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Happy Safer Internet Day!

Today is #SaferInternetDay ! It is a useful reminder to make sure that you are using digital technologies safely. We share some tips on how to improve your cybersecurity and how to be a good cyber-parent.

How to become a good cyber-parent?

Struggling to understand what TikTok is?

Wondering why your kids are spending so much time playing Fortnite?

Would like to oversee your kids' online activity without looking like a cop?

Many adults are wondering how to be a good ‘cyber-parent’, and a large number are struggling to identify how to best educate their children to the safe use of internet and new technologies.

Cyber-bullying, social media, disinformation, online games, data security and privacy - discussing such topics may be quite a challenge for parents. Luckily, there are plenty of resources set forth by government and associations alike on how to communicate these topics with your kids.

The following links can be very useful places to look for clues and answers:

Better Internet for Kids (EN) is a European Commission platform that delivers various articles on a variety of topics related to online safety (data privacy and online identity, cyber-harassment, cybercrime...).

Be Internet Awesome (EN) is a portal developed by Google to help families better explore the online world. It provides valuable advice as well as a video game you can play with your kids to learn how to protect your data and be mindful in sharing information.

Webetic (FR) provides concrete advice to parents on a variety of topics related to new technologies.

BeeSecure (FR and DE) is a Luxembourg based program which also provides a lot of useful information for a safer and more secure use of new technologies.

Parents Connectés (FR and NL) offers a bunch of guides for parents to find their way into the digital maze.

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11 February | Safer Internet Day

Safer Internet Day takes place on 11 February 2020. It is a useful reminder to make sure that you are using digital technologies safely. We share some tips on how to improve your cybersecurity and how to be a good cyber-parent.

This yearly event is organised worldwide each February to promote the safe and positive use of digital technologies, especially among children and young adults.

What is it about?

Digital technologies offer a wide range of opportunities for children to discover and learn and exchange and create. However, it does not necessarily imply that everything is green and bright out there. The internet can quickly become a real jungle and emerging digital risks are surfacing daily.

Safer Internet Day is here to raise awareness and remind us to use technologies responsibly, respectfully, critically and creatively. There are plenty of events organised throughout the European Union (the list can be found here.

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Experience disability by testing accessibility

With this article in mind, we would like to raise your awareness of the difficulties that users with disabilities encounter by using websites that are not compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Even when assistive technologies are installed, content will not be accessed that is not first designed with accessibility in mind. Accessibility has to an integral part of the project in order to make the content accessible.

Below are some examples on how you can experience the web content differently and verify whether the content is accessible.

Test 1: test for perceivability

Open your favourite webpage or web application that you often use or a webpage on which you are working if you are a developer;

Disable images in the browser;

Verify the text that appears on the place of images. The text that is shown is the alternative text. If the alternative text was not provided, you will probably see the file name of the image that very often can be difficult to understand without seeing the image;

The WCAG recommendation is to add a meaningful description on all icons or images. How to describe decorative, informative, functional or complex images? See what the best practices for writing alternative text are on the WebAim portal.

Test 2: test for perceivability and understandability

Disable the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) in Mozilla Firefox by going to the View menu > Page Style > No Style. (Wondering what CSS is?);

The page will be shown without the modern look and formatting, but you will be able to see from the basic presentation if the page was well structured by using headings and if the interface is understandable without the visual cues;

See the best practices on headings and landmark roles on the W3c webpage.

Test 3: test for operability

Verify the keyboard accessibility by unplugging the mouse from your computer;

Navigate by using the keyboard: use the tab key to navigate on interactive menus, buttons or links and the enter key to confirm the selection;

If you cannot access a menu by pressing the enter key, the focus does not reach all interactive elements on the screen by pressing the tab key, the tab order is different from the order that you see on the screen, then most probably the content is not fully accessible from the keyboard;

Note that the menus should not be expanded by pressing the tab key, as the tab key should navigate to the next element and the enter key should activate the menu. Also verify if you can close the menu by using the keyboard;

See the best practices for keyboard accessibility on the WebAim portal.

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What is digital accessibility?

Websites, mobile applications or electronic documents should be easily navigable and understood by a wide range of users, including those users who have visual, auditory, motor or cognitive disabilities. Persons with disabilities use assistive technologies like screen readers, magnifiers, special keyboards or a mouse to work on a computer. However, digital accessibility doesn’t only benefit those with disabilities, everyone benefits from a well structured page, whose menus, buttons or links can easily be activated whether using a mouse or keyboard.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the international accessibility standards on designing accessible websites, but its recommendations are also valid for other types of digital content, like software, mobile applications or electronic documents.

The first WCAG 1.0 was published on the 5 May 1999 and this year the WCAG is celebrating its 20th anniversary. As technology evolves over time, so the standards are updated. The WCAG has 13 guidelines that are organised under 4 principles:

•    Perceivable: the content can be perceived by users by using multiple senses (for example, images need to have a text description called “alternative text” to be spoken by screen readers that visually impaired persons use or any video content with audio input needs to have close captions or sign language to provide a visual input to persons who are hearing impaired).

•    Operable: the content can be equally accessed by using the mouse or keyboard (if a function can only be accessed with the mouse, persons who can only use the keyboard, like visually impaired users or users with motor disabilities, will not be able to interact).

