Who we are
DiploFoundation is the leading global capacity development organisation in the field of Internet governance. Established over 20 years ago, Diplo works to improve:
- the role of small and developing states in global diplomacy;
- Internet governance and digital policy;
- international policy development;
- international accountability and legitimacy; and
- the legitimacy of international policy-making.
DiploFoundation does this by:
- training officials through engaging, customised, and cost-effective courses, workshops and simulation exercises;
- strengthening participation of non-state actors in international relations and policy;
- providing capacity development programmes for governing the Internet, data, artificial intelligence, and other emerging tech issues;
- promoting and developing digital tools for inclusive and impactful governance and policy-making.
The Geneva Internet Platform (GIP) is an initiative of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) of Switzerland. It was established in 2014 and is operated by DiploFoundation.
The GIP provides a neutral and inclusive space for digital policy debates, digital policy monitoring and analysis, and capacity development.
The GIP's activities are implemented through just-in-time events, policy research, and the Digital Watch observatory which provides the latest updates, trends, instruments, resources, events, and actors on 50+ Internet governance and digital policy issues and processes.
What we do
Online training and courses
Since 1994, DiploFoundation has successfully trained over 6400 alumni from over 200 countries and territories, including individuals working in governments, the private and civil sector, media, and academia. From our founding, we have held more than 450 courses and training programmes in areas diplomacy, Internet governance, communications, and policy-making.
All our faculty members are high-ranking practising and retired experts, as well as renowned academics in the fields of Internet governance, diplomacy, and international relations.
Master/Postgraduate Diploma in Contemporary Diplomacy with an Internet Governance specialisation
Earn an accredited Master’s degree without taking time off work!
The online Master/Postgraduate Diploma in Contemporary Diplomacy programme builds knowledge and practical skills for addressing current challenges in diplomacy and international relations, including Internet governance, AI, and data.
Why you should apply
- Accredited: The programme has a European postgraduate accreditation through the Department of International Relations at the University of Malta, and is recognised worldwide.
- Flexible: You choose your courses and degree, and you decide when and where to study.
- Affordable: With online learning you can continue to work.
- Relevant: Courses cover traditional and contemporary topics in diplomacy, and current Internet governance events and trends.
- Practical: Faculty members are practising and retired diplomats with theoretical knowledge and practical expertise.
- Personalised: Extend your professional network through your classmates, lecturers, and over 6400 alumni members.
- Effective: Small student groups emphasise learning together, drawing on the experience and knowledge of both participants and lecturers.
To find out more about the programme and to apply, visit the Master’s programme page here.
Advanced Diploma in Internet Governance
An interactive online capacity development programme
Topics like privacy protection, human rights online, and cybersecurity are increasingly in focus of the global policy-making community. Yet, the growing relevance of the Internet is not yet supported by effective and inclusive Internet governance.
The Advanced Diploma in Internet Governance programme gives current and future Internet policymakers a solid foundation in practical and diplomatic skills, as well as the knowledge and techniques necessary to engage effectively in international policy processes.
Participants must successfully complete three of the following five courses within a three-year period:
- Introduction to Internet Governance
- Internet Technology and Policy: Challenges and Solutions
- Artificial Intelligence: Technology, Governance, and Policy Frameworks
To find out more about the programme and to apply, visit the Advanced Diploma page here.
GIP's Digital Watch observatory
The GIP's Digital Watch observatory is a comprehensive one-stop shop for the latest digital policy developments, overviews, events, actors, instruments, and other resources.
Digital Watch provides:
- a comprehensive live summary of the latest developments in digital policy;
- an overview of digital issues, actors and ongoing processes;
- a calendar of upcoming and past events, and public consultations;
- just-in-time reporting from digital policy events;
- the latest research and data on Internet policy;
- quantitative research such as data-mining of open data and topic profiling; and
- digital policy research and analysis by 30+ digital policy experts from around the world.
DW's team of 50+ expert curators and rapporteurs, data analysts, editors, and multimedia specialists provide just-in-time reports from major events such as the IGF, as well as regional and national events.
New projects and tools
Encouraging curiosity and seeking constant innovation within our community, Diplo focuses on new developments in the field of AI, data science, and online meetings.
ConfTech: From on-site to online
The ConfTech initiative captures Diplo’s 20+ years of experience in e-learning, e-diplomacy, and e-participation to help countries and organisations transition from onsite to online and hybrid events.
