On December 2-3, at TRACE Expert City in Colombo, Sri Lanka we'll bring together the most innovative and inspiring digital activist and citizen media communities from around the globe to explore the connections between the open Internet, digital storytelling and virtual movements around the world. The event hashtag is #GV2017.
Sessions on the Main Stage will be made available in Sinhala and Tamil through simultaneous translation.
View the Global Voices Summit 2017 schedule & directory.
Our conversations, panels and workshops will be organized in five thematic tracks.
TRACK I: PEOPLE-POWERED NARRATIVES
What happens when reporting bubbles up from the people on the ground most affected by the story? Conflict reporting without national security filters. Gender reporting without triggers. And protest reporting without hopelessness.
Join members of the Global Voices community newsroom and other citizen media groups challenging traditional newsroom norms with decentralized structures and organic processes, allowing for unique frames and perspectives to rise up while creating deeper impact.
TRACK II: STRENGTH IN NETWORKS
Facebook, Google and other corporate giants might be big, but they are not the only powerful actors on the open web. Communities around the world are using technology — and building their own networks — to teach, learn, express themselves, and take on local and global challenges.
Hear from leaders of the Rising Voices community about people around the world who are exercising power through independent networks.
TRACK III: RISK ON THE OPEN WEB
The open web is a place of great promise, innovation and risk. The internet is a testing ground for people experimenting with political, social and technical boundaries. But experimentation can often come with great risks to the safety of people and communities.
Join Global Voices Advox leaders and digital rights experts from around the globe for conversations about the risk and rewards of advocacy and activism on the open web, and participate in digital security training and discussions.
TRACK IV: TRUTH, LIES & THE NEWS
Fake news, misinformation, propaganda and spin are all part of the media whirlwind of the internet. And though it’s not new, recent events have raised a lot of concerns. How do we write stories — and stay informed — in a world full of news, real and perspectival, biased and fake?
Hear from experts, data researchers and Global Voices collaborators working at the forefront of fact-checking and media literacy in this track.
TRACK V: LANGUAGES & POWER
The internet connects us across cultures, borders and continents — as long as we speak the same language. In a networked society where English still dominates technology and global discourse, how do we reckon with the imbalances of power that this produces?
The Languages and Power sessions will consider these and other questions related to language and translation online.
