DiploNews – Issue 219 – 7 January 2013

2013 Online Courses

Start your year with online learning. The following courses all start the week of 18 February 2013:

• Diplomatic Theory and Practice
• Public Diplomacy
• Language and Diplomacy
• Diplomatic Protocol and Etiquette
• Multilateral Diplomacy II: Current Issues in the United Nations

Apply by 14 January 2013 for Diplo Certificate Courses. For further information or to apply, click on the titles of the courses, or visit our courses website. Register now to reserve your place.

Introduction to Internet Governance course – Last call to apply

Professionals working in specialised Internet governance and ICT-related areas often need to supplement their knowledge by learning about other areas which affect or impact  their area of specialisation. Just as the Internet breaks down geographical boundaries, it also creates overlaps and intersections among the different areas of IG and ICT policy.
 
One way to understand how different issues affect each other (technical, social, development, economic, legal, security, etc.), and to fill in any gaps across professional and issue areas is to step back and take a look at the big picture of the overall issues. You can analyse how they affect each other, discuss the topics with colleagues who work in one area, and share your expertise in another. You can see how experts from different regions are addressing the same issues or different priorities. You can do this online, in just 8-10 hours a week. The course is spread over 10 weeks, starting with an online classroom orientation week, followed by 8 weeks of coursework, and a final exam week.

The application deadline for the February 2013 course is 14 January 2013. For more information about the course and how to apply, please visit the Introduction to Internet Governance course page or contact ig@diplomacy.edu

Upcoming 5th Workshop on Modern Diplomacy for Small States

DiploFoundation in collaboration with the Government of Malta and the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC) is organising the 5th workshop on Modern Diplomacy for Small States, in Malta,  13-22 March 2013. The application deadline is 13 January 2013.

The workshop focuses on the current diplomatic challenges and organisational needs of small states, engaging as speakers experienced diplomats who have first-hand knowledge of the challenges facing small states and how these challenges have been dealt with in Malta. The workshop is designed to encourage interaction between participants and speakers. More information is available at https://md.diplomacy.edu

Discussing Internet governance

The much anticipated World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), which took place in December, ended without consensus. The meeting spurred a barrage of discussions; the outcomes are still being debated. The proceedings and outcomes of WCIT12 were the topic of our December Internet governance webinar, hosted by Internet governance analyst Samantha Dickinson (@sgdickinson). She gave an overview of the developments and a rundown of the amended ITRs, and discussed the impact of the amendments on certain areas like net neutrality, openness, and diversity of services. If you missed the webinar, you can download/view a recording and read the webinar digest here.

On our Internet governance community platform, Adela Danciu shares some thoughts on IG-related discussions that took place during a recent training seminar by the European University Institute. In the first of two blog posts, she talks about how digital technologies have contributed to current complex societal changes, while in the second post she refers to specific areas which have been impacted, such as Intellectual Property Rights.

In a three-series post Prakash Neupane discusses areas related to e-government: as a tool to achieve better governance; the advantages in, and priorities for, implementing an e-governance strategy; the challenges arising at implementation stage, and steps that can be taken to overcome these challenges.

To read more IG-related blog posts, subscribe to Diplo’s IG blog, and follow blog posts shared by members of Diplo’s IG community.

What's happening in Diplo's blogosphere

Welcome to 2013 and another year of interesting and thought-provoking blog posts from Diplo’s blogosphere.  On the Looking Sideways channel, Aldo Matteucci wonders How to prosecute a mentality? He also suggests that we Study events – not linear time as he ruminates on Prof. Maureen O’Hara’s acceptance speech for her honorary doctorate from Berne University in which she explains some of her work on stock market transactions.

On the E-diplomacy channel, Jovan Kurbalija wonders at  being counter-intuitive in e-diplomacy as he reflects on insights by Amb. Alexandre Fasel who comments that the higher the budget often the lower the impact of e-diplomacy projects. Jovan also looks at  Wisdom and Empathy in Diplomacy resulting from a Belgrade seminar on Excellence in Diplomacy. Pete Cranston’s post on the 'The Ambassador's New Car' and other lessons from Sina Weibo discusses the innovation shown in the work of the Canadian Embassy in Beijing on the Sina Weibo platform demonstrating how important it is in e-diplomacy to steer innovation with experience.

Over on the Climate Change channel, Katharina Höne, in her post  One state one vote in climate change negotiations rolls out the big question: Should climate change negotiations be organised according to the ‘one state one vote’ principle?

Remember, you, too, can have your say. If you'd like to be a guest blogger, let us know. And, if you'd like to comment on any of these or any other posts, visit our blog.