16. 12. 2019 | European Digital Diplomacy Exchange, PR
Nowadays, everyone has a powerful video camera in a pocket: a smartphone. With a little practice, tools, tips, government communicators have all they need at their fingertips. The Centre for European Perspective (CEP) in cooperation with the United States Department of State, therefore conducted a training on Smartphone Videography between 10 and 12 December 2019 in Bled, Slovenia.
The training attracted more than 30 government communicators coming from different ministries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Romania, Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine and Slovenia.
Since video is undoubtedly one of the most engaging and effective tools to communicate with audiences at the time, the participants were introduced to the world of smartphone filmmaking. After a course with Boštjan Romih they became confident and engaging public speakers, digital storytellers after a session with Charlelie Jourdan and effective communicators during the crisis after the lecture from Matt Jacobs. For the finals, they learned about the digital convergence with Matej Praprotnik and media strategies in Bosnia and Herzegovina with Admir Malagic on the first day.
On the second day, film director and CEO of Studio Production House Dražen Štader guided participants through the process of smartphone video production, including the needed equipment, video-techniques and editing of video products. U.S. Embassy Ljubljana Public Affairs Officer, J.B. Leedy presented best practices in smartphone photography, while Ingrid Omahna focused on visual communication design. Andy Carvin from the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council and Nina Pejič, Researcher at Faculty of Social Sciences of the University in Ljubljana talked about the emerging threats in the digital space.
On the last day, participants divided into 6 teams needed to put the gained knowledge into practice. They became a team of government communicators for the Ministry of Citizen Protection of a country called Sloland that is challenged with a huge influx of refugees from a neighboring country called Gotan. They were tasked to launch a 3-day digital campaign to communicate the benefits of immigration and push back against anti-immigrant and anti-refugee rhetoric, which they completed with excellence.
European Digital Diplomacy Exchange project that started off in 2017 on the initiative of the U.S. Department of State, is committed to increasing members’ collective capacities to effectively operate within the digital information space. The strong relationships fostered over the courses of the project have precipitated a network of dedicated professionals who are committed to ensuring governments are operating ahead of the digital curve, and therefore able to better communicate with their citizens, better listen to their citizens, and both embrace and protect their role within the context of this new, democratized, digital information environment.
10. 12. 2019 | European Digital Diplomacy Exchange, PR
The Centre for European Perspective, together with the U.S. Department of State is organizing a three-day training that is tailor made for government communicators, public officers and digital diplomats alike. The training will take place between Tuesday 10th of December and Thursday 12th of December at Bled, Slovenia.
The modern information and media sphere form an information highway, that has unveiled both opportunities and pressing challenges for all the stakeholders that work to protect information integrity. Technological advancement and innovation have made it significantly easier for individuals to participate in the information flow, a significant contribution to the democratic dialogue. The same opportunities are unfortunately also available to harmful narratives, that may use amplification tools to mis- and dis-inform. Governments are therefore uniquely challenged, to proactively and re-actively inform their citizens and cooperate with their audience in a dialogue of equal voices. Government communicators, who effectively safeguard information integrity through their every day work as a result need to poses an unique skillet of abilities and knowledge to be effective and address the challenges with a stronger voice.
For this purpose, a fifth iteration of the training, taking place between 10th and 12st June 2019 at Bled, Slovenia, will join the forces of government communicators from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Ukraine. The training will cover a range of topics from public relations and public diplomacy theory to practical application of digital tools. Participants will also gain valuable knowledge on the practical application of smartphones, technology, that presents a world of opportunities at the touch of our fingertips.
The project is a result of a joint cooperation between the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Embassy in Ljubljana and the Centre for European Perspective.
11. 10. 2019 | European Digital Diplomacy Exchange, PR
The second meeting of the European Digital Diplomacy Exchange (EDDE) project Steering Board took place in Washington D.C. from 30th September to 4th October 2019 in order to review the project efforts within the current year, address future challenges with an outlook to the sustainability of the project and to build beneficial partnerships with institutions, who are experts in the field of digital diplomacy and countering disinformation.
