speakers

​ ​Opening remarks

David Wright, Co-author of the COP Guidelines​ and Director of UK Safer Internet Centre at SWGfL; the national awareness Centre and part of the European Insafe network. David has worked extensively in online safety for many years with children, schools and wider agencies. David advises a number of Governments and school inspectorates on online safety strategy and policy, particularly with regards schools and curriculum, and is a Child Online Protection expert adviser to the UN ITU. David has presented at conferences nationally and internationally. He is a member of UKCIS as well as the Twitter Trust and Safety Council. David is a Fellow at the EP3 Foundation and member of IEEE panel defining standards for Child Data Governance. David has led pioneering work, such as the development of multi award winning resources, as well as the establishment of the helpline for victims of Revenge Porn. With the Plymouth University, he has published a number of ground-breaking research reports. - Click here to access presentation. 

Sonia Livingstone, DPhil (Oxon), OBE, FBA, FBPS, FAcSS, FRSA, is a professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has published 20 books on media audiences, especially children and young people's risks and opportunities, media literacy and rights in the digital environment. Her new book is “Parenting for a Digital Future: How hopes and fears about technology shape children's lives" (Oxford University Press, with Alicia Blum-Ross). Sonia chaired LSE's Truth, Trust and Technology Commission, and has served as Expert Advisor to the Council of Europe, Special Advisor to the House of Lords' Select Committee on Communications, President of the International Communication Association, and Executive Board member of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety. She has received five honorary doctorates and several international prizes. Since founding the EC-funded 33 country “EU Kids Online" research network, she has advised the UK government, European Commission, European Parliament, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, OECD, ITU and UNICEF and others on children's internet safety and rights in the digital environment. She is a #SaferInternet4EU Ambassador for the European Commission. Sonia currently directs the Digital Futures Commission (with the 5Rights Foundation) and the “Global Kids Online" project (with UNICEF). Other projects include the UKRI-funded “Nurture N​etwork" and two European H2020 projects: “ySKILLS" (Youth Skills) and “CO:RE" (Children Online: Research and Evidence. She blogs at www.parenting.digital and tweets @Livingstone_S. See www.sonialivingstone.net. - Click here to access presentation. ​

Giacomo Mazzone is the co-author of the COP Guidelines for Industry. He is a manager of the Public Service Broadcasting and Media with 40 years' experience in the news, sport and international relations sectors, trained as a journalist, with a great deal of experience in international companies and organizations (RAI, Euronews, Eurosport, EBU European Broadcasting Union member of the WBU World Broadcasting Union). He has worked for all traditional media (press, radio, general interest TV) but also in new media (all-news channels, Internet portals). Expert in European and multilateral negotiations, Giacomo has been chosen to represent Italian government in the UNESCO at the negotiations for the Cultural Diversity convention. Giacomo has been a journalist for RAI 2 for 15 years and recently has been appointed director of European Affairs and of the relations with EU institutions. He was Head of Institutional Relations and Director of Members Relations South within the European Broadcasting Union. Giacomo is a partner of the ITU for the assistance to broadcasters in remote regions to migrate to DTT. He is a founding member of the ITU COP initiative in 2009. Within the COP Council Working Group he has collaborated to the​ three editions of the “Guidelines for industry", (guidelines for media and telco operators to better protect children when going into the online environment), including the last one made in 2020. Today Giacomo is a member of the Advisory Board of the EDMO (the EU initiative for monitoring and fighting disinformation), of the Foundation Centesimus Annus and also representative of AUB (African Broadcasting Union) into the GAC of ICANN.  Giacomo was recently appointed member of the EU Expert group on tackling disinformation and promoting digital literacy through education and training. - Click here to access presentation. 

Panel Discussion on​ the journey towards ensuring child online protection: Roll-out of the ITU COP Guidelines at the national level​

​Klorenta Janushi Pashaj, Head of Communication and ​Information Dissemination Unit, National Authority for Electronic Certification and Cyber Security, Council of Minister. Awarded as Top 100 "Women of Influence in Cyber Security in Europe", Ms. Klorenta Janushi Pashaj is the President of Women4Cyber Albania, an initiative which aims to promote, encourage and support the participation of women in cyber security. She participates actively in national and international discussion of cyber security and works every day to change the historical data of underrepresentation of women and girls in cyber security labor market. She holds the position of Head of Communication and Information Dissemination Unit at the National Authority for Electronic Certification and Cyber Security, Council of Minister. Ms. Pashaj is the first Albanian expert accepted by European Commission in its FUTURIUM Women4cyber Register.​

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Katalin Bara​​​csi Dr. is a LL.M lawyer specialized in Infocommunication. She holds internet security classes and interactive training for more than 10 years inside and outside of country. She brings children, young people, parents, educators, professionals closer to the everyday life of the digital world and makes them confident that they can pass on the information they have acquired in their environment. She coordinates and independently prepares professional materials and programs. Currently, as a freelancer expert, she assists governmental, civic, and eclectic organizations in both domestic and international projects.

