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SEEDIG Youth School

Class of 2019

About the Youth School

The SEEDIG Youth School is a capacity development initiative targeted at students originally from, or residing in a country in South Eastern Europe and the neighbouring area.

The purpose of the programme is to offer regional youth a space to learn, network, exchange ideas, and prepare to actively participate in SEEDIG and other Internet governance processes. Another goal is to encourage more youth to become long-term contributing members of SEEDIG and broader Internet governance and digital policy processes.

SEEDIG Youth School – second phase | Outcome

6–8 May 2019 | Bucharest, Romania

As part of the in situ phase of the SEEDIG Youth School, students had to prepare a debate on Ethics in the digital age. They were divided into two teams – team PRO and team CON – and were asked to debate the pros and cons of the following proposal:

  • The solution to getting tech companies to be more ethical is to have them hire Chief Ethics Officers (CEOs).

The main points raised by the two teams, as well as the compromise solution they developed together, are presented below.

A. Team PRO

  • The Ethics Principles developed by the Multistakeholder group (international group of professionals from academia, CSOs, the private sector, governments, and everyone interested in ethics and technological issues) will create a baseline for ethical conduct.
  • The position(s) of the chief ethics officer(s) (CEOs) is/are recommended and not mandatory.
  • CEO(s) has/ have to follow the principles developed by the multistakeholder group. CEO(s) should identify, report and oversee the breaches of these principles, but also educate employees about ethical standards.
  • Having the CEO(s) should boost the company’s efficiency and reputation. Also, minimise their risks. Collaboration with company members should be improved.
  • Benefits for society: increase transparency, accountability and ethics by design.

 

B. Team CON

  • Different sectors have different  needs and ethics. Each domain (e.g health, criminal records, financial history data, etc.) has sector-specific aspects that need special attention and are subject to debate. A CEO is not capable of handling the diversity of ethical differences in these domains.
  • Ethics will not work with enforcement of a CEO. It can be sustained through codes of conducts, regulations and principles, while it should not be implemented from the top, but come from the root.
  • It is impossible to combine all the needed skills in one person. Also,  a CEO’s knowledge and background should be in question. A CEO, apart from ethics, should also have a very deep understanding of the technical aspects of the programmes they are responsible for.
  • Granting freedom to ethical officers to make decisions on what constitutes ethical standards without appropriate regulation set in place and institutional oversight is dangerous.
  • Notions of ethics are different in different cultures. Ethics is dynamic. If there is no standards of ethics, our approach should not be ambiguous, only by saying that an ethical officer wouldn’t be able to sustain ethics, as it varies from country to country.

 

C. Overall conclusion of the debate (developed by both teams)

  • Instead of a Chief Ethics Officer, have a Board of Ethical Directors/Ethics Board (this can include individuals from different stakeholders having different skills). A very careful study should be conducted on who will employ the Ethics Board: should it be an internal or external entity? Ideally, it would be an external body.
  • A more broadly accepted code of ethics could be created by an organisation such as the UN or an organisation whose structure would be based on a multistakeholder model, through a transparent process that is accessible to the other actors and takes into account their rights and opinions. Yet, if such standards and principles are agreed, they should be of a soft law nature that stakeholders can decide to implement on a voluntary basis.
  • In the absence of ethical guidelines or frameworks that would require from parties to comply with certain ethical standards, it should be recommended to interested parties to come up with their own ethical principles and codes of conducts. Adherence to ethical principles and values would provide legitimacy to the decisions reached by those entities and render them accountable to the people.
  • In case such values and principles are to be codified, deliberations should also revolve around whether they should be developed on a national/regional/international level and whether they should be of a universal nature or sector specific.

SEEDIG Youth School – second phase | Programme

6–8 May 2019 | Bucharest, Romania

09:00 – 10:30 | Introductions & Setting the scene

    • Welcome and introductions from SEEDIG core team and partners
    • Students intros (ice-breaker games)
    • Overview of the day and the overall SEEDIG meeting

 

10:30 – 12:00Simulation game: Preparing an IGF meeting

    • Students will simulate, at a smaller scale, the process of building the programme for an IGF meeting.

 

12:00 – 13:00 | Lunch

13:00 – 16:00Debate –Ethics in the digital age

16:00 – 17:30Internet 101: How does the Internet work?

17:30 – 18:00Wrapping up

SEEDIG Youth School – second phase | List of participants

The following students were selected to participate in the second phase of the Youth School.

Students participatings in the in-situ phase
  • Tamar Abzianidze | Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, Georgia
  • Giorgi Aladashvili | Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia
  • Chivintar Amenty | University of Crete, Greece
  • Marina Bzovii | Moldova State University, Republic of Moldova
  • Stefan Filipović | University of Oslo, Serbia
  • Kristine Gevorgyan | French University in Armenia, Armenia
  • Derya Güçdemir | Hacettepe University, Turkey
  • Aleksandra Ivanković | University of Belgrade, Serbia
  • Ana Jovanović | University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Daniel Kalemi | American College of Thessaloniki, Albania
  • Yanina Korniienko | National University of ‘Kyiv-Mohyla Academy’, Ukraine
  • Artemia-Dimitra Korovesi | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
  • Eyüp Serdar Küçük | Istanbul University, Turkey
  • Nikolaos Lekkas | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
  • Vladislava Martin | Moldova State University, Republic of Moldova
  • Vasile Popa | Freie Universität Berlin, Republic of Moldova
  • Nikolaos Voros | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Students continuing the online phase
  • Blenda Gashi | University of Prishtina ‘Hasan Prishtina’, Kosovo*
  • Christina Kalogeropoulou | National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
  • Maria Korniiets | Ukrainian National IT Factory, Ukraine
  • Elen Mikayelyan | Yerevan State University, Armenia
  • Jovana Stajić | University of Belgrade, Serbia

SEEDIG Youth School – online phase | List of participants

The following students were selected to participate in the online phase of the Youth School.