•    Understandable: the content and interfaces are understandable to all users (the meaning needs to be understood from the structure of the interface or from the content, for example, on a web portal where “contact us” is represented with the icon that shows a letter in the envelope and the text description behind the image is “contact us” as the “letter in the envelope” would not be meaningful for a person that does not see the icon).

•    Robust: robustness is a technical term and it ensures compatibility with different environments, including assistive technologies (websites or software needs to be compatible with assistive technologies and should not be slowed down just because, for example, a screen reader is active).

For each guideline, there are testable success criteria, which are at three levels: the lowest is A, the medium and mostly used AA, and the highest accessibility is AAA.

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3 December | International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Proclaimed in 1992 by United Nations General Assembly, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development, and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

This year,  the United Nations wants that the World Disability Day focus “on the empowerment of persons with disabilities for inclusive, equitable and sustainable development as anticipated in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which pledges to ‘leave no one behind’ and recognises disability as a cross-cutting issues, to be considered in the implementation of its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.

But, how can we make life easier for people with disabilities?

In DG–ITEC we want to be part of the solution and we work every day to make it possible. For that reason, we want to share some digital tips with you and raise awareness that the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is not just a date to commemorate, but a social commitment where everybody should be involved. Do you accept the challenge?

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Study visit to DG ITEC

On 8 November, a group of Applied Computer Sciences students from the Erasmus University College Brussels (EhB) visited DG ITEC. They were warmly welcomed and got an insight into the different IT services provided to Members and staff and the way information technology supports the European Parliament's legislative procedure.

During the visit, DG ITEC’s acting Director General, Walter Petrucci, welcomed students to the European Parliament by pointing out how important it is for DG ITEC and the Parliament to be in contact with young people and the future generation of Europe.

Different ITEC colleagues presented the various services and infrastructures along with the IT projects developed for the European Parliament’s legislative work. The students got a glimpse into the daily life of DG ITEC.

Niall Thompson, acting Head of the Customer Relationship Management Unit, explained to students how DG ITEC works. He highlighted the importance of internal communication in a multilingual and multicultural organisation, such as the European Parliament.

Focusing on how information technology supports the Parliament’s legislative procedure, Jesus Cerro Gines, ICT applications specialist, presented the eParliament Programme and the IT solutions developed to support the legislative procedure.

Geert Jonckheere from the recently established Members IT Support Unit summarised the services provided by DG ITEC to support Members in their mandate.

Maud Sophie Merckle from the ITEC Legal Service explained how the Parliament’s regulation on the protection of personal data is formulated.

The European Parliament’s innovative approach and what DG ITEC is doing on Artificial Intelligence was highlighted by Hans De Roock from the Innovation Service of DG ITEC.   

This was the third such study visit. The event was organised by DG ITEC, following a request from the Erasmus University College.

See the photos on Flickr.

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DG ITEC Innovation Week

DG ITEC Innovation Week, the must-see interactive showcase for innovation in the European Parliament,  kicks off tomorrow!

If you are around, join us to

discover the full range of technologies that DG ITEC is exploring; and

see into the future by experiencing exciting new technologies that may soon become part of your daily life.

This year’s edition includes hands-on experiences, live demonstrations and short talks by expert speakers. The featured technologies will include artificial intelligence, geolocalisation, virtual realities and augmented realities.

The event takes place in Brussels from 1 to 3 October 2019.

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European Cyber Security Month 2019

October marks the kick-off of the European Cybersecurity Month 2019.

Today  the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) launches the European #CyberSecMonth campaign with an inter-institutional kick-off event taking place from 14.30-17.30 in Luxembourg. You can follow it online here: https://c.connectedviews.com/01/LiveMeetings/cdj 

DG ITEC will be actively supporting the initiative by organising various activities to raise cybersecurity awareness. Special events and activities will take place to help boost cyber vigilance and avoid online risk.

The 2019 campaign focuses on different themes addressing the need for behavioural change and identifying opportunities to help users recognise the risks of new technologies. Find out more: https://cybersecuritymonth.eu/

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New ICT priorities for the Commission and Council

The incoming Commission President von der Leyen and the Finnish Presidency of the Council are focused on the digital economy and on preventing hybrid and cyber threats.

Guidelines for the next European Commission

A Europe fit for the digital age is a priority for the newly elected President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. She wants, "Europe to strive for more by grasping the opportunities from the digital age within safe and ethical boundaries.”

Plans outlined in President von der Leyen's political guidelines for the next European Commission include:

new legislation for a coordinated European approach on the human and ethical implications of Artificial Intelligence;

investment in blockchain, high-performance computing, quantum computing, algorithms and tools to allow data sharing and data usage; and

getting Europe up to speed on digital skills for both young people and adults by updating the Digital Education Action Plan.

Finnish Presidency’s ICT priorities

The Finnish Presidency of the Council of the European Union runs from 1 July – 31 December 2019. The theme of the presidency is Sustainable Europe – Sustainable Future. Some of the Presidency Programme  priorities for the next six months are particularly relevant for the DG ITEC community.

Hybrid and cyber threats

EU Member States and institutions face multidimensional hybrid and cyber threats to security and democracy. These threats are designed to be difficult to detect and attribute. The Finnish Presidency want to strengthen capability in preventing and countering such threats and building resilience, at the level of both the EU and the Member States.

Finland will organise scenario-based policy discussions - based on fictitious threats - for ministers, working groups and experts. In addition, the plan is to strengthen EU−NATO cooperation in this area and to maintain a high level of cybersecurity in rolling out 5G technology and enhancing critical infrastructure.       

