The U.S. Embassy Warsaw, Fundacja Rozwoju Społeczeństwa Informacyjnego (FRSI) and the Digital Communication Networking (DCN) successfully partnered to host TechCamp Warsaw and the 2nd RockIT Digital Summit in Warsaw, February 15-17. U.S. Ambassador to Poland Paul Jones and U.S. Department of State Acting Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Ambassador Bruce Wharton addressed participants at TechCamp Warsaw and the RockIT Summit, both of whom emphasized the vital role journalists, civil society and educators play in identifying and reporting the truth.
The TechCamp brought together nine trainers and 50 leading journalists, bloggers, civil society leaders, IT specialists and digital communicators from throughout Europe and Central Asia to brainstorm ways to better identify and evaluate conflicting sources of information available to consumers today. Some programs provided instant fact-checking plug-ins, while others provided fact-based web portals and news databases. Others focused on highlighting untold stories of famous women in each country and still another advocated for developing an interactive webpage to explore the history of global migration.
The RockIT Digital Summit similarly brought together more than 300 U.S. Department of State-sponsored exchange alumni with backgrounds in journalism, media, and civil society to learn about and discuss new digital trends and challenges in the information and media sectors.