Colombo, Sri Lanka. PHOTO: Amila Tennakoon (CC BY 2.0)
Global Voices Summit is the flagship annual gathering of digital activists and citizen media journalists from around the world. Since 2006, past summits have brought together a diverse group of bloggers, activists, social media experts and geeks from around the world through events in London, New Delhi, Budapest, Santiago de Chile, Nairobi and Cebu City.
The 2017 edition which will be held at Trace Expert City in Maradana (Colombo 10) will discuss the evolving state of the open internet, online civic movements and human rights in the digital age. The summit will deep dive into critical issues that will decide the future of the internet, ranging from the spread of misinformation/disinformation on digital media to legal threats against bloggers and activists.
This is the first time that Global Voices is coming to Sri Lanka and marks a milestone for digital activism in the country. The event will bring together government officials responsible for media and freedom of expression, civil society leaders, youth, leading social media voices, writers, journalists and activists. The discussions that will take place are expected to unearth innovative ideas and new insights that will impact civic engagement, human rights and information dissemination in communities within Sri Lanka and beyond.
Some of the global heavy weights supporting the summit include foundations such as Ford, MacArthur and Mozilla. Locally the event is supported by several prominent organizations including Calcey. As a leading software product engineering company in Sri Lanka, Calcey is proud to sponsor this worthy platform to discuss, brainstorm and share, how to leverage the internet for a more open and inclusive society.
The summit will take place on 2nd and 3rd December at Trace Expert City in Colombo. The event will combine a public conference focused on key issues impacting citizen media and the global Internet, with a closed, working meeting for the Global Voices community. The Global Voices Summit Schedule provides more details of the workshops, panels and plenary sessions. Register now to be part of this landmark event!