What are hybrid threats?

Hybrid activities aim to influence policy-making, weaken societies and undermine the unity of the EU. Methods include cyberattacks, election interference and disinformation campaigns. Such threats can combine conventional and unconventional tools used in a coordinated manner by state or non-state actors to achieve specific political objectives.

More information about hybrid threats and the plans to counter them is available from the Finnish Presidency website.

Data economy

During its Presidency, Finland aims to boost the growth of the data economy and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). The Presidency Programme notes that, “promoting AI and automation is one of the key measures in advancing EU competitiveness in the global data economy.”

It adds that, “data enables services that are more user-friendly, affordable and ecological. In order to develop the data economy and automation, we need to increase access to data and improve the quality and interoperability of data. During the Presidency, we need to make the European data economy function better by opening up data to wider use and by increasing users’ and consumers’ rights to access and re-use their own data.”

As part of its work on the data economy, Finland plans to organise a high-level conference. The event will help define common European principles for a sustainable, competitive and human-centric data economy. Many other activities regarding the utilisation of data and the opportunities offered by digitalisation are planned.

See the Presidency website for more information about the data economy.

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Apply for a traineeship in DG ITEC at the European Parliament

The goal of the #SchumanTraineeships is to contribute to EU citizens’ European education and vocational training and to provide an insight into the work of the European Parliament.

DG ITEC, the Directorate-General for innovation and technological support of the European Parliament, is looking for trainees with IT skills to work in a number of areas, from application development to infrastructure management or multimedia and communication.

Watch the video to find out more about what a traineeship in DG ITEC means and how you can apply.

Information for applying

These traineeships are awarded for a period of five months. Applicants for a Schuman traineeship must:

be aged 18+;

hold a university level diploma(s);

fulfil the language requirement;

provide an eligible criminal record;

not have worked for more than two consecutive months within an EU Institution or body;

not have carried out a visiting junior or senior academia of six months prior the beginning of the traineeship.

Traineeship dates and deadlines for receipt of applications:

Application period: 1 November - 30 November‚ Traineeship period: 1 March - 31 July

Application period: 1 June - 30 June Traineeship period: 1 October - 28/29 February

In order to apply for a Schuman traineeship, please visit the traineeship offers main page. Candidates can apply for 3 traineeship offers per campaign.

Recruitment and selection procedures are adapted to ensure that they do not disadvantage candidates with a disability.

More info and the application form: https://ep-stages.gestmax.eu/search?fbclid=IwAR1LVilQcimhJi2j5-CCLSo0Lv9WzC1mx1WUKpSttPbiaQU7VTb1XsFA5N8

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Visit our DG ITEC stand in the Strasbourg Open Day

On Sunday 10 June, the European Parliament in Strasbourg will open its doors to visitors to celebrate Europe Day. DG ITEC will take part with its own stand. Many fun and educative activities, a dedicated innovation corner where visitors can experience an augmented reality experiment, and other surprises will be there for you.

On Sunday 10 June, the European Parliament in Strasbourg will open its doors to visitors to celebrate Europe Day in a festive atmosphere and interactive way. From 10:00 to 18:00, visitors will be welcome to step inside its premises to discover how the European Parliament works, what the priorities are and how it affects the lives of Europeans. Activities for all ages will give a taste of the work that goes on in inside the EP.

DG ITEC, the European Parliament's Directorate for Innovation and Technical Support will once again take part with its own stand. We'll have lots of activities and surprises while colleagues will be present to welcome you and answer your questions.

Visitors at the DG ITEC stand will have the chance to find out more on how we work in order to bring Members closer to the citizens and make the law-making procedure more efficient. Our colleagues will be there offering information on the services and IT tools used to support one of the most complex and highly digitalised institutions in the world.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to take a quiz and test their knowledge on how DG ITEC supports the European Parliament. 

What's more, this year in the stand there will a corner dedicated to innovation where you will be able to get an experience of augmented reality experiment.

If you are around, do not miss all the fun and the exciting activities, we will have a variety of surprises there for you!

This year’s Open Day has a cultural feel. The theme is "2018 - European Year of cultural heritage". Musical groups will give a glimpse of European cultural diversity to visitors, local delicacies will be available for tasting while for the younger ones some playful activities are planned, in a family atmosphere.

A debate is also planned between citizens and MEPs in the plenary chamber from 11.00 to 14.00 whilst it will be up to the public to select the topics. From 14:00, visitors will also get the opportunity to follow presentations on the EU, the Parliament and the upcoming European elections of May 2019.

For the first time, visitors will get the opportunity to discover the Simone Veil parlamentarium, which opened in July 2017, attend a screening of a film and get familiar with the European Union achievements in an interactive space.

Full programme of the day

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ICT4MEPs: A digital workplace bringing MEPs closer to the EU citizens while working in their constituencies

The way we work is changing. Today Members of the European Parliament need more collaborative and connected environments to work flexibly, mobile and or remotely. This is what the ICT4MEPs project does. It brings new services designed to improve connectivity, anywhere, any time and facilitate MEPs and assistants’ lives by making mobile working more efficient and comfortable.

The core components are collaboration, finding and sharing of information, access to applications and systems as well as to internal communications.

