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Fellowship Programme

2018

About the Fellowship Programme

The Fellowship Programme – run in conjunction with SEEDIG annual meetings – is dedicated to:

  • Supporting SEEDIG’s efforts to develop the capacity of regional stakeholders to actively participate in national, regional, and global Internet governance and digital policy processes
  • Diversifying and consolidating the SEEDIG community, by encouraging individuals from the region to attend the SEEDIG annual meeting and get involved in intersessional activities

2018 Outcome

At the 2018 edition of the SEEDIG Fellowship Programme, fellows had an unconference session in which they established their own agenda and decided on the topics for discussions. The following topics were chosen for in-depth discussions, in working groups: cybersecurity, privacy and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), freedom of expression and hate speech, the Internet of Things, digital literacy, and artificial intelligence. Each working group concluded its debate with several key messages. These messages are presented below.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity culture in South Eastern Europe can be established through continuous and coordinated efforts on raising awareness among different stakeholders, that leads to a recognised need for redesigning educational programmes.

Big data and open data have to be minimised, anonymised and processed in order to protect users’ identity.

Internet of Things (IoT)

The IoT will never be secure until we make it secure; we need to apply the security by design principle, which means to incorporate security in how the products are built, in the entire development and life cycle of products.

A related problem is that developers are not trained to think about security (same as other potential legal issues, such as liability or privacy). There are best practices for both hardware and software, but developers are not aware of them and of the need to use them. The solution that we see is to incorporate security training in their education, make them understand its importance and the technological options they have. Of course, this does not guarantee incident-proof products, but it is a start; as with every technological application, it also depends on users.

For the IoT to work optimally, companies need to upgrade their devices (phone, laptops, tablets, other electronic devices) to make them compatible with one another and adequate for ever-changing threats. Any discrepancy in the operating standards of connected devices can lead to security incidents, amongst other issues (privacy, consumer protection, abuses of rights, and so on).

Privacy/EU GDPR

Nothing is going to change after the 25 May, companies will continue to prepare for the GDPR. Large Internet companies will be the first to be under scrutiny. But also data protection agencies (DPAs), law enforcement, parliaments are still preparing too.

The GDPR causes a lot of issues for companies outside of the EU, because the Internet is borderless and, due to globalisation, EU users are everywhere. So, in principle, each company (website) should be compliant (the long arm of the law).

The GDPR leads to direct expenses if companies choose to comply with its provisions. If they choose not to, then they should stop targeting EU citizens (or block them technically); this would, in turn, mean indirect financial losses.

Digital literacy

Governments should play a bigger role in raising awareness about the importance of digital literacy, but academia and civil society should facilitate building this awareness.

Awareness should be raised in understanding not only the importance of digital literacy but also what it means. In the context of South Eastern Europe, people should understand what it is digital literacy, how it is different to computer literacy, and what it adds to normal literacy.

Freedom of expression and hate speech

Freedom of expression is not absolute. It has its limits in the offline world and the same limits should apply in the online world. Hate speech should not be an exception to this principle.

Governments should play a more important role in combating hate speech, especially in the context of the SEE region, where hate speech online is often dismissed.

Regulation is important, but we should not forget about the importance of education in tackling hate speech and promoting human rights.

Artificial intelligence

AI will transform the quality and quantity of jobs (not solely repetitive work), but it is difficult to speculate how exactly this will happen.

AI is already employed in recruitment agencies that harvest and analyse online data on job applicants. An important issue in this area is the ignorance of laypersons, who might not be aware of the data gathering practices and its effects on their employability. Another issue is the inability of persons to get a second chance or appeal to decisions taken by algorithms (which might be based on inaccurate or false data).

