The London Conference on Cyberspace
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The guy sat next to me on the train on the way into London was busily beavering away, coincidentally on web security with local governments. It said so
on his paperwork.A serendipitous start to the London Conference on Cyberspace.
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Arriving at the Queen Elizabeth II conference center, I could tell they were expecting some important people.
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There were lots more police than in the photo. They were just shy.
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I was scanned, searched, had my underware fiddled with (in my overnight bag) and then badged up.
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Inside the Press Centre at #LondonCyber
This is our holding pen at the moment. Security here is pretty tight. Although since i took this photo it has filled somewhat. It’s taken… -
Security was still really tight. Even though Hillary Clinton sadly had to cancel due to the death of her mother.
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Myself and @RadioKate from Audioboo were among the first in the press office and before long it was heaving.
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The high security meant that press access was limited to a few upstairs on the first day. Everyone else had to use the press room facilities and book the various spaces to do interviews. The coffee was pretty dire.
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The internet connection was great if you plugged in. Wireless required repeated log-ins. We worked round it.
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On floor 5 the Youth Forum was full of life, optimism and hope.
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It was a nice place to be.
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I grabbed John Grounds from the NSPCC for a chat.
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John Grounds NSPCC Youth Forum (@Groundsy) #LondonCyber
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Not sure what this man was doing.
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Rebecca Lauder was one of the Youth forum and had already had a productive day.
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Rebecca Lauder from Harwich & Dovercourt High (@BeckyLauder) #londoncyber
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Dinner on the delegates floor saw people networking, eating and chatting to people they would never normally get the chance to.
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The view from the loo was almost as impressive as the improved coffee.
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It was interesting to hear how small countries like Malta were tackling their security concerns.
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Martin Camilleri from Malta’s NSAA #londoncyber
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With a really impressive lineup of speakers in the main room, I decided to sit at the back near the plug sockets.
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After the keynotes the massive space would convert into two rooms.
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“RT @socialtechno: Enlightened Internet policy in 2 words: Copy Estonia. #londoncyber
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The live streams seemed to be popular and the conversation outside the conference center saw the #LondonCyber hashtag trending on twitter.
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“President Toomas Ilves from Estonia said all data must belong to the individual & databases must be De-centralized. #LondonCyber
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Without a doubt it was the people talking confidently about their achievements that impressed the delegates the most.
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“I recommend looking up Toomas Ilves of Estonia at #londoncyber. Smart guy with some down to earth ideas around eEverything.
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Back near where the drinks were to be served I met John Carr
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John Carr of CHIS (@JohnC1912) #LondonCyber
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The Abbey could be seen from one window. I was pretty amazed at the diversity of people from all round the world. Over 60 countries in this one space. All pretty much wanting the same thing. There are different motives for sure, but seeing the conversation inside the conference center, balanced with those watching the streams from the comfort of home gave me hope that in the long run the right decisions will be made.Mainly i think because the internet evoles too fast for any non-native generation to have an impact. I doubt we can change it with legislation, only with use. The conversation has been started. Just getting these people in the same place was the hard bit. I heard that all the organising for the event happened in 6 weeks. In the upper levels the kids were talking sense and making plans. I’ve a feeling they know it will be their internet in the not to distant future. Not necessarily something to master. Something to grow with and understand.
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After the main talks the nibbles came out and a modest amount of wine flowed.
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Teo Zetterman (on the right in the photo) and I picked at the food as it came around and chatted about the conference.
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Teo Zetterman, diplomat/geek (@TZetterman) #LondonCyber
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Much of day one at the conference appeared to be about discussing what benefits the internet is bringing to a wide range of societies. I felt it was a reminder for some that had come with only security on their mind.
William Hague sang the praises of social media and how in some places it was building bridges between governments and individual citizens. “It allows the exchange of ideas between people who otherwise never would meet,” he said.I felt the room was full of people who otherwise might not have met. I could also see a couple of the more closed regimes squirm a little in their seats.Many of the conversations I would have liked to have shared never came to be, as I respected some people’s request to talk off the record. I also reminded them that it is this very privilege I would like to see preserved and in some places re-introduced on the web. Or as they were so keen to call it.. Cyberspace. -
Day Two
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Off to day two of #londoncyber
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On arrival I tried to check into the building on the location based check-in app called Foursquare but for some reason it had me in Switzerland.
