DiploNews – Issue 220 – 21 January 2013

2013 Online Courses

Due to a high level of interest, we've extended the application deadline for our online courses starting the week of 18 February 2013:

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

Apply by 1 Februay 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.

Advanced Diplomatic Webinars on the Evolution of Diplomacy and Technology

We hope that you’ve had the chance to explore Diplo’s 2013 calendar on the evolution of diplomacy and are finding it useful and engaging. Besides its main, somewhat obvious, function, the calendar will form the basis for our 2013 discussion on the historical interplay between diplomacy and technology, and its relevance for our time. For example, what can we learn about e-diplomacy from the ways in which the telegraph and radio have affected diplomacy over the last two centuries? How does e-communication affect human empathy?

We will explore such questions, and many more, in a series of free monthly webinars starting this week, with the first discussion on Diplomacy in the Prehistoric era. You can consult the background document and register online to join us on Friday, 25th January 2013, at 13.00 CET/GMT+1. We invite you and your colleagues to take part in this useful and enjoyable journey through the history of diplomacy and technology.

Diplo IG community endorses IGF MAG nominees

In support of greater inclusion in the IGF multistakeholder process, last week Diplo community members were encouraged to consider an official call issued by the UN DESA and IGF Secretariat to self-nominate for a position on the 2013 Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG). Nominees were also invited to post their nomination on Diplo’s Internet governance community platform. After the nomination period closed, community members were then asked to participate in an online consensus poll to select five nominees for community endorsement.

The candidates endorsed by the community are Angelic Caroline Alihusain-del Castilho (Suriname), Fatima Cambronero (Argentina), Adela Danciu (Romania), Juan Manuel Rojas Piedrahita (Colombia), Baudouin Schombe (DR Congo), Desiree Zachariah (Antigua and Barbuda).

The majority of community members who took part in the consensus poll also agreed that the IGF Secretariat/UN DESA should be asked to allow the continuation of any 2012 MAG members who would like to continue to form part of MAG, and have been active in completing their responsibilities. In particular, the community recommended that the following 2012 MAG nominees continue their work through 2013: Itzumi Aizu, Valeria Betancourt, Raul Echeberria, Anriette Esterhuysen, Vladimir Radunovic and Graciela Selaimen.

We congratulate the endorsed candidates, and thank the nominees and community members for taking part in this process.

Discussing Internet Governance

Diplo’s online Internet governance community site has been brewing with activity. Trevor Phipps reminds us to send in suggestions/proposals on how the IGF process can be improved. Contributions should be submitted by 14 February.

Juan Manuel Rojas reports that security researchers have said that attackers are exploiting vulnerabilities of the Java plugin and Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Is it better to disable it? Read about the vulnerabilities and what can be done to overcome them. In another blog post, Rojas asks whether we can rely on the data stored in the cloud, and explores security solutions. He also asks whether we are careful enough with our passwords, data, etc, and offers a few recommendations to curb online threats.

Elections in Kenya are taking place soon. As of this year, Kenyans can track elections information, and keep themselves apprised on the electoral process through an election hub, launched recently by Google, Grace Githaiga reports.

In e-government, what is a front-office, and how is it implemented? Prakash Neupane writes about online services and citizen engagement in his two-part series.

Last but not least, Tom Kizito Mayengo looks at the problem of hate speech. Is anonymity the problem, he asks? Read his post on social networks and bad practices.

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 been happening in Diplo's blogosphere?

Well, as 2013 settles in and makes itself known, Diplo’s bloggers have been busy. Over on the Diplomacy channel, Hannah Slavik takes a brief look at Expeditionary diplomacy as featured in the Diplomatic Theory and Practice course. There’s a nice summary of links we liked, including iFreedom, Lego, social media policies, Digital Addiction, and Peak Facebook on the E-diplomacy channel along with Pete Cranston’s review of An e-diplomacy moment in Mexico. Aldo Matteucci acknowledges that international meetings can be drudgery and shares some interesting survival tactics in his post, While the delegate drones on…Perhaps prompted by Andreas Sandre’s comment that 'Today’s State Department, as shaped by Secretary Clinton, … has created a better balance between the “Billiard Ball World” and the “Lego World”', Aldo also wonders Does diplomacy need (game) theory?  On our Looking Sideways channel we look at e-diplomacy in a lego world. Over on the Climate Change channel, Katharina Höne responds to a report on Advancing Climiate Negotiations and in doing so perhaps outs herself as a pessimist.

Remember, you, too, can have your say. Comment on any of our blog posts or indeed submit your own thoughts/views/opinions for inclusion as a guest blogger.