The first day of the meeting was an opportunity for the Steering Board to review the efforts within the EDDE project that were implemented in the current year, discuss trends and opportunities within the profession and most importantly, to find solutions for challenges ahead of the project. The group was then included in a presentation and open discussion with Mr. Samaruddin Stewart, Media Technologist, who presented the use of Google tools in the context of media reporting, a practical skill set that can also be of high value for governmental communicators within their everyday profession. The official program of the day concluded with a guided tour of the U.S. capital, the home of the United States Congress and the seat of the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government, which offered an interesting background and historical overview of Washington D.C. as the political epicentre of the United States of America.
The second day of the meeting took place within the U.S. Department of state, with presentations and open discussions from various offices within the institution. Their line of work tackles the topics of governmental communication, transparency building through the communication with audiences, efforts of countering disinformation and many other skillsets that offer motivation and inspiration for the EDDE project, but also an opportunity for joint cooperation in the future. The program continued with an evening reception at the Embassy of Slovenia in the United States of America. The guests were addressed by Mr. Ambassador Stanislav Vidovič and Ms Katja Geršak, CEP Executive director.
Wednesday presented the third day of the Steering board meeting with the continuation of fruitful meetings. The morning session took place within the Atlantic Council, a prominent think thank in the field of international relations who shared their experience of digital communication strategies, success stories of their communication campaigns, proactive resilience building against disinformation and other activities. The afternoon session included an open discussion with Professor Steven Livingston who is cooperating with the George Washington University School od Media and Public Affairs. The research of their team addresses disinformation campaigns present online and on multiple social media platforms, researching narratives from different aspects, all bringing to a better understanding of the phenomenon.
After successful meetings with governmental communicators, representatives of think tanks and Accademia, a cooperation with tech companies who actively shape the information environment of today, was a systematic next step for the study visit. The Washington D.C. Facebook outpost hosted the Steering Board on Thursday. The EDDE representatives were informed on new technological advancements and content activities, that are enforced by Facebook to secure a safe space where free speech with equal opportunities can take place. Governments and their digital efforts present an important link in the information landscape, that is why close cooperation with tech companies as Facebook is also imperative in the effort to secure transparent communication between governmental outreach and their audience, leading to more efficient and engaging policy making. With the rise of misinformation and disinformation campaigns, safeguarding the integrity of information is also becoming a high-stake objective, a challenge that can only be addressed by the common needs and strengths of the audiences, governments, tech companies, think thanks, academia and other stakeholders.
Friday marked the fifth and final day of the Steering Board meeting with close attention to the achievements and skillsets gained during the Washington study visit. The sharing of best practices, future EDDE activities planned and ideas to address common challenges have offered a strong base for future cooperation in activities taking place within the EDDE project.
The project is organised as a joint cooperation between the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Embassy in Ljubljana and the Centre for European Perspective. The activities are only a part of a series of events that will take place in the year 2019, building on past experience and motivation to contribute to the rapidly changing field of digital diplomacy.
3. 10. 2019 | European Digital Diplomacy Exchange, PR
Washington, 2. oktobra – V Washingtonu poteka drugo zasedanje upravnega odbora Evropske izmenjave aktivnosti digitalne diplomacije v ZDA. Gre za projekt, namenjen regiji Zahodnega Balkana in Vzhodne Evrope pri zoperstavljanju dezinformacijam, ki ga izvaja Center za evropsko perspektivo (CEP) s pomočjo slovenskega zunanjega ministrstva in State Departmenta.
Ob robu zasedanja, ki poteka od 30. septembra do 4. oktobra, sta slovenski veleposlanik v ZDA Stanislav Vidovič in direktorica CEP Katja Geršak v torek v prostorih veleposlaništva v Washingtonu pripravila sprejem za člane upravnega odbora.