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As the morning’s talks at the Conference were about hacking and cyber security I asked if I might have accidentally have hacked Foursquare..
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“. @Documentally no but you now have irrefutable evidence that IPs are not to be used to define a persons location or proof of presence.
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@Pete_Gilbert responded to the blog post with “Maybe its a microcell that they have brought in to extend coverage during the event and it hasn’t been registered correctly at the new location, or has been brought from Zurich where it was last used and then not reconfigured.”
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“Now Ahmed Ashour from @AJTalk talking at #LondonCyber they are also on @AJTaklEng
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The translating headsets worked seamlessly and really made the conversation flow. This helped me to translate a few quotes from other languages into twitter.
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““Our World, the world of the Internet is the real world. The Governments are not in the real world.” Ahmed Ashour MD of @AJTalk #LondonCyber
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“Powerful talk from Ahmed Ashour of @AJTalk. Saying if governments mess with how the internet works. It’s users will create another system.
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The talks and panels came thick and fast. It was a little hard to keep up with the flow of information and comment. Even for us multi tasking savvy internet users.
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“#LondonCyber speaker says we will have a “Government structure for the international exchange of knowledge & information” in less than 2yrs.
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“. @Documentally #LondonCyber , meanwhile as the barn door swings to the sound of Hoove beats. We have that already its called The Internet
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Some of the conversation in the room would reference online and offline as in cyberspace and in the real world. With many people using mobile devices now there is no difference. The internet is the real world.
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There were a few stands dotted around the event offering solutions costing thousands to literature free to take away
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I dipped out for the talks to see who was in the corridors and met with Douwe Korff.
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Douwe Korff on human rights & the Internet #LondonCyber
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And having had this fascinating chat with a man with a beard, I figured it wouldn’t harm to have another chat with another one.
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Richard Clayton, security researcher at the University of Cambridge #LondonCyber
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Back in the main hall the conference was wrapping up.
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Talk in the corridors was of the UK’s 7 principals for cyber co-operation.1) Governments need to act proportionately in cyberspace and in accordance with international law.2) Everyone must have the ability to access cyberspace, including skills, technology, confidence and opportunity to do so.3) Cyberspace needs to show tolerance and respect for diversity of language, culture and ideas.4) Cyberspace must remain open to innovation and the free flow of ideas, information and expression.5) Cyberspace needs to respect individual rights of privacy and to provide proper protection to intellectual property.6) Everyone needs to work together collectively to tackle the threat from online criminals.7) Cyberspace needs to be a competitive environment which ensures a fair return on investment in networks, services and content.Everybody no doubt took these away. How many will look at implementing these principles remains to be scene.
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And so as everything came to a close it was just down to the conference center staff to pack up the event and for the press to make sense of it all.
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Fox summed up the conference in the only way they know how.
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Internet Security Expert Warns of Cyber War
LONDON – A leading internet security expert warned Tuesday that a cyber terrorist attack with “catastrophic consequences” looked increasi… -
The Huffington post unsurprisingly had a different take..
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London Conference On Cyberspace: Cyber Crime Is Not ‘Justification For States To Censor Citizens’
LONDON — Governments must not clamp down on Internet and mobile phone networks at times of social unrest, the British government said Tu… -
The Foreign and Commonwealth office collected the quotes.
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And the Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs the Rt Hon Willian Hague MP summed up on his blog.
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There are two more of these events scheduled to cover this massive topic over the next couple of years. What will the internet look like then? Who knows.I’m pretty sure that with more widespread use of ipv6 and mobile internet access exploding across the developing world. We will certainly be in a different place. We may even have come to realise that the internet is just a tool not a wormhole to another dimension. Like i say, the internet is the real world and it’s up to us to make it the best world we can.I have a sneaking feeling though that there will always be crime in cyberspace, just like there is always crime in physical space. Not only because it’s the same place but because it’s the same people.The best we can do is lead by example. Wherever you are on the planet. Government or private citizen. If you have them, protect your freedoms, if you don’t, fight for them. But above all.. Be good.
Tags: clinton, cyber, documentally, fco, hague, Internet, iphone4s, londoncyber, ondon, ourmaninside, politics, security, tech
This entry was posted on Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 at 10:41 pmand is filed under Blog, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