A digital workplace to support the way MEPs work

The ICT4MEPs project is one of DG ITEC’s flagship initiatives aimed at providing extended IT support to Members of the European Parliament and their assistants, both in the European Parliament’s premises and in their constituencies. The project creates a digital workplace for MEPs, which allows for mobility and efficiency anywhere, facilitating a collaborative experience. It is part of the European Parliament’s Strategic Execution Framework and its Parliamentary Project Portfolio (PPP).

To develop this project, DG ITEC started by collecting and analysing user needs and requirements. The feedback received showed that MEPs and their assistants needed to communicate better about European affairs to citizens and to be more accessible to them. It became clear that MEPs and their staff need more and more flexibility, to enable assistants in different locations to work together, using private devices if needed, and to allow access to European Parliament’s tools from outside just like from on-site.

With this in mind, the ICT4MEPs project improves interoperability, communication and collaboration, not only between local and EP offices, but also from anywhere. The proposed solutions focus on a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) approach enabling easy remote access to applications, offering collaborative workspaces and videoconferencing tools, and extending IT support. Thus, they facilitate MEPs and assistants’ lives, making for a more flexible, effective and comfortable work environment.

What are the services available?

The ICT4MEPs project is looking to the future, offering a truly digital and collaborative workplace, flexible, mobile and seamless, anywhere and anytime. This agile working is enabled by the inclusion of tools that MEPs and theirs assistants need to work effectively within a digital workplace.

Provision of IT accounts to local assistants

Local assistants based in Members’ constituencies can now be granted an IT account giving access to European Parliament’s ICT systems and applications and other tools such as infrastructure services and collaboration services.

A toll-free number for extended IT support, available in all 28 Member States

To better support MEPs and assistants working from anywhere, DG ITEC provides extended IT phone support. There is now one unique toll-free phone number that can be reached free of charge from anywhere in the EU.

Members’ Collaborative Space for document production and exchange

The Members' Collaborative Space (MCS) is a shared workspace that allows MEPs and their assistants to collaborate, coordinate activities, store, share and display selected.  Available both on computers and on mobile devices, it is possible to work on documents together and keep track of changes thanks to the versioning functionality.

Remote access to office desktop computer

The Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) allows MEPs and their assistants to have access from any device to the same IT environment they have their office desktop (software, network, internal sites).

Videoconferencing service

To enable videoconferencing from anywhere, using a desktop computer, phone or a personal device instead, DG ITEC has introduces a collaborative tool that provides instant messaging, contacts’ availability, audio, video and desktop sharing, thus improving communication in the work environment.

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Get to know our new trainees

They come from Belgium, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. These IT engineers, economists, journalists, video makers and lawyers all share a genuine interest in digital services and innovation. From 1 March 2018, they are our DG ITEC trainees. Find out who they are and what motivates them.

Virginia Kouridaki, multimedia journalist and aspiring video maker

Virginia Kouridaki comes from Greece, from the beautiful island of Crete. She has studied Spanish and English for International Communication at the University of Surrey in England and during the third year of her studies, she did an Erasmus placement in Madrid at the Comillas Pontifical University where she studied International Relations.

Virginia also holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics in Media and Communications and last July she was granted a scholarship for an intensive Video Journalism Workshop at the Columbia Journalism School in New York which was a dream come true for her.

Though still a language enthusiast, she has shifted her focus to journalism with a particular interest in photography and videography.

“I am very enthusiastic about creating visual and audio-visual material in the Multimedia Creation Unit and hope that the traineeship will not only allow me to showcase but also enhance my knowledge and skills and also help me with my future career prospects."

Christian Koenig, an economist from Germany

"My name is Christian Koenig and I am working in the Directorate for Development and Support (DES) within the ICT Conception and Development Unit. So far, I really appreciate the easy-going atmosphere in the office. Originally, I am from a small town located near Lake Constance in southern Germany.

I have studied Political Science at the University of Tuebingen focusing on public policy making. Since October 2016, I’m enrolled in a Master’s program in Economics at the University of Konstanz (including one semester at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA).

Within my Master’s degree, I am focusing on environmental and resource economics and labour market policies. Although my academic background doesn’t have much to do with IT, I am grateful for the opportunity to take part in the Robert Schuman traineeship program.  

As DG ITEC provides cross-cutting services affecting many different DGs of the European Parliament (EP), I hope to gain a detailed insight into the general functioning of the EP and many on-going processes during the next 5 months here in Luxembourg."

Carlota Ezquiaga, lost but excited

“My name is Carlota Ezquiaga and I am a trainee with the Communication team of DG ITEC. I was born in San Sebastian, a small city in the Basque Country, on the north coast of Spain. It is small but as our tourism office likes to say, it is the second city with more Michelin star restaurants per square meter in the world – only after Kyoto in Japan.

I studied Journalism and Film, TV and Media Studies in the Carlos III University in Madrid. In the last few years, I’ve lived in Madrid, the UK and Amsterdam, and I’ve worked for different print and audio-visual media. I keep getting lost in the halls of the Parliament but I am very excited about working in DG ITEC!”

Maria Angela Cannella, Brussels con amore

"My name is Maria Angela Cannella and I come from the province of Ragusa in Sicily (Italy) and I'm doing my traineeship in the Innovation, performance and internal control unit. I studied in Sicily, University of Catania, and I have a bachelor degree in Administration and Organization Sciences and a Master's degree in Internationalization of trade relations.

From my traineeship, I expect to improve my knowledge about how the European Parliament works, use and increase my skills working in my DG and spend time with people from other nationalities."

