Digital Society Conference 2016: “Defending Democracy – Increasing Innovation”

In our digital age, democracy is at risk. Military cyber attackers infiltrate democratic processes and institutions, while totalitarian states stabilise through mass surveillance and censorship. International mass surveillance undermines civil and human rights and erodes trust in digitisation. Knowledge and opinion on the Internet are increasingly fabricated and abused to manipulate societies on a mass scale. Economies are weakened by sabotage and espionage. More and more problems become evident, many of which could be solved by better innovation or stronger regulation. But political, economic and technological responses are still slow and ineffective.

The Digital Society Institute (DSI) at ESMT Berlin will hold the Digital Society Conference on November 22-23, 2016 in Berlin with special focus on:

• International opinion leaders’ and academic experts’ assessments on privacy and security issues
• Selected keynotes and concurrent sessions on topics including high assurance technologies, nuclear cybersecurity, and cyber defence in the Middle East

The two-day conference is dedicated to “Defending Democracy – Increasing Innovation.” Sandro Gaycken, Director of the DSI, commented, “The conference addresses questions of privacy and security issues in the digital age. It serves as a platform for discourse with international experts discussing the protection of democracy from cyberattacks and the proper evaluation of innovative solutions against sabotage and espionage.”

In keynotes and concurrent sessions, decision makers, academics, and experts will critically assess cybersecurity threats relating to privacy and security issues, while discussing topics including high assurance technologies, nuclear cybersecurity, surveillance in totalitarian states, cyber defence in the Middle East, and IT security systems. International opinions leaders such as Prof. Chris Demchak (US Naval War College), Prof. Dr. David Mussington (School of Public Policy, University of Maryland), Yoko Nitta (Japan Society for Security and Crisis Management), Dr. Ole Schröder (Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry of the Interior), Dr. Lior Tabansky (Tel Aviv University), Dr. Sabine Vogt (Head of Division Serious and Organized Crime, Bundeskriminalamt), and Brigitte Zypries (Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy) are among the speakers.

The complete program of the Digital Society Conference is available online: https://www.esmt.org/faculty-research/events/conferences-and-workshops/digital-society-conference-2016-defending.

SpaceWatch Middle East will report about the conference, with interviews and a follow up feature.

Original published at: http://spacewatchme.com/2016/11/digital-society-conference-2016-defending-democracy-increasing-innovation/