Eleventh Annual Personal Democracy Forum Conference to be Held in New York City
New York, New York (PRWEB) May 08, 2014 -- Champions of Internet freedom, tech industry leaders, online security experts, digital politics strategists, civic hackers and open government advocates will gather for the eleventh annual Personal Democracy Forum (PDF) conference June 5-6 at New York University, Skirball Center.
Keynote speakers include:
-John Perry Barlow, co-founder of the Electronic Freedom Foundation, in dialogue with a "Special Guest"
-Barton Gellman of the Washington Post, who recently shared the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the NSA and Edward Snowden
-Marietje Schaake, a Member of the European Parliament for the Dutch Democratic Party and a leading voice for human rights and net neutrality
-Brad Smith, executive vice president and general counsel of Microsoft
-Bruce Schneier, internationally renowned independent security technologist
-Anne-Marie Slaughter, president of the New America Foundation
-Sue Gardner, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation
-Chuck Defeo, Chief digital officer of the Republican National Committee
-Mike Bracken, executive director of digital for the UK Cabinet Office
The Personal Democracy Forum is the world's largest and longest running conference on the ways that technology is changing politics, government and civic life. The conference has a dual theme this year: "Save the Internet | The Internet Saves."
Conference co-founder and producer Andrew Rasiej explains, "2014 feels like the year when the battle for the open Internet is coming to a head. On top of longstanding threats to net neutrality and the continuing challenge of the digital divide, we now have confirmation of something many have long feared: that the Internet might also be a tool for mass surveillance coupled with political and social control on a global scale. So this year our programming of PDF will focus on how to defend the values of a free digital society in the face of this new reality."
Adds Micah Sifry, conference co-founder and curator, "Even as the open Internet faces serious threats, we still believe it continues to enable a global wave of positive change. Half of the main hall sessions will focus on how the Internet is helping create opportunities for real social and civic innovation. We have to save the Internet because the Internet also saves--it saves lives, money, and maybe it can help us save democracy, too."
For more information on how to obtain a press pass, email press(at)personaldemocracy(dot)com.
For the program of main hall keynotes, go to http://personaldemocracy.com/conferences/nyc/2014/program
For a full list of speakers, go to http://personaldemocracy.com/speakers
Pete Holmberg, OpenCommunications Omnimedia, http://www.opencomms.com, 917-501-7434, [email protected]
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