Information Literacy in the Age of Disruption Hybrid Forum

DCN GLOBAL FOR THE AMERICAS INAUGURAL EVENT

Information Literacy in the Age of Disruption Hybrid Forum

About

In the early days of the internet, technologies empowered new voices, provided citizens around the world with greater freedom of expression, opportunities for civil society, education, and political participation. This is still true, especially in places where the Internet is a critical tool in the struggle for freedom.

However, we’ve seen, in recent years, that these same technologies are now being used to undermine democracy. There is bias, manipulation, polarization, disinformation, abusive surveillance, and authoritarian control through digital networks. A digital interconnected society and world, based on trust and respect of human rights is the goal and the paradigm explored by the Digital Communication Network’s new hybrid regional event, hosted in Costa Rica.

Digital Communication Network Global’s (DCN) premise is that in the age of informational disruptions, only coalitions of professionals can address the multiple challenges to the information space.

The topic of the hybrid forum, Information Literacy in the Age of Disruption, provides an opportunity to start building this coalition in the Americas, to join DCN’s other similar ones in Europe, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

*Spanish Version available here

Live Streaming of the Day 1

Live Streaming of the Day 2

Speakers

Elizabeth M. Allen

Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs , U.S. Department of State

Marysela Zamora Villalobos

Founder and Executive Director, Fábrica de Historias and Nosotras Women Connecting

Nikos Panagiotou

President, DCN Global, Greece

Franak Viačorka

Vice President of DCN Global

Particio Morera Viquez

Executive Director of Parque La Libertad Foundation

Sofía Chinchilla Cerdas

Journalist, Costa Rica

Maria Fernanda Cruz

Executive director of La Voz de Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Hulda Miranda Picado

Coordinator of Interferencia, Costa Rica

David Bolaños Acuña

Editor, Co-founder of Doble Check, Costa Rica

Kiran Maharaj

President / CoFounder, Media Institute of the Caribbean (Jamaica) & CoFounder, Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network (Regional), Trinidad and Tobago

Sofia Alvarez

Education Director, SembraMedia, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Claudia Dinorah Ramirez

Jefa de Informacion, La Prensa Grafica, San Salvador, El Salvador

Juan Battaleme

Academic Director, CARI (Argentian Council for International Relations), Argentina

Miguel Fabrega

Chief Creative Principal, Neology, NFT and Metaverse Designer, House of Attention, Ciudad de Panama, Panama

María Virginia Marín

Executive Director and Founder, ProboxVE; Digital Sherlock from the DFRLab and Forum2000 member

Ismael Briasco

Co-founder and CEO, LinkedUp, Buenos Aires, Argentina

David Aragort

Chief of Institutional Relations, RedesAyuda; Democracy Tech Entrepreneur Fellow, Caracas, Venezuela

Alexandre Le Voci Sayad

ZeitGeist CEO, Co-chair of the International Steering Committee, UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Alliance, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Tomas Duran

Director General for Research, Development and Innovation, Scientific Park of Social Innovation, UNIMINUTO, Bogota, Colombia

Ernesto Nunez Chacon

Founder and Director, La Doble Traccion, Transmedia Newsroom and Agency, San Jose, Costa Rica

Ricardo Vásquez Dazarola

PhD Fellow Researcher, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Guy Mentel

President and Chief Legal Officer of Global Americans, Global Americans, Washington DC, U.S.

Lidia Sanchez

Fact-checking editor, lead of a verification project (TikTok), Animal Politico, Mexico City, Mexico

Sabrina Almeida

Researcher, School of Digital Communications at FGV, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Pedro Peres

Researcher, Laboratory of Public Policy and the Internet (LAPIN), Brazil

Javier Melendez

Analyst Expediente, Abierto, Arlington, Virginia, U.S.

Federico Rodriguez Hormaechea

Researcher of ObservaTIC (University of the Republic) and Co-founder of Fibras, Montevideo, Uruguay

Ricardo Ruiz Freire

Executive Director International, Global Innovation Gathering, Researcher Instituto Procomum, Recife, Brazil

Abdias Zambrano

Research Associate, Instituto Panamericano de Derecho y Tecnología (IPANDETEC Central America), Panama City, Panama

Daniel Arbol

Argentian Counsel for International Relations, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Paula Bravo Medina

Digital Editor, CNN en Espanol, Bogota, Colombia

Federica Tortorella

Co-founder of the project Embajadores de Internet

Victoria Martin del Campo

Tech Philosopher, Mexico

Jennifer Avila

Founder and Editor in Chief, Contracorriente, Honduras

Reinaldo Pamponet

Founder and CEO, Itsnoon, Sao Paolo, Brazil

Cynthia Picolo

Executive Director, Laboratory of Public Policy and Internet (LAPIN), Brasilia, Brazil