Antonella Gatt is the Director of International Relations and Program Implementation at the Ministry of Education in Malta. She holds the position of Director International Relations and Programme Implementation at the Ministry for Education in Malta. She is also the Project Co-ordinator of a Child Online Protection project within the Malta Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society. Ms. Gatt joined the Permanent Representation of Malta to the EU in Brussels in June 2015 as Senior Policy Officer within the External Relations Unit whereby she was responsible for the geographical region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Between 2016 and 2019, she held the position of Employment and Social Policy Attaché at the Permanent Representation of Malta to the EU in Brussels.During the Maltese EU Presidency in 2017, Ms. Gatt was the Chair of the Social Questions Working Party (Social Policy). Prior to this, Ms. Gatt has worked at the EU Secretariat within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister at the Ministry for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto in Malta, where she was responsible for the Employment and Social Policy as well as the Education, Youth, Culture and Sports Council formations. Antonella Gatt has read for a Bachelors degree (hons.) in European Studies from the University of Malta in 2007 – 2010 including an Erasmus exchange at the University of Limerick in Ireland. She has graduated with a double Masters degree in European Culture with distinction from the University of Deusto (Spain) and the University of Göttingen (Germany) in 2012. Ms. Gatt has also graduated with a Masters degree in Contemporary European Studies with Merit from the University of Sussex (UK) in 2013. 

Claudia Maria Oprescu is the National Coordinator at the Romanian Safer Internet Centre. She holds the position of National Coordinator of the Romanian Safer Inter​net Centre, starting from February 2021, implemented by Save the Children Romania organization. All the activities developed and conducted in collaboration with the main stakeholders (The Ministry of Education, ..) and leading industry representatives as partners, have been focused on the safety of children when using the internet. By developing and disseminating digital intellectual products for children, parents, educators, childcare workers and other professionals working with children, Save the Children contributes to a better online space for our children to grow into healthy, intelligent, empathetic and responsible citizens. As Associate Professor of the Teaching Training Department for Didactic Careers and Social and Humanities, University Polytechnic from Bucharest, Claudia explores the pedagogical reasoning and responsibilities in terms of digital specific competences, together with the students, underpinning the impact of the role of technologies used by pupils, within the complex socio-political contexts of their future didactic carriers. Specialized in MRU and Communication, having 15 years of professional experience in multinational companies, being passionate about psychology, Claudia Oprescu innovatively combines her academic experience with the nonprofit organizational scope and values, through formal and nonconventional methods, being focused on creating a better and safer internet for children. The results of the scientific research developed during the PhD studies in at the University Polytechnic from Bucharest, have added value to the field, having been printed by renowned specialized Romanian publishing houses and cited by various international authors. On a personal note, Claudia is a loving mother of three highly digitalized children and has been actively involved in their upbringing and education. This has vastly opened her perspective and vision of the brighter future for all children.

Șahin Bayzan Dr., is the Coordinator at Safer Internet Centre in Turkey. He is a computer engineer. He was graduated from Near East University Computer Engineering Department in 1998. He worked as a research assistant at Pamukkale University from 2000 to 2008. Șahin took Computer Engineering as master degree in Pamukkale University and Electronic and Computer Education as PhD degree in Kocaeli University. He graduated from Kırıkkale University Political Science and Public Administration in 2018. He is also a graduate of Ankara University Faculty of Law, Justice associate degree. Since 2008, he has been working for ICT Authority, Turkey, as an ICT expert. Since 2019, he has been working as the Coordinator of the Safer Internet Center, Turkey. 

Oleksandra Kovalenko is the Head of the Expert Group on Online Safety at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. She is a governmental expert with a background in Law. She completed her Masters in Interdisciplinary European Studies at the College of Europe in Natolin, Warsaw. With experience in international policy, human rights, and project management, Oleksandra is Humanity in Action Fellow and Canadian-Ukrainian Parliamentary Program alumna. Currently, she is the Head of the Expert Group on Online Safety at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.​

Moderation and closing remarks​

Sarah Delporte is a Project Officer in charge of UN Affairs and UN Partnerships at ITU Office for Europe. Prior to joining the ITU, she had several experiences in the communication and marketing sectors. She holds a double master's degree in Public Policy and Human Development from the UNU-MERIT, specialized in social entrepreneurship and public policy, as well as a bachelor's degree in communication and marketing. She has also followed journalism training. She is passionate about applying innovative and integrative solutions to create a sustainable and inclusive future for all. - Click here to access presentation​

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