Upravni odbor se bo v Washingtonu sestal tudi z različnimi think-tanki in akademskimi institucijami, tehnološkimi podjetji in državnimi organi z namenom ustvarjanja produktivnih partnerstev.
State Department, CEP in MZZ so skozi projekt Evropska izmenjava aktivnosti digitalne diplomacije uspeli vzpostaviti mrežo vladnih komunikatorjev iz držav Zahodnega Balkana in Vzhodne Evrope, ki skozi različna usposabljanja krepijo strateško komuniciranje za učinkovito delovanje v informacijskem prostoru.
V zadnjih dveh letih se je usposabljanj udeležilo več kot 240 ljudi iz Albanije, Bosne in Hercegovine, Črne gore, Severne Makedonije, Kosova, Srbije, Gruzije, Moldavije in Ukrajine. Projekt je pritegnil tudi zanimanje komunikatorjev iz Estonije, Latvije, Litve, Češke, Slovaške, Slovenije, Bolgarije in Romunije.
V zadnjem času je iskanje učinkovitega protistrupa za dezinformacije postalo osrednje prizadevanje odločevalcev, novinarjev in akademikov po celem svetu. Januarja lani je Evropska komisija ustanovila skupino strokovnjakov na visoki ravni (HLEG) z namenom svetovanja o političnih pobudah za preprečevanje lažnih novic in dezinformacij, ki se širijo po spletu.
Dezinformacije je HLEG opredelil kot “vse oblike napačnih, netočnih ali zavajajočih informacij, ki so oblikovane, predstavljene ali širjene z namenom škoditi javnosti ali za dobiček.” Slovar slovenskega knjižnega jezika definira pojem dezinformacije kot napačne informacije, zlasti namerne.
Na informacijsko vojno slabo pripravljene institucije in organe odločanja so ob številnih priložnostih presenetili državni in nedržavni akterji, ki lažne informacije vsakodnevno širijo preko tradicionalnih in družbenih medijev. Še večja težava se pojavlja v tranzicijskih državah Zahodnega Balkana in Vzhodne Evrope, kjer dezinformacije zavirajo družbeno-politični napredek držav v smeri demokracije in krepijo protievropska in protiameriška čustva.
Vir: STA
30. 9. 2019 | European Digital Diplomacy Exchange, PR
in the scope of the project European Digital Diplomacy Exchange we are organizing the second Steering Board meeting that will be held from 30th September to 4th October 2019 in Washington D.C., United States.
The meeting will be the opportunity for the Steering Board members to discuss with public- and private sector entities. Importantly, it will seek to cement relationships between tech firms, think thanks, and others that can continue to sustain and support the network. This component will therefore include meetings with various Department of State entities, as well as several think tanks actively engaged in digital communications, and various tech companies with an eye toward developing the familiarity necessary to produce productive public-private partnerships.
The project is organised as a joint cooperation between the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Embassy in Ljubljana and the Centre for European Perspective. The activities are only a part of a series of events that will take place in the year 2019, building on past experience and motivation to contribute to the rapidly changing field of digital diplomacy.
26. 6. 2019 | European Digital Diplomacy Exchange, PR
The Centre for European Perspective, together with the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassies in Greece and North Macedonia, co-hosted a workshop entitled “Empowering Journalists to Address Disinformation in Greece & North Macedonia” in Thessaloniki, from 24 – 26 June 2019.
Developments in the last few years have transformed the communications landscape, raising questions about the quality, impact and credibility of journalism. At the same time, agents of disinformation are using anonymous online spaces to seed rumors and false content aiming to reach professional news outlets and multiply their effect. How can journalists protect themselves from being manipulated?
The workshop gathered 40 journalists from Athens-Macedonian News Agency (AMNA), North Macedonia’s Media and Information Agency (MIA), private media outlets, as well as academics and representatives from civil society to discuss how to address the disinformation challenges faced by both countries and multisector approaches to combating it.
The project is a result of a joint cooperation between the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Embassies in Greece and North Macedonia, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), along with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (AMNA), and the Centre for European Perspective.