Caio Machado

Executive Director, Instituto Vero, Instituto de Tecnologia e Sociedade, Brazil

Beatriz Quesadas Rojas

SocialTIC, Mexico City, Mexico

Cristian Bravo Gallardo

Researcher, Ecuador

Schedule

October 17

9:00 Opening Remarks
- Marysela Zamora (Moderator)
- Nikos Panagiotou, DCN Global President
- Elizabeth M. Allen, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State
- Patricio Morera, Executive Director of Parque Metropolitano La Libertad
9:30 Journalism in the Digital Age
Moderator: David Bolaños Acuña
- Kiran Maharaj, President / CoFounder, Media Institute of the Caribbean (Jamaica) & CoFounder, Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network (Regional), Trinidad and Tobago (ENGLISH)
- Sofia Alvarez, Education Director, SembraMedia, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Jennifer Avila, Founder and Editor in Chief, Contracorriente, Honduras
10:00 Media Entrepreneurship. Ideas That Work
Marco Túlio Pires, NewsLab Lead, Google, Sao Paolo, Brazil (Virtual)
10:20 Challenges and Opportunities in the Age of Disinformation Claudia Dinorah Ramirez, Jefa de Informacion, La Prensa Grafica, San Salvador, El Salvador
10:40 How Can We Harvest the Power and Virality of Information Traveling Through WhatsApp, the Most Used Chatting App in Latin America? Paula Bravo Medina, Digital Editor, CNN en Espanol, Bogota, Colombia
11:00 Coffee Break
During the coffee break, registration to workshops and PechaKucha will open.
11:30 Trust in Technology and the Future Of Digital Influence Juan Battaleme, Academic Director, CARI (Argentian Council for International Relations), Argentina
11:50 Frontier Digital Technologies and Their Policy Implications: Artificial Inteligence. Data Protection. Disinformation
- Cynthia Picolo, Executive Director, Laboratory of Public Policy and Internet (LAPIN), Brasilia, Brazil
- Caio Machado, Executive Director, Instituto Vero, Instituto de Tecnologia e Sociedade, Brazil (ENGLISH)
12:20 Web 3.0 Unleashing the Future of Latin American Creativity Miguel Fabrega, Chief Creative Principal, Neology, NFT and Metaverse Designer, House of Attention, Ciudad de Panama, Panama
12:40 Blockchain is Much More Than Cryptocurrencies. New Paradigms to Improve the Information Space
Reinaldo Pamponet, Founder and CEO, Itsnoon, Sao Paolo, Brazil (VIRTUAL)
13:00 Lunch
14:00 Parallel Workshops More info:
Workshop 1 -Twitter, a Double-Edged Sword. Civil Society vs. Authoritarian States in Latin America María Virginia Marín, Executive Director and Founder, ProboxVE; Digital Sherlock from the DFRLab and Forum2000 member
Workshop 2 – Hackathon Creating Ideas to Spread Among Communities on How to Spot and Avoid Misinformation in a Collaborative Way (Families, Schools, Libraries, Museums etc.).
Alexandre Le Voci Sayad, ZeitGeist CEO, Co-chair of the International Steering Committee, UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Alliance,
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Workshop 3: Infodemic: the new pandemic and the social challenges
Cristian Bravo Gallardo, Researcher, International University of Ecuador
Workshop 4 – DCN Global Networking
Networking Workshop by DCN Global team. The team will discuss more details about the DCN Americas Hub and its launch.
15:30 Coffee Break (please visit the mini trade show, inside the main hall, where participants showcase projects and initiatives)
16:00 Media and Information Literacy as a Lifelong Learning Process
Moderator: Maria Fernanda Cruz
- Alexandre Le Voci Sayad, ZeitGeist CEO, Co-chair of the International Steering Committee, UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Alliance, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Tomas Duran, Director General for Research, Development and Innovation, Scientific Park of Social Innovation, UNIMINUTO, Bogota, Colombia
16:30 InfoActivism
Beatriz Quesadas Rojas, SocialTIC, Mexico City, Mexico
16:50 Journalism is an Insufferable Yawn: Humor and Gamification as the Path to Engaging and Sustainable Journalism Ernesto Nunez Chacon, Founder and Director, La Doble Traccion, Transmedia Newsroom and Agency, San Jose, Costa Rica
17.10 Game "Social Media Against Humanity"
- Federico Rodriguez Hormaechea, Researcher of ObservaTIC (University of the Republic) and Co-founder of Fibras, Montevideo, Uruguay
- Federica Tortorella Casilla, Co-founder of the project Embajadores de Internet
17:30 PechaKucha
Opportunity for participants to make brief presentations – not more than five minutes – in connection to the forum’s topic, mostly focusing on their work or perspective
18.00
Forum Day 1 Closing

