More Than 200 Leading Technologists, Community Activists to Gather in Berlin to Brainstorm a Better Future for Internet Privacy, Censorship, and Community Networks
Washington, DC — Freifunk is 10 years old, and to mark the occasion and be sure that the future is one where our privacy is secure and technology helps bring us together, hundreds of technology and community experts from around the world will gather in Berlin this October to brainstorm how to design a better Internet that allows for powerful community networks while protecting end-users from surveillance and censorship.
The occasion is a twin bill of conferences: First, the Circumvention Technology Summit IV (CTS IV) from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1, and second, the International Summit for Community Wireless Networks (IS4CWN) from Oct. 2 to 4. The New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute and its Open Internet Tools Project are organizing both events.
“In recent years, we have seen a dramatic rise in online surveillance coupled with increased awareness that communities need to have direct ownership over their communication networks,” said Sascha Meinrath, director of the Open Technology Institute. “These two events bring together technology experts and community leaders to collaborate on how technology can be better leveraged to strengthen communities worldwide while protecting users.”
The Circumvention Tech Summit IV will increase dialog and cooperation between privacy tool developers, activists, journalists and other stakeholders interested in improving the tools and training available for circumventing internet censorship and surveillance. Held in an unconference format, CTS IV will focus on surveillance and censorship in Europe, improving user interfaces for circumvention tools, and wireless mesh networking.
The International Summit for Community Wireless Networks will bring together technology experts, policy analysts, community leaders, and university researchers working on state-of-the-art community broadband projects across the globe. It will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share strategies and challenges, discuss policy issues, and coordinate research and development efforts.
The events coincide with the 10th anniversary of IS4CWN co-sponsor Freifunk, a Berlin-based community of projects supporting open wireless networking tools. Freifunk projects have been instrumental in laying the groundwork for many community wireless networks across the world.
Download reports from past Circumvention Tech Summits for Hong Kong View Report and Tunis View Report.
For more information about IS4CWN visit: http://2013.wirelesssummit.org/
For more information about CTS IV visit: http://openitp.org/openitp/circumvention-tech-summit.html
To learn more or schedule an interview, please contact Ross van der Linde: vanderlinde@newamerica.net.
About the New America Foundation
New America Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States.
About the Open Technology Institute
The Open Technology Institute strengthens human communication through grounded research, technological innovation, and policy reform. OTI promotes affordable, universal access to broadband, and fosters community and industry partnerships that increase connectivity and opportunities for poor, rural, and other underserved communities.
About the Open Internet Tools Project
OpenITP supports the software creators and communities behind open source anti-surveillance and anti-censorship tools that enable citizens to communicate directly and freely with each other, on their own terms.