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DiploNews – Issue 322 – 19 April 2017

APPLY NOW: Digital Commerce – Just-in-time Geneva-based course

This course – delivered by the Geneva Internet Platform (GIP), in partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC), the Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS International), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and DiploFoundation – aims to assist permanent missions and international organisations in Geneva to deal with fast emerging digital commerce issues. It provides an interdisciplinary coverage of e-commerce , from both digital and trade perspectives. The course will benefit diplomats who follow digital commerce negotiations on the multilateral and bilateral levels and other professionals in the field of trade. While improving their knowledge on e-commerce, participants will also gain the practical skills and information required to discuss specific digital policy issues, such as cross-border data flows, data localisation, cybersecurity, consumer protection, and the implication of emerging technologies to digital commerce, such as algorithms, the Internet of Things, and 3D printing. The course will focus on e-commerce negotiations and policy processes that are currently taking place in International Geneva. Due to the blended learning course format, which includes weekly face-to-face meetings, registration for this session of the Digital Commerce course is open only to applicants based in Geneva. The course begins on 26 April. The application deadline is 19 April. Visit the course webpage for more information and to apply.

May 2017 online courses

Starting on 8 May 2017, we offer courses on diplomacy topics, both classic and contemporary:

Apply by 20 April for Diplo certificate courses. For further information or to apply, click on the titles of the courses listed, or visit our courses webpage. Register now to reserve your place.

Thanks to support from the government of Malta, partial scholarships are available for applicants from developing countries to attend upcoming Diplo online courses. These scholarships cover 30-70% of course fees and can be applied to most online courses in 2017.

For more information on any of our courses and on partial scholarships, contact admissions@diplomacy.edu. You can also sign up for our courses mailing list to be informed about upcoming courses.

Data diplomacy: Mapping the field

On 5 April, Diplo organised a roundtable on Data Diplomacy: Mapping the Field, which addressed the role of (big) data in diplomacy. The event is part of an ongoing research project, commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. Capturing the diversity of expertise in Geneva, the event resulted in a summary report of the roundtable. In addition to providing an overview of the individual discussion topics, the report summarises the opportunities, limitations, challenges, and management of data as applied to diplomacy and international affairs.

April WebDebate on Education Dipomacy: a new diplomacy for the SDG era? 

In our April WebDebate, we discussed Education Diplomacy, which could be described as the use of diplomacy to further education as a driver for development. We asked: What is Education Diplomacy? Is it still diplomacy? What are the approaches to Education Diplomacy? What knowledge and skills does it require? The panellists were Dr Katharina Höne, Ms Yvette Gatilao Murphy and Ms Phoebe Farag Mikhail. You can read a summary of the debate here and watch the recording:

YouTube player

The debate is part of our series of WebDebates on the future of diplomacy, which are streamed in real-time on the first Tuesday of every month. They are organised by DiploFoundation within the framework of the International Forum on Diplomatic Training (IFDT).

Data diplomacy brown-bag lunch

On 2 May 2017, the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs is organising a brown-bag lunch on data diplomacy. During this event, DiploFoundation’s Dr Jovan Kurblaija and Barbara Rosen Jacobson will provide a briefing on the preliminary results of the data diplomacy research project. Participants will be encouraged to brainstorm about solving the gap between diplomacy and big data and about ways to make diplomats more aware of the possibilities and challenges of the data-driven era.

What’s been happening in Diplo’s blogsphere

In Survival guide for online/in situ blended events Diplo’s Arvin Kamberi draws on his rich experience of connecting a global audience to in situ events in Geneva. Kamberi argues that this integrated approach to conducting conferences will become the norm in the future.  However, the online component needs careful planning, an aspect often underestimated by newcomers, he argues. A smooth integration of the online component in planning the conference is paramount. Reflecting on technical aspects, customisation, and preparation, Kamberi shares his lessons learned and best practices. 

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