Global Partners Digital

After months of hard work, I am thrilled to share the latest publication from Global Partners Digital: a civil society guide for navigating the International Telecommunication Union's World Telecommunications Standardization Assembly (WTSA) happening this October. Understanding technical standards and combating Internet fragmentation is vital in today's Internet governance discussions, though often complex to grasp. To help address this gap, the guide covers the significance of WTSA, effective strategies for engagement, critical issues at hand, and steps civil society can take to uphold an open, interoperable internet. A heartfelt thank you to the GPD team, particularly Maria Paz Canales, Sheetal Kumar, Keerti R., and Jonathan Jacobs for their tremendous efforts in bringing this guide to fruition. Special appreciation goes to the experts Dr. Hosein F. Badran, Raquel Renno Nunes, and Carolina Caeiro, without whom this guide wouldn't have been possible. In somewhat bittersweet news, this marks my final publication with the Global Partners Digital team. Stay tuned for updates on my next endeavors!

Global Partners Digital is recruiting for two Lead positions within its policy and advocacy teams (functions). This is an exciting opportunity for experienced individuals to be at the forefront of GPD’s work to shape digital tech governance processes and policies so that they are inclusive and rights-respecting. The two new Leads will help to further develop and drive GPD’s policy and advocacy work across a range of digital policy and technical standards issues. Position 1 will have a policy focus across the wide range of GPD’s thematic areas – trust and security, platform and content governance, new and emerging tech, and Internet governance – as well as the broader digital tech governance ecosystem. It will also involve advocacy and engagement on these issues in key digital tech governance processes, including UN processes. Knowledge of human rights law and international law is an asset. Position 2 will have an Internet governance focus with specific expertise on technical standards and protocols of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU); Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), as well as other Internet governance relevant forums. It will involve direct engagement in these technical standard setting bodies and their related activities. Knowledge of human rights and digital rights is an asset. We will also consider applications at Band 1 level (Officer) with responsibilities and salary adapted accordingly. GPD is an accredited four-day week organisation. This means that we work reduced hours (32) Monday to Thursday with no loss of pay in return for full productivity. Find out more here. We operate on a remote-first, flexible working model, with the option of a coworking membership. Applications from all countries are considered, with a preference for applicants with the right to live and work in the UK. Apply here by Wednesday 7 August: https://lnkd.in/ee2aDfse

This week, states are poised to adopt the UN Cybercrime Convention, which poses fundamental risks to human rights as well as undermining cybersecurity. This may be the last chance to stop it. The stakes couldn’t be higher. As presently drafted, the Convention will facilitate unprecedented surveillance powers for an overly vague scope of offences. This risks criminalising online expression and impeding the vital work of cybersecurity researchers, journalists and others. It will also introduce broad new “cyber-related” offences, despite repeated warnings that these would endanger freedom of expression and disproportionately impact the rights of women, LGBTQ+, young people, and dissenting voices. Civil society, alongside actors from industry and the technical community, have long been raising the alarm. And last week, United Nations Human Rights raised significant shortcomings with the Convention: https://lnkd.in/eJiTvaFQ Earlier this month, GPD joined 20+ civil society groups in an open letter to the EU Commission and Member States, urging them not to adopt the Convention in its current form if its fundamental flaws cannot be fixed: https://lnkd.in/eYmjfDMR And last week, experts from Access Now, Human Rights Watch, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), International Press Institute (IPI) & Derechos Digitales held a press briefing, outlining what’s at stake for human rights—with speakers Tirana Hassan, Khadija Patel, Katitza Rodriguez Pereda & Raman Jit Singh Chima: https://lnkd.in/eBAt2_BP We urge states to act now while there is still time. If the fundamental flaws in the UN Cybercrime Convention cannot be fixed, it must not proceed. The UN must not endorse an instrument which would negatively impact rights and facilitate repression. #cybersecurity #humanrights #freedomofexpression #privacy

Global Partners Digital is recruiting for two Lead positions within its policy and advocacy teams (functions). This is an exciting opportunity for experienced individuals to be at the forefront of GPD’s work to shape digital tech governance processes and policies so that they are inclusive and rights-respecting. The two new Leads will help to further develop and drive GPD’s policy and advocacy work across a range of digital policy and technical standards issues. Position 1 will have a policy focus across the wide range of GPD’s thematic areas – trust and security, platform and content governance, new and emerging tech, and Internet governance – as well as the broader digital tech governance ecosystem. It will also involve advocacy and engagement on these issues in key digital tech governance processes, including UN processes. Knowledge of human rights law and international law is an asset. Position 2 will have an Internet governance focus with specific expertise on technical standards and protocols of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU); Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), as well as other Internet governance relevant forums. It will involve direct engagement in these technical standard setting bodies and their related activities. Knowledge of human rights and digital rights is an asset. We will also consider applications at Band 1 level (Officer) with responsibilities and salary adapted accordingly. GPD is an accredited four-day week organisation. This means that we work reduced hours (32) Monday to Thursday with no loss of pay in return for full productivity. Find out more here. We operate on a remote-first, flexible working model, with the option of a coworking membership. Applications from all countries are considered, with a preference for applicants with the right to live and work in the UK. Apply here by Wednesday 7 August: https://lnkd.in/ee2aDfse

