DiploFoundation

General Information
Industry:	Internet
Stakeholder Group:	Academia
Issue Areas:	Capacity Development
Country:	Malta
Founded:	Malta, 2002
Headquarters:	DiploFoundation Malta office Regional Road Msida 2033 Malta
Website:	http://www.diplomacy.edu/
Email:	diplo@diplomacy.edu
Facebook:	[DiploFoundation Facebook]
Twitter:	[@climate_diplo Twitter]

People
Jovan Kurbalija, Director of DiploFoundation Dietrich Kappeler, Honorary President of DiploFoundation
Founder(s):	Jovan Kurbalija

DiploFoundation is a non-profit organization based in Malta, with offices in Geneva and Belgrade. Diplo works to strengthen the meaningful participation of all stakeholders in diplomatic practice and international relations.

DiploFoundation offers postgraduate level academic courses and training workshops on a variety of diplomacy-related topics for diplomats, civil servants, staff of international organizations and NGOs and students of international relations; as well as capacity building programmes for participants from developing countries in a number of topics including Internet Governance, Human Rights, Public Diplomacy and Advocacy, and Health Diplomacy. Diplo has trained around 1650 students from more than 180 countries so far.

Diplo conducts it's courses with the help of University of Malta, Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, Graduate Institute of International Studies and Geneva Centre for Security Policy

History

In 1993, the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies in Malta started a project to ICT tools to the practice of diplomacy. This project led to the concept of Diplo and in November 2002, Diplo was established as an independent non-profit foundation by the governments of Malta and Switzerland.

In June, 2006, Diplo was granted Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

In 2007, the DiploFoundation inaugurated the Diplomacy Island & Virtual Embassy in Second Life.

Internet Governance and ICT Policy Programs

DiploFoundation conducts various programmes to train people in Internet Governance and ICT Policy. The programmes conducted by DiploFoundation are as follows:

• The Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme: This program focuses on Internet Governance, with courses like: Introduction to Internet Governance, Infrastructure and Critical Internet Resources, Intellectual Property Rights, Cybersecurity, Privacy and Personal Data Protection etc.
• Capacity Development Programme in ICT Policy and IG for ACP countries: This is a two year program aimed at individuals and institutions dealing with Internet Governance and ICT policy issues at the national, regional, and global levels. The program is only open to ACP countries (Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific).
• Next Generation Leaders Programme (NGL): This programme aims at developing the next generation of leaders in Internet technology, policy and business. NGL is a collaboration between DiploFoundation and ISOC.

Internet Governance Capacity Building Program

Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme (IGCBP) is a project developed by the Diplo Foundation intended to train professionals in different stake holder groups about internet governance issues to be able to participate in international decision making process or forums such as the International Governance Forum (IGF). The program was launched in 2005 with an online training and research phase. Every training provided by IGCBP require a certain amount of fee but the program also offers scholarships and fellowships to qualified participants. Jovan Kurbalija is the Programme Chair.

Four Phases of IGCBP

IGCBP is composed of four phases:

• Foundation Phase
• Advanced Phase
• Policy Research Phase
• Policy Immersion Phase

Courses Offered

IGCBP offers the following training courses to its participants:

• Policy Research Course
• Introduction to Internet Governance
• Infrastructure and Critical Internet Resources
• Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
• Cybersecurity
• Privacy and Personal Data Protection
• ICT Policy and Strategic Planning

Board Members

• Dietrich Kappeler
• Victor Camilleri
• André Liebich
• Stefano Baldi
• Saviour Borg
• Nermine El Saadany
• Dante Martinelli
• Joseph Pirotta
• Jovan Kurbalija

Memberships

• Global Knowledge Partnership
• International Forum on Diplomatic Training
• Founding Member of the European Diplomatic Training Initiative

Awards

• World e-Democracy Forum Award, 2009

External links

• Official website of DiploFoundation
• DiploFoundation Youtube Channel