[governance] REMINDER / No Disconnect Strategy / Workshop on a "European Capability for Situational Awareness" / 23 November 2012, Brussels, Belgium

Thu Nov 15 09:06:00 EST 2012

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*Short version*

You are all kindly invited to a workshop which will be held on 23 November
2012 in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss a key component of the "No Disconnect
Strategy" of the European Commission, i.e. the development of a "European
Capability for Situational Awareness". The purpose of ECSA is to augment EU
decision-making capabilities with reliable and real-time (or almost
real-time) information concerning human rights violations in connection
with the digital environment. For further information see the full
invitation below and the webpage at
http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/no-disconnect-strategy-workshop-european-capability-situational-awareness-23-november-2012,
where you can also find the updated agenda (also attached to this email).

For further information on the content of the workshop, please write to me (
Andrea.Glorioso at ec.europa.eu).

To participate in the workshop (no fee, but no reimbursement of expenses,
either) please write to Ms Katrin Alfano (Katrin.Alfano at ec.europa.eu) with
your name/surname, nationality and ID / passport number.

*Please note that registration is compulsory to be able to access the
buildings of the European Commission*.

*Long version*

In December 2011 Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission
and Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, launched the "No Disconnect
Strategy" (NDS), to support and assist human rights defenders, civil
society organizations and individual citizens against arbitrary disruptions
to the Internet and other electronic communication technologies and
indiscriminate surveillance in authoritarian regimes. [1]

One of the components of the NDS is the development of a "European
Capability for Situational Awareness" (ECSA) platform.

The purpose of the ECSA platform is to augment EU decision-making
capabilities with reliable and real-time or almost real-time information
concerning human rights violations and/or restrictions of fundamental
freedoms in connection with the digital environment. ECSA would seamlessly
aggregate public data from different sources and with innovative
visualisation techniques, to provide information on:

a)    What is happening in the Net, in terms of network connectivity and
traffic alterations or restrictions. The platform should integrate and
visualize different data sets analysing the "state of the Internet"
(nation-, region- or local disconnection, filtering, blocking and other
forms of disruptions) in order to allow decision-makers to act upon
reliable data concerning the "cyber-geography" of Internet connectivity.

b)    What is happening on the ground, in terms of human rights, media,
legal and policy developments concerning the Internet. The platform should
integrate and visualise data sets analysing legal and political
developments "on the ground" (e.g. arrests of journalists, crack-downs on
local NGOs, etc).

We are well aware that there are a number of projects which are working on
very similar challenges – and some of these projects might have already
developed parts of what the ECSA platform wishes to achieve.

Accordingly, the European Commission / DG Communication Networks, Content
and Technology would like to invite you to a workshop which will take place
in Brussels (Avenue de Beaulieu 25 – Building BU25 – Meeting room 0/S1) on
23 November 2012, from 09:30 to 17:00, in order to:

•    present and discuss the scope, objectives and "success criteria" of
the ECSA platform;

•    present and discuss some of the projects that are working in this
field;

•    provide the opportunity for (social) networking and;

•    identify the best way in which the EU can provide added value to
strengthen on-going activities and achieve the objectives of the ECSA
platform, including (where appropriate) via financial support;

The workshop is meant to be as informal and operational as possible. If you
think you are working on a project that should be presented / discussed
during the workshop, please let us know by writing to Mr Andrea Glorioso (
Andrea.Glorioso at ec.europa.eu).

Further details, including the draft agenda of the workshop, are available
at
http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/no-disconnect-strategy-workshop-european-capability-situational-awareness-23-november-2012.

If you wish to participate, please send your name / family name,
nationality and ID / passport number to Ms Katrin Alfano (
Katrin.Alfano at ec.europa.eu).

Please note that registration is compulsory to be able to access the
buildings of the European Commission.

Please also note that at this point in time the European Commission will
not be in a position to reimburse travelling / living expenses for
participants or speakers. Should the situation change we will inform you
accordingly.

[1]     You can find further information on the NDS at
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-11-866_en.htm?locale=en (speech
of Vice-President Kroes at the Ministerial Conference on Internet Freedom,
9 December 2012, The Hague) as well as
http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/neelie-kroes/ict-human-rights-guidance/ and
http://blogs.ec.europa.eu/neelie-kroes/eu-fighting-cybercensorship/(updates
/ further info on the work conducted so far).

--
I speak only for myself. Sometimes I do not even agree with myself. Keep it
in mind.
Twitter: @andreaglorioso
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrea.glorioso
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=1749288&trk=tab_pro
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