Credit: InternetNZ InternetNZ CEO Jordan Carter cites the progress made on the Christchurch Call after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern led a side meeting at the United Nations General Assembly. The Call is gaining even more momentum with 31 new countries and two organisations signing up. This brings the total to 48 countries and three international organisations, says Carter. “It’s great to see continued commitment by key tech companies and governments to address terrorism and violent extremism online,” he states. He points out the key challenge will be taking action to tackle terrorism and violent extremism online while ensuring the Internet remains open, secure and respects human rights. InternetNZ chief advisor International, Dr Ellen Strickland, who joined the Christchurch Call side event at the UN, says three big initiatives were confirmed after the meeting. Dr Ellen Strickland She says there will be changes to the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) that will drive much of the tech sector’s work on implementing the Call. It will be turned into a better resourced and more capable organisation, working with civil society and academic communities for the first time. Second is an agreement of a new crisis response protocol to be used in the wake of terrorist and violent extremist attacks. Governments and tech companies will follow this protocol to coordinate and to manage online impacts of the attack. This will be tested in a NZ based exercise led by Google later this year, she states. A Christchurch Call Advisory Network, meanwhile, has been established to advise on the implementation of the Call. “It’s great to see the new GIFCT will have working groups focused on research, algorithms, and on data privacy and information sharing,” she adds. “These are critical aspects that we all need to understand better to help deal with the challenges social media are giving rise to.” Sign up for CIO newsletters for regular updates on CIO news, career tips, views and events. Follow CIO New Zealand on Twitter:@cio_nz Related content case study How IT leaders use EV tech to fuel the transport revolution in Kenya Many African nations are starting to invest in electric vehicle (EV) transportation as a means to broaden access and help keep pace with global environmental initiatives. In Kenya, strides are being made despite industry and tech leaders grappling to By Vincent Matinde May 31, 2023 5 mins CIO CTO Emerging Technology feature How CIOs distill the most sought-after data skills From back-end engineers to data scientists and line-of-business experts, here’s the in-demand talent that all organizations need to turn a glut of information into game-changing insight. By Mark Samuels May 31, 2023 8 mins IT Skills Data Center IT Leadership interview Broadcom’s Andy Nallappan on what cloud success really looks like The CTO, CSO, and head of software engineering and operations knows firsthand that a successful move to the cloud is all about changing the culture and replacing on-prem’s sunk cost mentality with incentivized FinOps. By Martha Heller May 31, 2023 8 mins Technology Industry IT Strategy Cloud Computing feature Key IT initiatives reshape the CIO agenda While cloud, cybersecurity, and analytics remain top of mind for IT leaders, a shift toward delivering business value is altering how CIOs approach key priorities, pushing transformative projects to the next phase. By Mary Pratt May 30, 2023 10 mins IT Strategy IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe