DiploNews – Issue 332 – 15 September 2017

The Future of Diplomacy: Celebrating Diplo’s anniversary

In November 2017, we will celebrate 15 years of DiploFoundation and 25 years of research and training on Internet and diplomacy. We will mark this milestone with a conference on The Future of Diplomacy, in Malta, in which we will reflect on the role of diplomacy in the modern era, and the impact of technology and other areas on the core functions of diplomacy. Rapid developments in the fields of artificial intelligence will inspire one of the conference’s main sessions.

Reflecting on this milestone, Diplo director Dr Jovan Kurbalija explains that the need to adapt and innovate is more important than ever. In our agile approach to our work, we have always identified emerging issues and addressed them by using substantive research based on technology, law, economics, and political science. The key is to be on the cutting edge but not slide into the hype that new developments easily bring.

We invite you to join us in Malta, 17–18 November 2017; visit the conference website to learn more.

Introducing Diplo’s new Alumni network

DiploFoundation is inviting all Alumni to join the new Facebook group for Diplo alumni. The group will help us share, brainstorm, imagine, and catalyse new ideas in an informal group for a flexible, lighter side to our work. This may well give rise to ideas and connections, and stimulate our creative processes, with a bit of fun as well. The Alumni Group is a closed group, which means that only alumni members, and Diplo’s faculty and staff, can join; this allows us to respect each others’ privacy. We’d love to hear an update from you. When you join the group, please post to let us know a bit about yourself. Tell us what you are doing now, with a more personal touch if you like. When possible, we’ll try to meet in person at regional and global meetings as well. Why not join us soon, to be ready to take advantage of upcoming meetings in Malta and Geneva?

Diplo’s director in the USA: events in Washington DC, New York, and San Francisco

The Director of DiploFoundation and Head of the Geneva Internet Platform, Jovan Kurbalija, will be in the USA, speaking at the following events:

25 September, Washington DC – Governing the Future of the Internet (in co-operation with New America)
27–28 September, San Francisco – Crisis Code: Humanitarian Protection in the Digital Age (in co-operation wtih swissnex)
2 October, New York City – Briefing for the Permanent Representatives of New York Missions on Current Trends in Digital Policy and Interplay between New York and Geneva (in co-operation with the Permanent Missions of Switzerland and Malta, on invitation only)

Upcoming study and training opportunities

Applications open for the 2018 Master/Postgraduate Diploma in Contemporary Diplomacy

Diplo is now accepting applications for the 2018 Master/Postgraduate Diploma in Contemporary Diplomacy, and the Master/Postgraduate Diploma in Contemporary Diplomacy with a specialisation in Internet governance. These unique postgraduate programmes, offered in co-operation with the University of Malta, include a 10-day residential workshop in Malta followed by 16–20 months of online learning. Visit the Master in Contemporary Diplomacy webpage to read more. Scholarships covering 20–50% of the Postgraduate Diploma fee are available for applicants from small and developing states. The programme starts on 5 February 2018. The application deadline is 15 October 2017 for international applicants and 15 November 2017 for Maltese applicants.

Autumn courses on diplomacy and digital policy

Diplo offers a wide range of exciting online courses this autumn, starting the week of 3 October.

The application deadline has been extended to 19 September 2017 for Diplo certificate courses (but will be closed when we reach the partiicpant limit for each course). For further information or to apply, click on the titles of the courses above, or visit our courses webpage. Register now to reserve your place.

Malta scholarships

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. Browse our course catalogue and contact us at admissions@diplomacy.edu for further information.

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. 

New partnership with Argentina

Diplo is pleased to announce a new partnership on diplomatic training with the National Foreign Service Institute (ISEN) of Argentina. This summer, the two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding to promote and develop mutual cooperation in the field of online diplomatic training. The new partnership will allow ISEN to make use of Diplo’s online courses in diplomacy in training its diplomats located in the capital and at diplomatic missions worldwide. In addition, the institutions will share information on online diplomatic training initiatives; promote the development and delivery of online courses in areas of global governance; consider organising conferences, workshops, and seminars on online diplomatic training; and explore ideas for jointly developing and delivering new online courses. Read more on Diplo’s blog.

9 October: Data Diplomacy event in Helsinki

On 9 October, from 9:00 to 13:30, DiploFoundation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland will organise an event on Big Data for Diplomacy. The event will take place in Helsinki and address the utility and challenges of using new forms of data for Ministries of Foreign Affairs. The event will bring together different professional communities to generate insight into the realistic potential of big data’s contribution to diplomacy. If you’re interested in participateing Helsinki, visit the registration page to reserve your place. Unfortunately, remote participation will not be possible.

Upcoming policy briefs in Geneva

DiploFoundation and the Geneva Internet Platform are organising three briefs on digital policy in Geneva:

20 September: Digital policies and trends: Build-up to the Internet Governance Forum is an open discussion (organised by the Geneva Internet Platform and Internet Society Switzerland) for civil society. The event will discuss the opportunities to strengthen civil society’s contributions and participation in the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), which will take place in Geneva on 18–21 December.
22 September: Digital policy in global governance: Issues and challenges discussed in Geneva is a background event for Press representatives. Diplo director Dr Jovan Kurbalija will highlight the main digital policy issues to follow in the next quarter.
26 September: The September briefing on Internet governance will highlight the main developments in digital policy in September, and what to expect in the upcoming period. The briefing is a monthly appointment with digital policy practitioners from around the world, taking place on the last Tuesday of every month. Participate online or from Geneva.

Digital policy newsletters: Now in French and Spanish

Issue 23 of the Geneva Digital Watch newsletter, covers the latest digital policy updates in July and August, is now published in two new languages: French, and Spanish. Download your copy!

The translations reflect the Geneva Internet Platform and DiploFoundation’s mission to engage even more actors in digital policy, through different languages. More multilingualism efforts will be undertaken to bring digital policy closer to practitioners, wherever they are.

What’s been happening in Diplo’s blogsphere

In her recent blog on Diplomacy as poetry, Diplo’s Dr Biljana Scott highlights the surprising but important common denominators between diplomacy and poetry. She looks at values such as game changers, redress, ambiguity, and the unsaid, and ambivalence and acumen. She concludes that ‘poetry can indeed help diplomacy, not least by promoting ambiguity as a resource, ambivalence as a strength, and acumen as a necessity!’ In addition, Diplo’s blogsphere featured summaries of our monthly Internet Governance briefing and our monthly WebDebate in diplomacy, which asked ‘Should we take new diplomacies seriously?’