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

Tue Oct 30 08:04:07 EDT 2012

[* Apologies if you receive this e-mail more than once. Please share among
all your relevant contacts* ]

*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 *attached draft
agenda*(which will be updated in the coming days). The
website of the workshop, where we will also publish preparatory material
and the reports of the workshop, will be available shortly.

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.

*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:

   1. present and discuss the scope, objectives and "success criteria" of
   the ECSA platform;
   2. present and discuss some of the projects that are working in this
   field;
   3. provide the opportunity for (social) networking and;
   4. 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).

The draft agenda of the workshop is attached. The website of the workshop,
where we will also publish preparatory material and the reports, will be
available shortly.

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 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/neel
ie-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).
*

* *

Best,

 --
Andrea Glorioso (Mr)
European Commission - DG Communication Networks, Content and Technology
Unit D1 (International relations) + Task Force on Internet Policy
Development
Avenue de Beaulieu 25 (4/64) / B-1049 / Brussels / Belgium
T: +32-2-29-97682 M: +32-460-797-682 E: Andrea.Glorioso at ec.europa.eu
Twitter: @andreaglorioso
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrea.glorioso
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=1749288&trk=tab_pro

The views expressed above are purely those of the writer and may not in any
circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European
Commission.
Les opinions exprimées ci-dessus n'engagent que leur auteur et ne sauraient
en aucun cas être assimilées à une position officielle de la Commission
européenne.

Be transparent - Sign up to the European Commission's Register of Interest
Representatives http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regrin

-- 

--
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
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.igcaucus.org/pipermail/governance/attachments/20121030/ee8df282/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: agenda-20121030-ag1.doc.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 65976 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.igcaucus.org/pipermail/governance/attachments/20121030/ee8df282/attachment.pdf>
-------------- next part --------------
____________________________________________________________
You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
     governance at lists.igcaucus.org
To be removed from the list, visit:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/unsubscribing

For all other list information and functions, see:
     http://lists.igcaucus.org/info/governance
To edit your profile and to find the IGC's charter, see:
     http://www.igcaucus.org/

Translate this email: http://translate.google.com/translate_t