IPO AT NATO STRATCOM COE CONFERENCE IN LATVIA

IPO Executive President Dr. Tomori Mareglen participated and represented our organization at the International conference “Emerging Trends in Social Media 2022” that take place in Riga, Latvia on October 13 organized by NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence - NATO StratCom CoE.

The conference was opened by the Director of the NATO StratCom CoE, Mr. Jānis Sārts. He served as State Secretary of the Latvian Ministry of Defence for more than seven years, leading defense sector reforms during an economic crisis period, developing a new state defense concept, and encouraging regional defense cooperation within NATO and the EU. He has also led the Latvian Government’s efforts to increase its security and defense in cyberspace, as Chair of the National Cyber Security Board.

The conference was separated in a few parts, following emerging trends in Social Media, but from different sides. Starting topic was “ Strategic Use of Social Media” which introduced participants to the practical perspective of applied strategic communications and know-how, essential for governments and agencies to survive in the social media jungle, presented by Mr. Tomass Pildegovičs, Senior Expert at the NATO StratCom CoE and Dr. Karen Freberg, Professor in Strategic Communications at the University of Louisville.

The next panel discussed how government and related agencies can use and understand the strategic importance of social media in the governance process under the name of the topic “ Governance in the digital age: how to use social media to benefit society”. In this panel participated few experts, among them Commander Jon Sunderland, U.S. Naval Flight Officer currently serving at the NATO StratCom CoE.

Nation states and non-state actors have long used traditional media as a means to achieving their geopolitical goals. Today, the media opportunity for manipulation and coercion is digital, global and a potent tool in their arsenals. In her talk, Mrs. Yasmin Green CEO of Jigsaw explores how vulnerable populations both targets and victims of online propaganda are at risk of exploitation and how the international community can step in to protect them.

The panel discussion “Society and social media: thinking beyond commercial gains” focuses on innovative ways of using social media to counter information operations, about what was talking Mr. David Agranovich, Meta's Director for Global Threat Disruption, where he coordinates the disruption of influence operations, cyber-espionage, and adversarial networks across Meta.

The day finishes with a panel discussing social media as a tool for strategic communications in military operations. Focusing on what the impact of social media has had on war, what we can learn from operational experiences, and what it means from a military perspective from the organizations at large and to the soldiers in theater. This topic was presented by Mrs. Ana Esteban, Principal editor at NATO HQ, Col Anton Mironovich, Head of the Educational and Scientific Center for Language Training of Hetman Petro Sagaidachny National Army Academy, Mrs . Maryna Vorotyntseva, Senior Expert, Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council and Mr. Ben Heap, Senior Expert (Info/Psy Ops), NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, who is currently leading the centre’s Ukraine StratCom Partnership Programme.

During this day, the General Director of IPO HQ and IPO LED – Law Enforcement Department Mrs. Sanela Nikolic, held several very important meetings which consisted in opening negotiations for the creation and development of an IPO section in Latvia. Mrs. Nikolic met and talked with senior officials from law enforcement agencies and Latvian law-enforcement institutions, as well as actors from society involved in community policing partnership programs.

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