ITALY AND MALTA COOPERATE ON INNOVATIVE DIPLOMATIC TRAINING 

In 2013  the Maltese-Swiss DiploFoundation and the Istituto Diplomatico of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs joined forces in developing an innovative approach to diplomatic training. Monthly online tutorials have been organized, during which challenges of diplomacy in the internet era are discussed in seminar format hosted by a leading expert on a particular topic. Every month, the special host leads the online discussion on one of the most pressing topics, particularly those related to Internet Governance. After the seminar, podcasts and digests allow those who could not attend to listen to the discussion and read about the main issues that were debated.

Over the course of the year the DiploFoundation and the Istituto Diplomatico have already delivered more than 10 of these online seminars, known as Webinars, covering a wide range of issues from e-diplomacy to Cybersecurity and big data.  These Webinars are seen as a practical, just-in-time and cost effective way of providing on the job training in diplomacy. Participation is open to officials of the EEAS and other EU member states.

The first year of this successful Italo-Maltese cooperation was celebrated at an event in the Italian Embassy in Malta when Italian Ambassador Giovanni Umberto de Vito presented a cheque for 10,000 euro to Ambassador Victor Camilleri, President of the Board of DiploFoundation as part of the Italian contribution to the Webinar initiative. Attending the event were Ambassador Saviour Borg, member of the DiploFoundation Board, and Dr. Alex Sceberras Trigona, co-founder of DiploFoundation.