October 18

9:00 Moderators’ Introduction
9:10 Combating Disinformation in the Digital Age: Legal Challenges and Latin America Normative Scenario
Ricardo Vásquez Dazarola, PhD Fellow Researcher, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
9:30 Disinformation and Fake News Can Only Be Stopped by Coalitions
Guy Mentel, President and Chief Legal Officer of Global Americans, Global Americans, Washington DC, U.S. (ENGLISH)
9:50 Misinformation During Elections and in Politics
Moderator: David Bolaños Acuña
- Lidia Sanchez, Fact-checking editor, lead of a verification project (TikTok), Animal Politico, Mexico City, Mexico
- Sabrina Almeida, Researcher, School of Digital Communications at FGV, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Pedro Peres, Researcher, Laboratory of Public Policy and the Internet (LAPIN), Brazil
10:20 Foreign Influence in Latin America
Moderator: Sofía Chinchilla Cerdas
- Javier Melendez, Analyst Expediente, Abierto, Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
10:40
Coffee Break
11:10 Using Social Media to Fight Censorhip and Propaganda. The Role of Technology in the New Authoritarism in Latin America
- David Aragort, Chief of Institutional Relations, RedesAyuda, Democracy Tech Entrepreneur Fellow, Caracas, Venezuela (Virtual)
- María Virginia Marín, Executive Director and Founder, ProboxVE; Digital Sherlock from the DFRLab and Forum2000 member
11:40 Digital Tools for Human Rights
Ricardo Ruiz Freire, Executive Director International, Global Innovation Gathering, Researcher Instituto Procomum, Recife, Brazil (Virtual)
12:00 Tech and Civil Society
Abdias Zambrano, Research Associate, Instituto Panamericano de Derecho y Tecnología (IPANDETEC Central America), Panama City, Panama
12:20 Digital and Politics. Why it matters?
Franak Viačorka, Vice President of DCN Global
12:40 Unfulfilled Promise: The Impact of Digital Divide in Human Development Federico Rodriguez Hormaechea, Researcher of ObservaTIC (University of the Republic) and Co-founder of Fibras, Montevideo, Uruguay
13:00 Government Digital Transformation: Optimizing User Experience
Victoria Martin del Campo, Tech Philosopher, Council of Justice, Mexico
13:20 Lunch
14:30 Parallel Workshops More:
Workshop 1 – Hackathon Creating Ideas to Spread Among Communities on How to Spot and Avoid Misinformation in a Collaborative Way (Families, Schools, Libraries, Museums etc.). Alexandre Le Voci Sayad, ZeitGeist CEO, Co-chair of the International Steering Committee, UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Alliance, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Workshop 2: Entrepreneurship in the Digital Age: Digital Transformation and Personal Branding
Ismael Briasco, Co-founder and CEO, LinkedUp, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Workshop 3: Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in Latin America Tomas Duran, Tomas Duran, Director General for Research, Development and Innovation, Scientific Park of Social Innovation, UNIMINUTO, Bogota, Colombia
Workshop 4: Decision Making on Artificial Intelligence Ethics
Victoria Martin del Campo, Tech Philosopher, Mexico
Workshop 5: DCN Global Networking
Networking Workshop by DCN Global team. The team will discuss more details about the DCN Americas Hub and its launch.
16:00 Coffee Break Please visit the mini trade show, inside the main hall, where participants showcase projects and initiatives
16:30 Information Integrity and Digital Harms
Moderator: Hulda Miranda Picado
- Daniel Arbol, Argentian Counsel for International Relations, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Juan Battaleme, Counsel for International Relations, Buenos Aires, Argentina
17:00 DCN Americas Network Launch
Marysela Zamora, Professor Nikos Panagiotou and the DCN team Marianna Tanagia, Diana Filimon, Ioanna Georgia Eskiadi.
17:30 End of the Forum
Closing remarks TBA

This forum is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Office of Citizen Exchanges and organized by Digital Communication Network Global (DCN Global) and World Learning.

DCN GLOBAL FOR THE AMERICAS INAUGURAL EVENT