Maria Angela likes Brussels: “Brussels is a wonderful, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural city. It is impossible not to fall in love with it.”

Laura Finn, legal Dubliner

"My name is Laura Finn. I am from Dublin, Ireland and studied Law and Political Science at Trinity College, Dublin.

I am in DG ITEC in the Innovation, performance and internal control unit where I will be supporting the legal adviser on topics such as data protection. I am excited about this as I have an interest in data protection and privacy issues and it is an exciting time to be working in this area."

Nadim Baker, German journalist with a passion for the cyber world

Nadim Baker is German and studied Journalism in Berlin. During his studies, he wrote for several regional newspapers and worked for the German public news channel ZDF.

“The chance to intern at the European Parliament in Brussels is a great opportunity to further expand my practical experience, after making first steps in national politics as a parliamentary assistant in the Bundestag. I was glad to find out that I would get to work for DG ITEC, since I am passionate about digital innovations and anything cyber-related. Prospectively, I would love to work on the question how politics can increase its transparency and legitimacy through the application of digital technologies."

In the Intranet Unit of DG ITEC, Nadim supports our team by creating content for the internal communication of the EP-Administration, which is a completely new experience for him.

Ioanna Topa, a Greek IT engineer

"My name is Ioanna Topa and I come from Volos, Greece. I have gained an Information and Communication Systems Engineering Diploma and a master's degree in the field of Information Systems Security. Currently, I am a PhD candidate at the University of the Aegean.

This traineeship at the Individual Equipment and Logistics Unit will give me the opportunity to see how European Institutions operate in terms of IT and allow me to contribute with my knowledge to the improvement of these processes.

As a high school student, I was selected to participate in the European Youth Parliament in Strasbourg, representing my country and dealing with environmental issues. Ever since, I have always wanted to be part of the European Parliament.”

Julie Capelle, a Belgian journalist

“I am Julie Capelle, I come from the city of Braine-l’Alleud (a very historical place in Belgium where the lion of Waterloo is located, which could seem slightly illogic). I love travelling, discovering new cultures and learning new languages, which has already brought me to different places of the world. Working in an international environment such as the EP gives me the chance to do it only 17 kilometres away from my hometown!

After my Master in journalism in Brussels (2016), my will to better understand organizations and the complexity of the world we are living in motivated me to do a second Master's in Public Administration (in Rotterdam).

For the period of my traineeship, I will be working in the Innovation, Performance and Internal Control Unit, on subject matters such as Business Continuity and international benchmarking. I am very thankful for this opportunity, which will be for me the opportunity to apply the knowledge I acquired at the university and to gain a real in-depth understanding of how a complex institution such as the European Parliament effectively works.”

Anastasia Gkosdi: “I feel really lucky to be part of DG ITEC”

“My name is Anastasia Gkosdi and I am from Athens, Greece. I studied Informatics and Telecommunications at the University of Peloponnese in Greece and I recently completed the Project Management Professional Master Certification (PMP) in parallel with my ongoing education in Hellenic Open University (M.Sc. in Pervasive and Mobile Computing Systems).

I’m working at the Directorate for Development and Support, in the ICT conception and development unit. My team works on the AT4LEX (tool for legislative text) project and Xenat (generic XML editor for different documents (RoP/Reports/CRE/QP/PV). I participate in a wide range of activities such as the coordination of the relations with the Helpdesk, the improvement of SmartText technology, the production of promotional videos of AT4LEX and the coordination of the integration test.

I’m thrilled to be in Brussels and to be part of the European Parliament! This internship would be a great opportunity for me to further gain experience in my field. I’m looking forward to this new chapter in my life! “

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What is the EU doing about fake news?

Over the last couple of years, deliberate misinformation spread in print, broadcast and social media - a.k.a. fake news - has become a serious problem. The EU is doing its bit to tackle it, ranging from public consultations and watchdogs to guidelines for tech firms. While the EU is pushing for more responsibilities for social media companies, there are also critical voices about the way forward.

Not so long ago, news was something consumed via newspapers, television or radio. You took for granted that the news reported had been carefully checked by trained journalists following high professional ethical standards. You trusted that your media sources were telling true stories and presented true news, based on facts.

Then came the Internet. It soon become everybody’s best friend: a place to get educated, entertained and informed. Later on, with the occurrence of social media, your point of view on anything could be expressed by a simple click, and anyone could just agree, like and share with another click. Never before had so many had it so easy to become their own opinion makers: it was indeed a brave new open world to applaud, cherish and explore.

Fake news is coming

At least that was what we thought. Soon the ugly side of the Internet showed its face: fake news. What is fake news? Wikipedia defines it as “a type of yellow journalism or propaganda that consists of deliberate misinformation or hoaxes spread via traditional print and broadcast news media or online social media”. Fake news is hardly anything new, but with social media, it has become easier than ever before to spread false information to a wider audience.

According to a note published by the EPRS, 46% of EU citizens follow news on social media, and six out of ten news are shared or passed on without being read first.

It is often striking headlines that attract the attention and trick users to share news among like-minded users. When this digital gossip is designed to deliberately deceive users for political purposes, it becomes disinformation. Disinformation can be used by non-state and state actors to undermine adversaries, as we have seen in the 2016 US presidential campaign, in Spain, the UK, Germany and France.

