, developmental, sociocultural, and human rights implications of cyberspace. 

Formed in 2006, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a multistakeholder forum for discussing these issues. Multistakeholderism – the participation of all relevant stakeholders – is really the core value and a core practice of the IGF. 

It is widely assumed that human rights and electoral democracy are mutually supportive and inextricably linked. There can be little doubt that the regular holding of free and fair democratic elections is essential for citizens’ enjoyment of human rights. Nevertheless, the recent emergence of a range of different issues, including the misuse of digital technologies in voting, brings new challenges to the democratic process within both long-established and transitional electorally democratic countries.

By Katarina Andjelkovic, Andrijana Gavrilovic, Natasa Perucica, Katharina Hone, and Jovan Njegic

By Katarina Andjelkovic, Andrijana Gavrilovic, and Natasa Perucica