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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 18:47

Participants from Latvia attending a UNESCO conference on aspects of using Internet

BC, Riga, 04.03.2015.Print version
A UNESCO conference entitled “CONNECTing the Dots: Options for Future Action” is taking place on 3-4 March in Paris. The conference has been organized to discuss the first draft of the Comprehensive Study on Internet-related issues: access to information and knowledge, freedom of expression, privacy, and the ethical dimensions of the information society, reports BC the Latvian MFA.

Dr Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga will speak at one of the sessions – a High-level Multistakeholder Dialogue on 3 March. On March 4, Jānis Kārkliņš, the Chair of the Internet Governance Forum, will moderate a Breakout Session on Privacy and Ethics and will be one of the speakers to give closing remarks at the Plenary Session. Also taking part in the event is Andrejs Vasiļjevs, the Chairman of the Board of Tilde; he will be speaking in a Breakout Session on Ethics.

 

The Comprehensive Study on Internet-related issues is taking place in the context of a resolution adopted by the UNESCO General Conference in 2013. UNESCO member states tasked the organisation with carrying out research on trends in four aspects of the use of the Internet within the UNESCO mandate: access, free speech, privacy and ethics. The draft report has been produced through a process of consultations with all stakeholders.

 

The conference will devote particular attention to the conclusions of the study and recommendations for future action in relations to the four aspects with the aim of strengthening the Internet as an open, trustworthy and global resource equally accessible any place in the world. The outcomes of the study will be presented to the UNESCO member states in the next session of the General Conference which will take place in November 2015.

 

Giving attention to Internet-related issues is a priority for Latvia during its Presidency of the Council of the EU. By being visible and taking an active part in the conference on UNESCO’s Internet Study as the state presiding over the Council of the EU, Latvia will contribute to the implementation of the digital agenda priority of the Presidency.

 

The conference is expected to attract about 300 participants from UNESCO member state governments, civil society, academia, the private sector, the information technology community, inter-governmental and international organizations.






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