Workshop on Social Media and National Security - 10 and 11 April 2014

Theme: “Uncomfortable Bedfellows? The State, National Security, and Social Media”

Presented by the Canadian Forces College and University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs

Day 1 – Thursday, 10 April 2014

0800 – 0845

  • Registration

0845 - 0900

  • Welcome Address
    • Brigadier-General Richard Giguère, Commandant, Canadian Forces College
    • Lieutenant-Colonel Ian McCulloch, Director, The Centre for National Security Studies, Canadian Forces College
    • Munk School of Global Affairs

0900 - 1000

  • Keynote Speaker
    • Ms. Kirstine Stewart, President, Twitter Canada

1000 - 1010

  • Group Photo (In front of Armour Heights Officers’ Mess)

1010 - 1030

  • Coffee Break at Armour Heights Officers’ Mess

1030 - 1230

  • Panel 1 – Disruptive Technologies and Strategic Opportunities: the National Security Challenges of Social Media (four presentations – 20 mins each, with 40 mins Q&A)
    • Social media presents as many challenges as opportunities to the state: Can the tool be tamed or is it fundamentally toxic?
      • Panel Member: Dr. Mitchell, Professor, Canadian Forces College
      • Panel Member: Dr. Robert Latham, Director of the Centre for International and Security Studies, York University
      • Panel Member: Ms. Meaghan Gray, Toronto Police Corporate Communication
      • Panel Member: Mr. Ian Ferguson, Public Safety Canada
      • Moderator: Dr. Barbara Falk, Assoc. Professor, Canadian Forces College

1230 - 1330

  • Lunch at Armour Heights Officers’ Mess

1330 - 1500

  • Panel 2 – Freedom vs. Control: The History of State Policy Towards Public Information (three presentations – 20 mins each, with 30 mins Q&A)
    • Social Media frees communication from the interference of middle men in a process that has been described by some as “disintermediation”. Yet we also live in an age in which branding and “being on message” has never been more important. Can the state transcend these conflicting agendas?
      • Panel Member: Major-General John Adams (Ret’d), Skelton-Clarke Fellow, Queen’s University and Former Chief of the Communication Security Establishment Canada
      • Panel Member: Mr. Ryan Androsoff, Senior Program Coordinator, GC2.0 Tools, Treasury Board Secretariat
      • Panel Member: Colonel Frances Allen, Commander Canadian Forces Information Operations Group
      • Panel Member: Director General Public Affairs
      • Moderator: Dr. Paul Mitchell, Professor, Canadian Forces College

1500 - 1530

  • Coffee Break at Armour Heights Officers’ Mess

1530 - 1600

  • Plenary
    • Moderators: Dr. Paul Mitchell and Dr. Robert Latham

1600 - 1700

  • Meet and Greet at Armour Heights Officers’ Mess

Day 2 – Friday, 11 April 2014

0830 - 1000

  • Panel 3 – #RevolutionIn140Characters? Looking at International Responses to Social Media (three presentations – 20 mins each, with 30 mins Q&A)
    • The role of social media has been trumpeted in events as diverse as the London Riots and the Arab Spring. Is social media a new vector for civil society or will it be crushed by securitization? How are armed forces around the world coping?
      • Panel Member: Dr. Rafal Rohozinski, CEO, The SecDev Group, and Senior Consulting Fellow, International Institute for Strategic Studies
      • Panel Member: Mr. Ali Bangi, Director of ASL19, an Independent Technology and Research Organization
      • Panel Member: Dr. Bruce Forrester, Defence Scientist, Command, Control and Intelligence, Defence Research and Development Canada – Valcartier
      • Moderator: Dr. Miloud Chennoufi, Asst. Professor, Canadian Forces College

1000 - 1030

  • Coffee Break at Armour Heights Officers’ Mess

1030 - 1200

  • Panel 4 – Taking up the Challenge: Canadian Responses to Social Media (three presentations - 20 mins each, with 30 mins Q&A)
    • Canada is late to the Social Media scene: How is the Government responding to the new media environment?
      • Panel Member: Mr. David Mulroney, Senior Distinguished Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs, and Former Canadian Ambassador to China
      • Panel Member: Mr. Patrice Cloutier, Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services
      • Panel Member: Mr. Mike Colledge, Vice-President Public Affairs, Ipsos Reid
      • Moderator: Mr. Sean Willett, Munk School of Global Affairs

1200 - 1300

  • Lunch at Armour Heights Officers’ Mess

1300 - 1430

  • Panel 5 – The Future: Accommodating Social Media and National Security (three presentations – 20 mins each, with 30 mins Q&A)
    • Do the challenges of Social Media outweigh the opportunities? Can the state respond or is it structurally limited by its very nature? Will the revolution be tweeted?
      • Panel Member: Ms. Jana Seijts, Lecturer, Ivey Business School, Western University
      • Panel Member: Mr. John Verdon, Defence Scientist, Defence Research and Development Canada - Ottawa
      • Panel Member: Mr. Bill Railer, Director of the Canadian Advanced Distributed Learning Partnership Lab, Canadian Defence Academy
      • Moderator: Dr. Eric Ouellet, Assoc. Professor, Canadian Forces College

1430 - 1445

  • Final Remarks

1445

  • Departure

Notes:

Classification of Symposium: Unclassified, Privileged Platform, Chatham House Rules.
Format: Series of Panels (Academic, Practitioner, Military, or Civilian) and One Moderator (Academic).

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