Russia is believed to spend massive resources on an information warfare against the EU and the West, and notably in its ongoing war with Ukraine. Professional internet warriors, aka trolls, and state media are part of Kremlins influence efforts. What is then being done at EU level, to counter this development?

First initiative: the East StratCom task force

In September 2015 an East StratCom task force was set up in the European External Action Service. It is collecting disinformation stories in 18 languages which it analyses, exposes and publishes in its weekly newsletter. Disinformation Review. The task force has a team of 14 officials, which does not seem adequate to meet the increasing threats.

Over the years the European Parliament and member states have called for the team to be adequately reinforced by more human and financial resources. Parliament’s proposed amendments to the draft EU budget for 2018 includes the pilot project StratCom Plus aiming to increase its capacity to fact-check disinformation in and beyond the EU.

EU steps up anti-fake news efforts

Although social media platforms like Facebook and Google have launched their own fact-checking features, there is growing pressure on social media companies to assume greater responsibility for the content they spread. In June 2017, the Bundestag passed a national social media law (NetzDG). It enables authorities to issue fines of up to €50 million on social media companies who fail to remove hate speech, incitements to violence and defamation within 24 hours.

In a June 2017 resolution on online platforms and the digital single market, MEPs stressed the "importance of taking action against the dissemination of fake news", calling on online platforms to provide users with tools to denounce fake news, while at the same time highlighting the fundamental role of the free exchange of opinions, as well as the value of the free press as regards providing citizens with reliable information.

In September 2017, the Commission issued guidelines asking social media companies like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to take down more illegal content like terrorist propaganda and hate speech, and to ensure that it stays off the internet by using technologies to monitor what users share.

On 13 November 2017, the Commission launched a public consultation on 'fake news and online disinformation' and set up a high-level expert group representing academics, online platforms, news media and civil society organisations.

The public consultation runs until 24 February 2018 and aims at assessing the effectiveness of current actions by market players and other stakeholders, the need for scaling them up and introducing new actions to address different types of fake news. The consultation will collect information on:

Definition of fake information and their spread online.

Assessment of measures already taken by platforms, news media companies and civil society organisations to counter the spread of fake information online.

Scope for future actions to strengthen quality information and prevent the spread of disinformation online.

All stakeholders (including citizens, social media platforms, news organisations, researchers and public authorities) can contribute with views on the scope of the problem, assessments of already existing measures and ideas on possible future action.

The results of the public consultation and a related Eurobarometer survey will be published in March 2018, and a report from the high-level group is expected in April. The Commission plans to publish a communication on fake news and disinformation in spring 2018.

Do we really need regulation?

The European Commission has since 2016 a non-binding agreement with social media companies – Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft – that encourages the companies to remove most illegal content that their users share within 24 hours. Under this agreement, the companies removed 59% of illegal content between May 2016 and June 2017, and reviewed 51% of notifications from users about illegal content within 24 hours. Companies have also hired new staff to check posts: in Germany Facebook hired hundreds of new employees after the Bundestag approved its social media law last summer. So the companies are already in many ways doing their bit, one might say.

William Echikson, head of the Digital Forum at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), finds the European Commission’s crusade against fake news exaggerated and overwrought. Fake news is nothing new, and not an internet creation. Besides, the social media companies have already taken measures. Google’s algorithm has been changed to favour authoritative sources over relevance. When searching, you will get answers linked to well-established websites instead of dubious ones, as could happen in the past. Facebook has updated its language in its audience network policy, prioritising what friends and family share while deemphasising content from publisher and brands.

In Eichikson ‘s view, the right policy response it not Germany’s new social media law which increases the liability of social media networks to check and remove false and hate speech or face a heavy fine, as it results in massive takedowns also of tweets from respectable politicians.

Hope for the future

Another dissenting voice is Renate Schroeder, director of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ). She links the debate on fake news to the unsustainable structure of contemporary journalism, lack of trust in media, and the growing influence of social media. Moreover, she worries that internet giants should themselves play the role of censors and decide the legality of content. Such process should be transparent and open to different stakeholders, and if necessary, to the courts.

So the big question is if regulation or voluntary actions will be the way forward for the EU to fight fake news and disinformation?

In the pre-internet era, it was journalists in newspapers, radio and television, who gave us news, based on professional ethics and a strong legal framework for editors, publisher and broadcasters. Will we see something similar emerge for social media as the outcome of the ongoing work done by the EU?

Waiting for words of wisdom from the public consultation, the work of the high-level expert group, and the European Commission communication in spring 2018, we should perhaps do as some member states such as Italy and Sweden. They have introduced digital competence courses in schools to push back against fake news and propaganda. With young Europeans aware of the dangers of disinformation and a critical mind, our cyber future may look a bit brighter despite those darn trolls.

More information about the Fake News initiative in the European Commission.

Follow the discussions via @EU_MediaLit and #TackleFakeNews.

Public consultation on fake news and online disinformation: https://ec.europa.eu/info/consultations/public-consultation-fake-news-and-online-disinformation_en

[ep-technology]

Love at first swipe

On 12th of February, a conference on data protection and digital ethics challenges took place at the European Parliament. This lunchtime event was organized by the European Data Protection Supervisor, the EU's independent data protection authority.

In his introductory speech, Giovanni Buttarelli, the European Data Protection Supervisor highlighted that the number of dating apps is rapidly increasing  and personal data is thus in danger. As he explained, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), already approved by the European Parliament in April 2016, will apply from 25th May 2018. This implementation represents a first step towards better data privacy regulations across Europe, especially in the way companies deal with data privacy.

