Photo source: Twitter
A High-level multi-stakeholder event on the Future of the Internet took place in Prague, Czech Republic, on 2 November 2022. The event included plenary sessions as well as workshops, where government representatives together with stakeholders discussed concrete actions to deliver on the internet’s promise of connecting humankind and helping democracies to thrive, as reflected by the principles in the Declaration. The second bloc of the event was focused on disinformation.
The event, organised by the European Commission in coordination with the European External Action Service and the Czech Presidency of the to the Council of the European Union, bringed together representatives from the global multi-stakeholder community to promote the overarching DFI (Declaration on the Future of The Internet) partners endorsed vision for an Internet that is open, free, global, interoperable, reliable, and secure. The event was focused on sharing solutions to implement the principles enshrined in the Declaration on the Future of the Internet (DFI).
Photo source: Twitter
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said :
“The Internet has brought humanity together, like never before in history. Today, for the first time, like-minded countries from all over the world are setting out a shared vision for the future of the Internet, to make sure that the values we hold true offline are also protected online, to make the Internet a safe place and trusted space for everyone, and to ensure that the Internet serves our individual freedom. Because the future of the Internet is also the future of democracy, of humankind.”
Photo source: Twitter
Disinformation in the region of Central-Eastern Europe, addressed in the event
Against this background, the event included plenary sessions as well as workshops, where government representatives together with stakeholders discussed concrete actions to deliver on the internet’s promise of connecting humankind and helping democracies to thrive, as reflected by the principles in the Declaration.
The second bloc of the event was focused on disinformation. It showed how to translate the DFI principles into concrete actions, with a particular focus on pro-Russia related disinformation in the region of Central-Eastern Europe. During this part, a presentation made by policy makers and experts in the field provided an overview of the main issues related to disinformation, followed by a high-level panel that will engage policy makers platforms and civil society organisations to discuss how such issues can be addressed through the new co-regulatory framework and the strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation.
The agenda of the event can be accessed here.
NGI: A program that funds solutions in the fields of the DFI
Next Generation Internet is an initiative of the European Commission, which aims to shape the Internet for the future as a powerful, user-centric (Internet of Humans) ecosystem that meets the fundamental needs of the population.
The NGI programme is supporting solutions in the fields of the DFI and it funds the best research and innovation projects in the field of the Internet, ultimately addressing the need for a more fair, safe, resilient, sustainable, human-centred and decentralized internet. Equity, Diversity and Inclusion are the backbones of this envisioned future.
So far the NGI has funded more than 600 innovators with inclusive and trust-based complementary technology building blocks including services, applications, decentralized ledger technologies such as blockchain, data portability, AI, machine learning, networking, hardware and open source software.
Projects cover a broad range of subjects from private search, instant messaging and remote working tools with data privacy, health, energy, finance, supply chains, research, knowledge management and responsible media platforms.
Czech NGI-funded projects: