This course aims to assist professionals in Washington, DC to actively follow the increasingly relevant fields of digital policy and Internet governance (IG).
The course will benefit individuals directly working or engaging with Internet-related policy fields (e.g. telecommunications, human rights, cybersecurity, trade, development). In addition to building their knowledge of digital politics, course participants will gain in-demand practical skills for staying abreast of digital policy processes, ranging from global Internet governance architecture to privacy and data protection to cybersecurity. All course content is tailored to the DC policy environment.
The course is organised by Diplo US in co-operation with New America.
Due to the blended learning course format which includes weekly face-to-face meetings, registration for this course is open only to applicants available to meet weekly in Washington, DC.
The course covers the following issue areas of digital policy:
- Global Internet infrastructure: understanding how the Internet functions in order to deal with digital policy
- Cybersecurity: making the Internet safe and stable
- Legal issues: solving digital cases across national jurisdictions
- Economic issues: promoting digital commerce, investment, and innovation
- Development: ensuring that digital policies support implementation of the sustainable development goals and reduction of digital divides, including sociocultural issues of multilingualism and cultural diversity
- Human rights issues: implications for offline and online human rights, ensuring protection of privacy, freedom of expression and other important issues
For each digital policy issue, participants will learn about the main actors and policy processes. In particular, participants will address policy aspects of the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, robotics, and big data.
How will you learn?
Course participants will engage in a combination of dynamic online classroom exchanges and in-person lunchtime learning sessions. You will receive guidance and personalised feedback on your classwork from the course team.
How long will you learn?
The course lasts for 8 weeks:
- 1 week of course introduction and orientation to online learning
- 7 weeks of addressing the course topics one by one (see below for more details)
Course lecturers
Anne-Rachel Inné
Director-General of Niger's Agency for Information Society
Pavlina Ittelson
Executive Director, Diplo US
Tereza Horejsova
Board Member, Diplo US
Virginia (Ginger) Paque
Senior Policy Editor, Diplo
Vladimir Radunović
Director of Cybersecurity & E-diplomacy, Diplo
Who should apply
This course will benefit individuals directly working in or engaging with Internet related policy fields (e.g. telecommunications, human rights, cybersecurity, trade, development).
To ensure effective interaction, the class size is limited to 25 participants. Applications will be processed based on date and time of receipt.
Overview
The course consist of 7 modules:
- Introduction to digital policy and diplomacy
- Infrastructure and standardisation
- Legal issues
- Economic issues
- Human rights
- Cybersecurity
- Development and sociocultural issues
Also of interest
Need more info:
DiploFoundation (attn Tanja Nikolic)
Anutruf, Ground Floor, Hriereb Street Msida, MSD 1675, Malta
Methodology
The course runs from 16 September to 8 November 2019, using a blended learning technique combining dynamic exchange in an online classroom with weekly lunchtime learning sessions at New America’s offices.
Each week, participants will interact in an online classroom where they will find all reading materials and tools for online discussion. During the week, participants read the lecture texts, adding comments, references, and questions in the form of hypertext entries. The course faculty and other participants read and respond to these entries, creating interaction based on the lecture text. During the week, participants also complete short quizzes to test their understanding of the course materials.
The weekly discussion will continue during group meetings scheduled for 1.00 pm to 2.15 pm each Friday at New America’s offices (740 15th St NW). During the informal sandwich lunch, the course faculty will clarify pending issues from the week’s online interaction, and discuss ongoing policy processes with participants. The first face-to-face meeting, an introductory/orientation meeting, is scheduled for Friday, 20 September.
This course requires a minimum of five hours of study time per week.
Participants who complete the course successfully will receive a course certificate issued by Diplo US and New America.
Prerequisites
Applicants for this course should be available to meet weekly in Washington, DC. We understand that work and travel schedules might hinder attendance for some specific dates. During these weeks, participants may still complete online course tasks in order to qualify for the course certificate.
Fees and scholarships
The course fee is USD 999, due upon acceptance and no later than 6 September 2019. Scholarships requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
How to apply
Please apply online using our online application form by 19 August 2019. Late applications will be considered only if places remain in the course.
For questions, please contact Diplo US: diplous@diplomacy.edu, tel. (+1) 202-413-9233.