The first session of the event was about challenges regarding data protection in dating apps. Maryant Fernández Pérez and Diego Naranjo, Senior Policy Advisors at the European Digital Rights association (EDRi) showcased how data sharing is taking place with dating apps and on what the EU is doing to protect personal data. According to the speakers, there is a an increasing need for ePrivacy, which is determined by the widespread use of applications such as Skype, Facebook, WhatsApp and Tinder, but also by the need to trust the applications and the tracking methods they employ. Once we accept the terms of subscription and we upload personal data on dating apps, we lose control of the information flow, while, at the same time, data is duplicated and many other “data babies” are created.

The last speaker of the first session, Jerome Groetenbriel, co-founder of PersonalData.IO, explained that after many complaints against Tinder for its low level of personal data security, the company decided to provide a dedicated section in the website where users can download directly their data. However, let us suppose that Tinder stored 800 pages of a user’s data. In this case, the user cannot download the 800 pages but just a part of them (let’s say just 600), where profiling information, third party information and clues on how data circulates are not provided. Indeed, in order to have access to the 100% of personal data, further legal actions are required or the support of a powerful company are needed.

The second part of the event focused on digital ethics and dating apps. Raegan McDonald, Senior EU Policy Manager at Mozilla pointed out that nowadays Tinder is the most addicting dating app. It has a huge impact on social life and enables people to fulfil some social needs. In many apps, such as Tinder, privacy and security regulations are somehow over locked with a basic level of security, which provide IT experts very easy access to your personal data.

Marijn Sax, PhD candidate at the Institute for Information Law at University of Amsterdam also focused on Tinder activities. As she explained, Tinder is not a problem solver but it is a money-maker. It can be used to understand more about ourselves but human are so complex that an app can never be a substitute of personal relations.

In the conference closing, Wojciech Wiewiórowski, Assistant European Data Protection Supervisor pointed out that Tinder was created for financial reasons and not to make people fall in love. Once a user meets the perfect person, he quits Tinder and he does not represent anymore a value for the company.

You can watch the recording of the conference here.

Conference programme

[ep-technology]

What the heck is blockchain?

Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere, you've probably heard of blockchain by now.

It's (part of) the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies (think BitCoin) and seems to have Midas-like powers that can turn Ice-Tea into gold.

If you're not entirely certain what blockchain is, or what it does, things can get awkward. Sure, you work in IT, so you have years in experience in pretending you know what you're talking about while frantically Googling for answers. But still, you can't feign IBS every time your colleagues strike up a conversation about blockchain, just to avoid losing face.

No worries, we've got you covered with this blockchain crash course.

Blockchain in a nutshell

The blockchain is often described as an unmutable ledger. Unmutable means that it can't be changed. Whereas ledger is just a fancy word accountants use for a list of things they wrote down.

The most famous blockchain holds the information of the BitCoin cryptocurrency. Bitcoin in traded like any other currency, but what's different is that the records of who owns what are not stored by some bank somewhere, they are stored in the (bitcoin) blockchain for all to see.

When we say the ledger cannot be changed, what we mean is that it cannot be changed without detection. You can download the entire bitcoin ledger (warning, it's over 145GB), and once downloaded, you can change it however you want. But when you try to pass it on to somebody else, that person will know you tampered with the ledger. That's because of blockchain technology.

The blockchain takes a fingerprint of every piece of information (a block) in the ledger, and stores it along the data. These fingerprints are linked together through a clever use of cryptographic hash functions. When you tamper with one of the blocks, the fingerprint will change, causing the chain to break. Now, everybody knows you tried to steal some bitcoin.

How do they know you changed something? And what does it mean for the chain to 'break'? Well, this is where things get a little technical.

How blockchain technology works

Step 1: Hash

The cornerstone of blockchain technology are so-called hash functions. They use an algorithm that calculates a hash for the data you input. Such a hash --- also called a digest --- is a fixed-length amount of data.

An example will make make more sense. We'll use SHA1 which is a well-known hashing algorithm.

sha1(spaghetti) = 2ACFA5D173E10DE2586042DDB6D9D75415148BC2

We'll refer to the spaghetti hash as 2A...C2 from now on.

SHA1 always returns a 20-byte hash. Displayed in hexadecimal, this gives us a the 40-character alphanumeric string we see above.

Now let's make a small change:

sha1(spaghetto) = 756AE8100E6D05BBF0E9EC018D8FAA8675027D24

We'll refer to the spaghetto hash as 75...24 from now on.

We've only made 1 small change (the i at the end is now an o) yet we get a completely different hash.

That's what's supposed to happen. Because a good hash function has the following characteristics:

One-way only

A hash function only works in one-way. You put data in it, you get a hash back. You cannot get the original data from the hash value.

In other words, spaghetto gives 75...24 but if all you have is 75...24 you can never know that is the hash for spaghetto short of so-called brute-forcing where you keep trying different input strings hoping the hash will match.

Deterministic

Feeding the same data into the hash method generates the same hash value. spaghetto should always be 75...24 and not something else on Mondays.

Collision resilient

When two different inputs generate the same hash, we call that a collision.

With an infinite amount of input possibilities, and only a limited amount of hash values available (due to the fixed length), collisions are certain to exist.

