The U.S. Department of State’s Office of eDiplomacy is proud to present its 10^th Tech@State event on March 8^th, 2013, in conjunction with the Global Internet Freedom and Human Rights Distinguished Speaker Series of the George Washington University Law School. The event will be held in in George Washington University’s Jack Morton Auditorium (805 21^st Street, NW). Tech@State: Internet Freedom will examine the techniques and methods that can be used to enhance and expand Internet freedom. We will kick off Day One by hearing opening remarks from senior officials from both the State Department and GW's Law School, followed by a keynote address from Andrew McLaughlin, the former Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States from 2009-2011.

The rest of the morning will be dedicated to a plenary panel discussion which will focus on how the latest technological tools can be employed not only to foster and enhance free and open access to the Internet, but also repress it. Afterwards, we will conduct a series of ignite sessions, where speakers will be given five minutes to present a specific technology or emerging idea in the field of Internet freedom. We will then break for lunch (which will be provided!) and continue the event with numerous breakout sessions. These panel sessions will drill down into specific topics and technologies like “Future of Advocacy”, “Next Generation Anti-Censorship”, and “Technology Controls”. Panelists include Rebecca MacKinnon, Sascha Meinrath, representatives from the State Department, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo!, and NGOs working directly on Internet freedom around the world, and many more experts.

We will wrap up Day One with a reception in the upper level art exhibit space of the Jack Morton Auditorium. Come enjoy some wine and cheese and network with the leading experts in Internet freedom!

Day Two will be hosted in GW's Law School (2000 H Street, NW) and will be an unconference, where participants are able pursue their own interests, collaborate with others to define the conversations they want to have with speakers and other participants, and discuss specific topics in-depth to consider how to appy the knowledge gained on Day One. Many of our speakers will be in attendance and ready to engage in lively discussions.

Tech@State: Internet Freedom is organized by the State Department together with the GW Law School's Global Internet Freedom and Human Rights Distinguished Speaker Series. This partnership is made possible by support from Microsoft and MetroStar Systems.

Tech@State connects technologists to the goals of U.S. diplomacy and development through physical and virtual networking events. As part of U.S. Department of State’s Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review’s 21st Century Statecraft Initiative, Tech@State brings together leaders, innovators, government personnel and others to collaborate on 21st century technology solutions to improve the education, health and welfare of the world’s population. Previous Tech@State events have covered the aftermath of the Haiti Earthquake, Mobile Money, Civil Society 2.0, Open Source, Serious Games, Data Visualization, Real-Time Awareness, Wikis in The Public Sector, and Elections & Technology. Check out some of our previous events on our YouTube Channel!