It achieves its mission through five areas of work:
- Help Desk for online events: The ConfTech Help Desk provides immediate advice to help countries and organisations identify solutions to their needs, and make quick decisions on how to organise their online and hybrid meetings.
- Hands-on support: Meeting organisers who are pressed for time can outsource their meeting or event to ConfTech. ConfTech’s hands-on service includes conceptual planning, programme shaping, platform set-up, communications support, on-the-day tech assistance, video-based and chat-based moderation, and event reporting.
- Training: The Online Meetings and Conferences intensive practice-based four-week online course teaches participants how to plan and run successful online events, from choosing the right platforms and apps, to moderating effectively.
- Labs: The first ConfTech lab, in Geneva, will be equipped with the latest technology to develop innovative ways of hosting and moderating online and hybrid events.
- Research and library: The Future of Meetings library offers how-to guides, articles, and videos on the many aspects of online meetings, to help others plan and implement their ideas.
ConfTech Help Desk: Helping organisation and governments to shift to online events
Due to COVID-19 and the growing need for skills on organising and moderating online events, we established the ConTech Help Desk to help organisations and governments to shift their work online. Together with the governments of Switzerland and Finland, Diplo and the GIP organised the Help Desk in accordance with the recommendations given in the UN Secretary-General's Roadmap for Digital Cooperation.
Online meetings and conferences are now a necessity for most organisations. In the Online Meetings and Conferences highly interactive, practice-based course, participants learn how to plan, manage, and run successful online events, including: choosing and using an appropriate technical platform, planning the entire process from the initial idea to the follow-up, and effectively moderating interaction in an online environment.
The humAInism project
As we witness calls for regulation and oversight of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, we need to anchor AI in the core values of humanity by understanding how AI functions and what are the reasonable policy trade-offs that we need to make.
At the humAInism project we do this by:
- going ‘under the AI bonnet’ to understand technology and to analyse the policy, legal, and ethics-related impacts of algorithms and other AI tools;
- experimenting with and developing AI systems that can help us draft a guide (or social contract) on how to navigate the uncharted waters of the emerging AI era; and
- showcasing AI tools that are able to assist diplomats in multilateral negotiations, as well as in drafting reports and statements on a broad range of issues.
The humAInism project invites tech companies and research institutions to develop AI systems that are able to analyse human knowledge and to join us, in order to create a new kind of ‘social contract’ or guide which will help humanity navigate the uncharted waters of the emerging AI era. Join our community and contact us at [email protected].
The humAInism Speech Generator
The humAInism Speech Generator combines AI algorithms and human expertise to help diplomats and other practitioners to draft statements and speeches. Our pilot project concerns cybersecurity topics, and will be followed by other policy areas.
The Speech Generator aims to explore new AI technologies, and examine their application in the field of diplomacy. For this purpose, we used several state-of-the-art algorithms with three main goals.
- Semantic similarity search: Finding sentences with similar semantics from Diplo’s corpuses of books and transcripts
- Generation of long-form answers: Given a question, the algorithm finds relevant paragraphs from Diplo’s corpuses of books and transcripts, and generates new paragraphs with explanatory answers
- Text generation: The algorithm is fine-tuned on diplomatic texts, and is used for the generation of new texts
Artificial intelligence (AI) has moved from the realm of science fiction into our everyday lives. But what exactly is AI, and how does it change our socio-economic landscapes, and what is at stake for governments, businesses, and citizens?
Interactive voice assistants on our smartphones, targeted online advertising on social media, and autonomous cars and weapons are just some examples of the varied applications of AI.
The Artificial Intelligence online course provides in-depth knowledge that enables participants to critically assess the consequences of AI, and understand the opportunities and challenges AI is creating across a broad spectrum of topics, including policy and diplomacy. It provides an interdisciplinary coverage of AI, encompassing technical, political, legal, economic, security, and ethical issues.
Diplo’s Data Engine collects, processes, and presents large datasets in a way to be easily understood and used by diplomats, policymakers and the general public. The Data Engine is a practical and impactful tool for optimised and evidence-based policy-making. Our two pilot apps include the Countries-Companies Comparison tool and the Data Sandbox tool, with many new projects to come.
The Countries-Companies Comparison tool compares the GDP of a country with the revenues of tech companies. The comparison is visualised through the size of the country's flag and the sizes of tech companies' logos. Compare countries and tech companies here.
The Data Sandbox tool identifies patterns in a country's ranking position across different datasets, such as COVID-19, economy, governance, and many others. These patterns help diplomats and practitioners better understand data and further research these issues. Find country patterns here.