22. 2. 2024 | PR, Strategic Communication
Mengeš, 22 February 2024 – Today, Jable Castle hosted a panel discussion on the topic of Countering the threat of disinformation in the context of global challenges. Joining us to open the discussion officially was Ms Nataša Pirc Musar, President of Slovenia.
The event participants were welcomed by the Project Manager of the Centre for European Perspective, Ms Ingrid Omahna, who provided a few opening remarks. Following Ms Omahna, Ms Nataša Pirc Musar gave an introductory speech remarking on the importance of fighting disinformation to protect our democracies. She emphasized the significance of the current year marked by numerous elections across 70 countries.
The moderator of the discussion was Ms Neelu Shanker, Chargée d’affaires of the Embassy of Canada. The panellists were Mr Jean-Christophe Boucher, Associate Professor of the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, Canada and Ms Miriam Možgan, Foreign Policy Adviser to the President of the Republic of Slovenia.
The panel discussion revolved around addressing the global threat of disinformation, particularly its impact on elections and democratic processes. Discussions included the urgency of combating disinformation, upcoming legislative measures in the EU, and the evolving response of tech corporations. Presentations focused on AI-driven approaches to analyze and counter disinformation and the societal impacts of misinformation, emphasizing the need for proactive measures and media literacy to combat this challenge effectively.
The event was organised in partnership with the Embassy of Canada in Hungary, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
8. 12. 2023 | Peace and security, POTC, PR, Security
On the 30th of November, the last training of 2023, the Disruptive Military Practices & Technologies Training, was held at POTC’s home base – Jable Castle, for a group of dedicated participants, mainly coming from the Slovenian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence.
Kliknite tukaj za branje članka v slovenskem jeziku.
The aim of the training was to address the emergence of new technologies and practices in the security and defence field, which have the potential to disrupt. More concretely, the sessions focused on the following subjects:
- Space Weather: insights into the influence of space weather on critical infrastructure;
- Space Technologies and their Applications: the latest developments in space technologies and their practical applications in the defence sector;
- EU Technological Sovereignty: addressing the crucial topic of maintaining technological sovereignty within the European Union;
- The Disruptive Potential of AI in the Field of Security: understanding the transformative power of Artificial Intelligence and its impact on national and international security.
The participants of the training had the chance to hear about and discuss important topics with leading lecturers whose insights were invaluable. The training was not short on new and emerging concepts and terms such as digital twins, rare earth mineral dependence, space storms, satellite flood mapping, failure prediction and information warfare.
With this, POTC’s training activities for 2023 have been concluded. We are more than pleased to have facilitated a wide array of training activities this year and are excited about what is coming in 2024.
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13. 10. 2023 | PR, Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Foreign Perpetrated Disinformation in 6 Western Balkans Countries
Project Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Disinformation in the Western Balkans is continuing its in-country visits to the Western Balkans, with back-to-back visits to Sarajevo and Belgrade, on 24 and 27 October, respectively.
Joined by international and local experts and practitioners, we will discuss country-specific challenges and priorities in countering foreign-perpetrated disinformation. The program for each visit will take into account the inputs of national working groups from our regional capacity-building conference in Portoroz earlier this year, as well as consider new developments in the joint EU and Euro-Atlantic efforts to counter the threat of foreign-perpetrated disinformation.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, we will thus look at the example of Belgium to discuss the issues of establishing effective defence mechanisms in a complex state structure. Moreover, we will talk about the money and financing aspects in both the proliferation, and in countering disinformation.
In Serbia, we will look at best practices of national systems of countering disinformation, as can be found in Estonia or Finland. In addition to national efforts, we will also consider the potential benefits of multilateral cooperation in this field.
The events are open to representatives of government, media, civil society, academia, the international community and all other interested members of the public.
If you would like to join, you can register your attendance at the following links:
The Project Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Disinformation in the Western Balkans is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia through development cooperation funds.
31. 8. 2023 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR, Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Foreign Perpetrated Disinformation in 6 Western Balkans Countries
On 28 August 2023, Western Balkans media and civil society representatives gathered at the margins of the Bled Strategic Forum for a roundtable discussion, ‘The Line Is(n’t) Thin: Fact v. Opinion, Regulation v. Censorship’. Joining the discussion was a Deutsche Welle journalist and a Global Diplomacy Lab member, Burak Ünveren. Together, participants exchanged experiences regarding the role and position of fact-checking in their respective countries, touched upon the challenges of journalism and effective communication of facts to society in the digital, ‘post-truth’ age, emphasized the risks inherent to the current business model of media outlets and noted the difficulties in maintaining an effective government-media-civil society relationship. Participants also weighed government intervention’s pros and cons in introducing counter-disinformation regulation. While there is no clear-cut answer to any of these questions, ensuring the sustainability of professional and quality journalism and supporting journalistic standards was heralded as a priority for all societies.
The discussion was organised under the framework of the ‘Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Foreign Perpetrated Disinformation in the Western Balkans’ project. The project also allowed participants to attend the panels of the 18th Bled Strategic Forum, held in Bled on 28-29 August.
The Project Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Disinformation in the Western Balkans is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia through development cooperation funds.
31. 8. 2023 | Strategic Communication, Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Foreign Perpetrated Disinformation in 6 Western Balkans Countries
Project Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Disinformation in the Western Balkans is making an in-country visit to Skopje, North Macedonia. On 5 September, the project is inviting representatives of civil society, media and academia, as well as the government and the international community, to attend a rich programme dedicated to exploring the way forward in the whole-of-society approach to countering foreign perpetrated disinformation. The programme will be supported by relevant researchers and practitioners from North Macedonia and beyond, including representatives of the EU External Action Service (EEAS), the Government of Estonia and the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE).
North Macedonia is currently providing an example of good practice in the Western Balkans, having developed, through a multi-stakeholder consultative process, the Recommendations for Joint Action for Building Societal Resilience Towards Malign Influences of Disinformation. With this in-country visit, the Project seeks to support the next steps in the Recommendations implementation. The agenda will, therefore, showcase the successful approaches and practices of countering disinformation in other countries and situate the entire process within the context of joint EU efforts and the EU accession process.
The Project Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Disinformation in the Western Balkans is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia through development cooperation funds.