Testimonials

My very first Internet Governance event was SEEDIG in 2017. I attended it as a Youth School participant, from which I gained a lot of knowledge and value. It was a great pleasure to attend my second SEEDIG meeting as a fellow. I enjoyed the whole day dedicated to the Fellowship Programme and that we had the opportunity to discuss and exchange views with other fellows from the region about different Internet governance topics. SEEDIG is a much-needed platform for our SEE region, and I am very happy that SEEDIG is able to support people to attend the meetings through its capacity development programmes. I hope and believe that these programmes will keep supporting more people in the years to come because it is really an amazing opportunity to engage in such a multistakeholder platform and then bring the best practices back in our country, but also because of the great people you get the chance to connect with.
Dajana Mulaj
Dajana MulajDigital Grassroots, Albania
I am very happy to see such strong participation of young people in the IG sphere in South-Eastern Europe! We need more dialogue about the specific issues that we face in this region, and communication on a multistakeholder approach is a very nice way moving forward. The discussions we had were very lively and many people contributed with in-depth knowledge from different angles, allowing everybody to take the most out of the debates. I am looking forward to the other initiatives by SEEDIG and to see how bit by bit our region works on creating strong and stable IG policies across all countries!
Aleksandrina Banusheva
Aleksandrina BanushevaTool Domains ltd., Bulgaria
The SEEDIG Fellowship Programme was my introduction to the world of multistakeholder Internet governance. I wasn't sure what to expect at first, but just minutes into day 0, I found myself surrounded by very intelligent people. The topics of our group discussions were aligned to the current developments in IG.The main event was very well organised. The topics selected for the meeting were right on point and very interesting. I especially liked the interactive panels, where everyone willing was able to participate in a discussion. Above all, I've made awesome new friends and met like minded individuals who are making a difference in this community and contribute to the evolution of the Internet. I've been involved in development of the private sector for years, but this event gave me an opportunity to see the views of other sides. Which was, I have to admit, nothing short of a life changing experience. I am humbled and would like to thank the executive committee for giving me this opportunity and helping me take the first step.
Sergo Karakozov
Sergo KarakozovITDC, Georgia
I participated in few fellowship programmes, but the first thing that attracted me at the SEEDIG Fellowship was the directness of communication between the participants. From the very first day, I did not feel like a beginner, and all opportunities for communication, interaction and self-expression were open for everyone. It was a small model of multistakeholder community. I am happy that such an opportunity was given to me, and I am sure that SEEDIG has its own impact on each part of the community.
Kristina Hakobyan
Kristina HakobyanGlobal AM LLC, Armenia
I am glad that I finally managed to participate physically to SEEDIG. The meeting in Ljubljana fulfilled all my expectations, and I would like to thank the SEEDIG executive committee for giving me this opportunity, and the local hosts who did an excellent job. SEEDIG for me is a ‘regional multistakeholder family’ and I appreciate the involvement of all countries from South Eastern Europe. SEEDIG 2018 was not a revelation, but rather it was a confirmation that I am committed to helping to develop this community that can raise ‘the voice’ of our region in broader Internet governance dialogue.
Oliana Sula
Oliana SulaUniversity “Aleksander Mosiu” Durres, Albania
SEEDIG was my first encounter with Internet governance. I always wanted to take part in this field, and it was lovely to start in Ljubljana, where my passion for the digital began. The fellows were very knowledgeable and fighters for good causes, and our common SEE origins enabled us to discuss issues differently than we can with fellows from other countries where digitalisation is in a different stage, and has different meanings for the economy. SEEDIG enabled me to contextualise my knowledge of the digital and made me rethink the importance of localisation in the (post?)Internet era.
Nika Mahnič
Nika MahničUniversity of London, Slovenia
SEEDIG 2018 was my second time attending the SEEDIG annual meeting, having participated in the Youth School at the annual meeting in 2017. Having been a part of the community for over a year, I can’t say I was surprised at the pleasant takeaways from the conference. This year, Day 0 was my favourite part of the conference, and I credit and thank the fellows for the high quality of discussions. I have gained a lot, knowledge-wise and friend-wise, and I sincerely thank the organisers who gave me the opportunity while asking for little in return.
Andrijana Gavrilović
Andrijana GavrilovićDiploFoundation, Serbia
I want to thank the executive committee of SEEDIG and everyone who participated in preparing and organising this great event, everyone who decided about the place for the annual meeting and, of course, everyone who was involved in selecting every fellow (it seems the fellows team of this year is a team of real stars!). It was my first SEEDIG and stunning three days of education, new information, networking, new acquaintances, ideas and impressions.
Natalia Filina
Natalia FilinaEURALO Individuals' Association, Russian Federation
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Programme

SEEDIG Fellowship Programme Session | 22 May 2018
 

09:00 – 10:30 | Introductions & Setting the scene  (Joint session with the Youth School)

  • Welcome & introductions from SEEDIG core team
  • Students and fellows introductions
  • Overview of the day and the overall SEEDIG meeting 

 

10:30 – 12:00 | Overview of roles & Pro/con debates

  • Overview of roles: rapporteurs and online moderators
  • Guidelines for fellows acting as session rapporteurs and online moderators
  • Pro/con debates on Internet governance issues

 

13:00 – 16:00 | Unconference

  • An open space mini-conference driven by fellows.

 

16:00 – 17:30 | Internet governance under the magnifying glass (Joint session with the Youth School & SEEDIG newcomers)

  • Internet governance: why, what, how?
  • Key organisations and processes in the Internet governance ecosystem
  • Debate

 

In addition to the dedicated session on 22 May, the SEEDIG Fellowship Programme also involves full participation in the SEEDIG meeting on 23–24 May.

Participants

  • Aleksandrina Banusheva, Tool Domains ltd., Technical community, Bulgaria
  • Maja Ćalović, Mediacentar Sarajevo, Civil society, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Natalia Filina, EURALO Individual’s Association, Private sector, Russian Federation
  • Andrijana Gavrilović, DiploFoundation, Civil society, Serbia
  • Kristina Hakobyan, Global AM LLC, Private sector, Armenia
  • Sergo Karakozov, ITDC, Private sector, Georgia
  • Tetiana Kyryliuk, The Influencer Platform, Civil society, Ukraine
  • Nika Mahnič, University of London, Civil society, Slovenia
  • Sidorela Mema, Albanian Electricity Distribution, Private sector, Albania
  • Dajana Mulaj, Digital Grassroots, Civil society, Albania
  • Ioana Stupariu, Central European University, Academia, Romania
  • Oliana Sula, University “Aleksander Mosiu” Durres, Academia, Albania
  • Predrag Tasevski, IGF MKD, Civil society, North Macedonia
  • Cătălin Vrabie, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Academia, Romania