(Communicated by the MFA Spokesperson)

The 1st International Digital Diplomacy Conference - the first of its kind in Israel - will examine the influence of the social networks and technologies on the activity of ministries of foreign affairs throughout the world. The conference will take place on 29-31 March 2016 at the Tel-Aviv University, with participants from 25 countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, France, South Korea and Germany, as well as researchers from universities in the US, Europe and Israel in the fields of Diplomacy, Communications and the interaction among them.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been highly active in the digital arena over the past few years, operating hundreds of accounts in various media and in about 50 languages, including Hebrew, English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Persian, Indonesian, Finnish and numerous others.

The conference will discuss the issue of "Technology at the Service of Diplomacy" and address questions, such as the use of social networks by ministries of foreign affairs to advance political goals; engagement in dialogue with on-line audiences; consular services to citizens in emergency situations; and country branding. In addition, the possibility of establishing an international digital network of ministries of foreign affairs will be explored for the first time.

These issues are being researched at the Department of Communications and the Partner Institute for Internet Studies at the Tel-Aviv University. The conference brings together diplomats who are active in the field and academic researchers, in a step intended to boost the development of digital diplomacy, and to create an exchange of views through which Israeli insights will be shared and each participant will be able to learn from the experience of other countries and from the insights of researchers in the field.