[Update] The event recording is now available.
A masterclass with Jovan Kurbalija
The longer you can look back, the farther you can look forward.
Winston Churchill
The series Diplomacy and Technology: A historical journey is a set of open monthly Zoom discussions on the evolution of diplomacy and technology, led by Dr Jovan Kurbalija, an expert, with an academic background in international law, diplomacy, and digital technology.
Join us for the first episode on Thursday, 28th January, at 13:00 UTC (08:00 EST | 14:00 CET | 21:00 CST).
Registrations are now closed. You can follow the event onYouTube and Facebook live streams.
As we move through history, our aim will be to discover how civilizations dealt with ‘new’ technologies, from simple writing to telegraph, and nowadays the internet.
On 28 January we will set the stage for our learning journey through history, by focusing on:
- the interplay between continuity and change in the evolution of diplomacy and technology
- information and communication (two core pillars of diplomacy)
- the impact of technology on the political environment in which diplomats operated at the time, the issues they tried to solve, and the tools they used in diplomatic practice
On this journey, we hope to understand underlying patterns in tech-society interplays, and get some hints on how to deal with current challenges, and those ahead of us.
Join us for the first episode on Thursday, 28th January, at 13:00 UTC (08:00 EST | 14:00 CET | 21:00 CST).
Registrations are now closed. You can follow the event onYouTube and Facebook live streams.
Our experts involved
Dr Jovan Kurbalija
Executive Director
Dr Jovan Kurbalija is the Executive Director of DiploFoundation and Head of the Geneva Internet Platform (GIP). He was a member of the UN Working Group on Internet Governance (2004‒2005), special advisor to the Chairman of the UN Internet Governance Forum (2006‒2010), and a member of the High Level Multistakeholder Committee for NETmundial (2013‒2014). In 2018-2019, he served as co-Executive Director of the Secretariat of the United Nations (UN) High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation.
A former diplomat, Jovan has a professional and academic background in international law, diplomacy, and information technology. He has been a pioneer in the field of cyber diplomacy since 1992 when he established the Unit for Information Technology and Diplomacy at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies in Malta, and later, DiploFoundation.
Since 1997, Jovan’s research and articles on cyber diplomacy have shaped research and policy discussion on the impact of the Internet on diplomacy and international relations. His book, An Introduction to Internet Governance, has been translated into 9 languages and is used as a textbook for academic courses worldwide. He lectures on e-diplomacy and Internet governance in academic and training institutions in many countries, including Austria (Diplomatic Academy of Vienna), Belgium (College of Europe), Switzerland (University of St Gallen), Malta (University of Malta), and the United States (University of Southern California).
His publishes regular articles on DiploFoundation's blog, and the Huffington Post.