Yesterday, September 7, GIFCT convened its 14th Global Workshop since its founding in 2017, and first in-person regional workshop since becoming an independent non-profit organization in 2020 and since the start of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Building upon the initial virtual workshop hosted last fall in partnership with the Ghana Cyber Security Authority (CSA), this convening focused on the current threat landscape in the West Africa region and its nexus to online activity. The workshop was hosted by the Kofi Annan Foundation in Accra and the CSA working in partnership with Tech Against Terrorism and GIFCT. We are grateful to have Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, Acting Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) of the Republic of Ghana as a member of GIFCT’s Independent Advisory Committee and our partner in hosting the first GIFCT regional workshop on the African continent.
Regional workshops have been an essential and effective part of GIFCT’s Learn efforts, in partnership with Tech Against Terrorism, since the establishment of GIFCT in 2017. With the goal of meaningfully engaging experts and practitioners from different parts of the world, we aim to contribute to knowledge sharing about the specific threats of terrorism and violent extremism in the region and their connections to online activity and trends.
Yesterday’s hybrid workshop brought together 97 experts and practitioners from tech, government and civil society in person, with a further 120 joining virtually to develop a multistakeholder assessment of the current threat landscape and where solutions and further partnerships can be fostered. Over the course of the day’s event, online and in-person attendees engaged in three panel discussions to discuss current threat assessments, models for multistakeholder collaboration, and resiliency for programs and practitioners working to prevent and counter violent extremism. Following these panel discussions, attendees further participated in a series of breakout sessions facilitated to deepen engagement and dialogue between experts and practitioners joining us from different sectors.
We are deeply grateful to our hosts Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, the Honorable Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, and the Honorable, Albert Kan-Dapaah, Minister for National Security for working with GIFCT and Tech Against Terrorism to convene this important and informative workshop and their commitment to supporting our mission to prevent terrorist and violent extremists from exploiting digital platforms. GIFCT Learn and our regional workshops recognize that this mission must start with voices and perspectives from a range of sectors and world regions, and a shared understanding of the problem we seek to counter.
About GIFCT Workshops #GIFCTLearn
Since its founding in 2017, GIFCT and its partner Tech Against Terrorism have hosted GIFCT Workshops around the world, providing a more formally structured opportunity for tech companies and committed stakeholders to share counterterrorism strategies and knowledge. GIFCT Workshops bring together tech platforms with policy makers, law enforcement, civil society, academic experts, and practitioners to share experiences, best practices, and models for cross-sector collaboration. To date, these workshops have engaged more than 140 tech companies, 40 NGOs and 15 government bodies taking place across the globe including:
- Sydney, Australia
- Brussels, Belgium
- Paris, France
- Berlin, Germany
- Jakarta, Indonesia
- Tel Aviv, Israel
- Amman, Jordan
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- California, USA (x2)
- New York, USA
- Delhi, India
- London, United Kingdom
