Family Online Safety Institute

9-10 November, 2010. FOSI Annual Conference

Venue: Andrew Mellon Auditorium, Washington, D.C.

The Family Online Safety Institute finished off a busy year of events with our fourth Annual Conference, “Internet Freedom, Safety and Citizenship: A Global Call to Action.” The two day event was held at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington D.C and welcomed over 400 attendees, 90 speakers and 31 exhibitors from around the world.

26 July, 2010. FOSI GRID - Public Launch

Launch of FOSI's Professional Edition of GRID its new family online safety portal

Venue: House of Lords, Westminster, London

This invite-only event saw the public launch of FOSI's Professional Edition of GRID. Launched to the FOSI membership early this year, this much anticipated portal is an important, unique, collaberative new resource for all those involved with making the Internet a safer and better place.

Find out more about GRID here

29th June, 2010. Sending an Online Safety Message to Congress

Venue: National Press Club, Washington, D.C. 9am to 11am.

The Progress & Freedom Foundation and FOSI co-hosted an event focused on the recent release of the report to Congress, "Youth Safety on a Living Internet: Report of the Online Safety and Technology Working Group."

Opening remarks by: Anna M. Gomez, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and Deputy Administrator, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Department of Commerce

Stephen Balkam, CEO of FOSI will moderate a discussion featuring:

• Hemanshu Nigam, Co-Chair of the Online Safety & Technology Working Group;
• Larry Magid, ConnectSafely.org and Chairman of OSTWG Subcommittee on Internet Safety Education;
• Michael McKeehan, Verizon and Chairman of OSTWG Subcommittee on Data Retention;
• Adam Thierer, Progress & Freedom Foundation and Chairman of OSTWG Subcommittee on Parental Controls & Child Protection Technology.

27 May, 2010. FOSI European Conference

Putting the Pieces Together: Building a Comprehensive Online Safety Plan

Venue: Telefonica, Auditorio Distrito C, Ronda de la Comunicacion S/N, Madrid

With 250 attendees and a over 40 speakers from more than 12 countries, FOSI's 2nd Annual European Conference was hosted by Telefonica and sponsored by AT&T, Rulespace and Nominum.

Agenda topics included:

• Online Responsibility and Safer ICT Use - Does the Self Regulatory Framework Promote 21st Century Citizenship?
• Taking Control of Your Data - Staying Safe while Social Networking, Micro-blogging & Photo Sharing
• TechTalk as aids to safety: What's Coming Down the Track?
• The Collaborative Efforts of Law Enforcement, Industry and Government in Online Child Protection
• How can we Better Promote the Safer Use of ICTs in Latin American Countries?
• Can Parents and Carers Supervise Everything Kids do Online?
• The New Breed of Location Services - Privacy and Safety Concerns for children and young people.
• Future Dialogue - Alliances and Partnerships to help Families Stay Safer.

26-28 April, 2010. Gulf Conference: Creating a National Consensus for Online Safety

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the Kingdom of Bahrain in partnership with the Family Online Safety Institute hosted a landmark conference with over 250 attendees from 15 countries. This invite-only conference brought together specialists from the region but also from around the world to engage all stakeholders in this Web 2.0 challenge, to prepare Bahrain and the surrounding countries for 21st century citizenship.

In pursuit of a national consensus for online safety and in support of its ICT strategy to empower the e-Kingdom of Bahrain, this ground-breaking conference was the first of its kind in the Gulf region.

25 February, 2010. Screening of the PBS documentary "Digital Nation"

On February 25, FOSI hosted a screening of "digital_nation" the newest documentary by Frontline producer, Rachel Dretzin, at NCTA's theater in Washington, D.C. "digital-nation" focuses on the impact of technology on modern life. The film explores how the digital world affects education, personal interactions, multi-tasking, Internet addiction, business practices and even military recruitment and post-traumatic stress disorder. Following the film, Stephen Balkam moderated a discussion with Rachel Dretzin, Kathy Brown, Senior Vice President of Public Policy Development and Corporate Responsibility at Verizon and Adam Thierer, President of the Progress & Freedom Foundation and Director of PFF's Center for Digital Media Freedom. Dretzin discussed her experience making the documentary and talked about her own role as a mother of children growing up in the digital world. She believes that this film and the website are different than traditional Frontline documentaries and that the debate in the film reflects the current societal debate on these issues. Dretzin hopes that the film starts real conversations about technology and society and encouraged attendees to explore the online content as well.

Brown explained that the Verizon Foundation helped fund "digital_nation" because Verizon is putting out a platform that all of these digital things like online gaming and telemedicine are running on. Brown said that the role the Internet can play in one’s life is really a values issue and requires responsible parenting. She gave examples of her own experience as a mother and the role technology plays in the lives of her children. Brown believes that families need to have an ongoing conversation about technology in their lives and parents need to educate themselves about how their kids use technology. She thinks that parents should teach moderation and instill their own values in kids. Brown said that Verizon is making an intentional attempt to help parents understand technology and give parents a place to go for online tools.

Thierer explained that he liked the documentary because of its focus on the role of new technology and the impact on life, learning and culture. Thierer discussed the fact that many people may be scared by new technology and adapting to changing circumstances. He said that in his family they practice "media free Monday" and try to make sure that their children get a balance of new technology and traditional play time. Thierer stressed the importance of kids learning about safe online behavior and commended the example in the video of a South Korean school teaching "netiquette" in classes and using songs and banners in the school to encourage responsible digital use. Thierer also talked about the tension in policy debates about regulation to deal with the extreme cases of improper digital behavior or education and concluded that it is best to educate and encourage sensible use of technology.

To learn more about "digital_nation" please visit: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/