But a good hash algorithm makes it impossible to predict such a collision and carefully engineer the input to get the hash value you want.

Step 2: Block

Now that we know what a hash is, and what's it's good for, let's have a look at the block in blockchain.

A block groups different pieces of information as one entity. They are:

The block ID

The block data

The hash of the previous block

The block id

The block ID is an auto-incrementing number that keeps track of the order of blocks.

The first block has id 1 the second block has id 2, the third block has id 3, the 1347th block has id 1347.

The block data

This can be anything, but it's going to be whatever data you want to use the blockchain for.

It could be financial transactions, as with the bitcoin blockchain, but it could also be orders in your restaurant if for some reason you wanted to run your restaurant's cash register on the blockchain.

So data can by anything. Pictures of cats are valid too.

The hash of the previous block

The data in the block makes the block useful. But the combination of the id and the hash of the previous block is what puts the chain in blockchain.

Once again, an example will clarify this.

Step 3: Chain

Let's say we run our restaurant on the blockchain. Here's our first three orders:

id: 1 data: 1 pizza napoli, 1 coke. prev: 00000000000000000000000000000000000

This block hashes to D061C173B1510868FBAE3320F476C972043D192F

As this is our first block, we've set the previous hash to all zeroes.

id: 2 data: 1 pizza hawai, 3 glasses of red wine. prev: D061C173B1510868FBAE3320F476C972043D192F

This block hashes to A70EBBFCF807437E8BBC5C2D100EC4D9B50838F0

id: 3 data: 1 pizza romana, 1 pizza margherita, 1 limonata, 1 coke. prev: A70EBBFCF807437E8BBC5C2D100EC4D9B50838F0

Now let's change something

The customer of order 2 wants a receipt to reclaim the cost of his meal from work, but he'd like us to change his order so it says 1 bottle of water, rather than 3 glasses of wine.

Let's assume we grant them their request, and update block 2 like this:

id: 2 data: 1 pizza hawai, 1 bottle of water. prev: D061C173B1510868FBAE3320F476C972043D192F

This block will now no longer hash to A70EBBFCF807437E8BBC5C2D100EC4D9B50838F0, but will instead hash to 5C3F8CF8212DB0FA75E6A5890EB0B30F3AB3D3A1.

That change will break our chain as the original hash of block 2 is stored in block 3 as the previous hash. Given that it no longer matches the hash of block 2, we know block 2 has been tampered with.

And that, is blockchain technology. It's nothing more but the clever use of hash technology to create an unmutable ledger of information that is chained together.

Mess with any of the data in the block, and the entire chain from that point forward will be invalid. Furthermore, anyone can check the chain's validity by checking the block's hashes.

[ep-technology]

Innovation and technology in the Parlamentarium

What kind of technology is used in the Parlamentarium? Technology is something that is becoming increasingly familiar in all kind of museums, and the Parlamentarium, which is the visitors’ centre of the European Parliament, has not fallen behind.

On the contrary, you can find many diverse innovations that will show you the main activities of the EP and how the European Union works in an easy way, even in 2012 the Parlamentarium won the “Australian Innovation Award” 

Modern audio guides and innovative mock-ups of the EP buildings

This centre has very innovative and multimedia interactive interfaces available in almost all the stands. At the entrance, you can take a free audio guide that will explain everything to you. All the stands have a scanner where you can pass over your audio guide, and it will reproduce all information automatically through a small screen and earplugs. Firstly, you will see some inventive electronic mock-ups, which represent the main buildings of the EP, and the location of those buildings (Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg).

Touchscreens on tables

After a brief presentation of the Parliament and the main activities of the European Union, there is a history area where some historical and digital photos from the 1940 until today are displayed. Moreover, there are some interactive and dynamic tables with touchscreens where the visitor can see how the EU has evolved from its beginnings. For example, the exhibition contains a selection of the most important or relevant news that have been published through the years. That is how digital technology can help the Parlamentarium deliver learning experiences

Video presentation on a 360˚surround screen

You will find the specific area dedicated to MEPs where you can find out information about the parliamentary work done by the MEPs. In short, you can see among other things how a plenary session works, the different decisions that are taken on a day-to-day basis, how political parties work, etc.

“Who is who in the European Parliament?” There is an interactive touchscreen where you will be able to see who are the MEPs in the EP, and their political parties.

The exposition also contains computers where you can see videos of the MEPs and their activities. There is even an interactive voting application called "It's your choice" where you can simulate a vote.

After that, you could enjoy the video presentation on a 360˚surround screen of how the legislative process works in the Parliament step by step. It seems as if you were in a plenary session.

Movable technological stands

Next to the area dedicated to MEPs, you will enter a new area dedicated to the different European institutions and cities. A huge map is drawn on the floor and a set of movable interactive stands with screens and wheels will immediately call your attention. If you move the stands over the different cities marked on the map, the screens will display all the most relevant information on the different EU organisations, institutions or projects currently developed in such locations.

Interactive and dynamic screens

In the last part of the museum tour, you can rest on cosy sofas in an interactive room with a 360˚surround screen, set apart from many screens where you can see and listen to the experiences of many different entrepreneurs who built their own companies or carried out a project in the EU.

To sum up, the Parlamentarium is a great museum to explain to visitors in a fast and accessible manner how the EP and the EU work and their day-to-day activities in a dynamic way where you will learn and enjoy at the same time. The technology used and different great innovations make the content of the museum very pleasant and entertaining.