  • Tamar Abzianidze | Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, Georgia
  • Giorgi Aladashvili | Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia
  • Adela Alexandru | National School of Political Sciences and Public Administration, Romania
  • Chivintar Amenty | University of Crete, Greece
  • Bence Antonya | Babes-Bolyai University, Romania
  • Helena Blažinčić | Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Croatia
  • Ioana Burtea | BPP University, Romania
  • Marina Bzovii | Moldova State University, Republic of Moldova
  • Jasmina Dimitrievska | Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia
  • Stefan Filipović | University of Oslo, Serbia
  • Blenda Gashi | University of Prishtina ‘Hasan Prishtina’, Kosovo*
  • Kristine Gevorgyan | French University in Armenia, Armenia
  • Kristijan Gjoshev | Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia
  • Derya Güçdemir | Hacettepe University, Turkey
  • Nurhan Güner | Bilkent University, Turkey
  • Ardita Hajra | University of Prishtina, Kosovo*
  • Alexandru Hang | Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania
  • Vira Ivanchuk | Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine
  • Aleksandra Ivanković | University of Belgrade, Serbia
  • Ana Jovanović | University of Sarajevo,  Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Daniel Kalemi | American College of Thessaloniki, Albania
  • Christina Kalogeropoulou | National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
  • Yanina Korniienko | National University of ‘Kyiv-Mohyla Academy’, Ukraine
  • Maria Korniiets | Ukrainian National IT Factory, Ukraine
  • Artemia-Dimitra Korovesi | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
  • Eyüp Serdar Küçük | Istanbul University, Turkey
  • Nikolaos Lekkas | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
  • Raluca-Andreea Manea | University of Bucharest, Romania
  • Kejsi Marqeshi | Polytechnic University of Tirana, Albania
  • Vladislava Martin | Moldova State University, Republic of Moldova
  • Nikol Mata |  University of New York in Tirana, Albania
  • Melisa Mešan | University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Elen Mikayelyan | Yerevan State University, Armenia
  • Vasile Popa | Freie Universität Berlin, Republic of Moldova
  • Jelena Ristić | University of Niš, Serbia
  • Jovana Stajić | University of Belgrade, Serbia
  • Gentjana Visoçi | University of Tirana, Albania
  • Nikolaos Voros | National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
  • Sara Zeko | The Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia

What does the SEEDIG Youth School offer?

Online phase

January– April 2019

Once selected for the online phase, you will start your Youth School journey by taking an online course that will introduce you to the world of Internet governance. The course – part of the Internet Society’s ‘Shaping the Internet: History and Futures’ programme – will include online materials, assignments, and online meetings spread over several weeks.

During this phase, you will get to know your peers and learn the basics of Internet governance, digital policy, and related topics. If these terms sound vague or fancy, don’t worry! Together we will dissect the jargon and see what these concepts really mean. You will also learn more about SEEDIG and other Internet governance processes across the region and the globe. Most importantly, you will become more equipped to meaningfully participate in initiatives such as Youth and national Internet Governance Forums (NRIs), SEEDIG, EuroDIG, and the global IGF!

Based on your performance in the mandatory online course, you may be selected to continue the programme. During this extension of the online phase, you will be able to take additional modules of the Internet Society course or an online course provided by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). There will also be a few online meetings, some which run in conjunction with EuroDIG’s YOUthDIG programme, so another opportunity for you to get to know and interact with more people!

Full-day event

6 May 2019

This event, to be held in Bucharest one day before the official start of SEEDIG 5, will be reserved to a smaller group of students, selected from the initial class based on the contribution to the online phase.

If you are among those selected for this phase, you will get to meet the core team and key community members of SEEDIG. You will also get a chance to explore in-depth at least one of the topics that will be discussed at SEEDIG 5 – at your choice. All this through lively debates, simulations and other exercises we will prepare for you.

The outcomes of your discussions, as Youth School 2019 students, will become your contributions to the annual SEEDIG meeting. So you will be all set to join discussions on regional and global digital policy!

SEEDIG 5

7–8 May 2019

After your dedicated pre-event, you will then be among many other actors – from SEE+ and beyond – who will share their views and experiences on various Internet-related topics at the two-day SEEDIG annual meeting.

Once in Bucharest, all you have to do is to raise your hand and make your point.

No comment is silly, and no question is stupid.

The organising team behind the SEEDIG Youth School

Core team (SEEDIG)

  • Lianna Galstyan
  • Su Sonia Herring
  • Charalampos Kyritsis
  • Jana Mišić
  • Dajana Mulaj
  • Marko Paloski
  • Anna Romandash
  • Sorina Teleanu

Local support (SNSPA)

Dragoș Dincă
Cătălin Dumitrică
Cătălin Vrabie

 

You can contact the organising team at ysteam[at]seedig.net.

Partners