Was great to participate on this panel on AI, data collection and privacy last week. We were represented by our brilliant Ellie McDonald, alongside colleagues from Access Now, IDEC, and others. Thanks for the invite, Center for Technology and Society (CTS-FGV)!

Global Partners Digital is recruiting for two Lead positions within its policy and advocacy teams (functions). This is an exciting opportunity for experienced individuals to be at the forefront of GPD’s work to shape digital tech governance processes and policies so that they are inclusive and rights-respecting. The two new Leads will help to further develop and drive GPD’s policy and advocacy work across a range of digital policy and technical standards issues. Position 1 will have a policy focus across the wide range of GPD’s thematic areas – trust and security, platform and content governance, new and emerging tech, and Internet governance – as well as the broader digital tech governance ecosystem. It will also involve advocacy and engagement on these issues in key digital tech governance processes, including UN processes. Knowledge of human rights law and international law is an asset. Position 2 will have an Internet governance focus with specific expertise on technical standards and protocols of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU); Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), as well as other Internet governance relevant forums. It will involve direct engagement in these technical standard setting bodies and their related activities. Knowledge of human rights and digital rights is an asset. We will also consider applications at Band 1 level (Officer) with responsibilities and salary adapted accordingly. GPD is an accredited four-day week organisation. This means that we work reduced hours (32) Monday to Thursday with no loss of pay in return for full productivity. Find out more here. We operate on a remote-first, flexible working model, with the option of a coworking membership. Applications from all countries are considered, with a preference for applicants with the right to live and work in the UK. Apply here by Wednesday 7 August: https://lnkd.in/ee2aDfse

This week, I'm representing @Global Partners Digital in Geneva at the International Telecommunications Union Standardisation Sector (ITU-T) Study Group 13 Future Networks meeting. Our engagement is focused on contributions submitted for July meeting that could pose the highest risks for an interoperable, reliable and secure Internet. Today, I'm honoured to be contributing to the work of the UK delegation in keeping the ITU-T standardisation relevant and aligned with telecom networks that support an open, free and interoperable internet.

🌐As growing global dependence on digital technology and the internet brings with it serious risks and vulnerabilities, what is the international consensus on responsible cyber behaviour? 📑Despite some positive achievements by several global forums, we currently lack a global agreement on responsible cyber behaviour, and there is a knowledge gap in terms of how a wide range of countries and stakeholders are approaching the question of responsible cyber. 👩💻Our Global Partnership for Responsible Cyber Behaviour network aims to bridge this gap by conducting evidence-based research and connecting experts from different sectors and regions to reflect the diversity of views on the topic. 📢We are excited to announce that we are welcoming three new partners to our network, who bring with them a wealth of expertise and a shared commitment to fostering a secure and stable cyberspace: Global Partners Digital (GPD), the CyberPeace Institute (CPI), and the European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative (ECCRI). 👉You can learn more about the project and our new partners on our website: https://bit.ly/3LepLKb

In the latest issue of the Digest, we offer critical reflections on the recent WSIS+20 High Level Event, as well as the latest on the Global Digital Compact. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/eBSUjaUd Subscribe to get the next one: https://lnkd.in/gtsXjXzi #digitalrights #internetgovernance

🌞 Greetings from sunny Dubrovnik, Croatia! 🌍 I'm on the ground representing Global Partners Digital at the UNESCO International Conference on Digital Platform Governance: Building a Global Forum of Networks. This event coincides with the International Day for Countering Hate Speech 🗣️, a crucial moment to address the challenges posed by the rapid spread of hate speech, discrimination, and xenophobia online. I'm excited to connect with the I4T Global Knowledge Network and engage with the 100+ regulators from around the world that are present this week 🌐. I'm also looking forward to the launch of the Global Forum of Networks of Regulators and ongoing efforts to implement the UNESCO Guidelines for the Governance of Digital Platforms. Hopeful that this launch will create a global, collaborative space for advancing rights-respecting approaches to platform governance. #UNESCO #DigitalGovernance #HumanRights https://lnkd.in/exi5YAiB.