Cyber Revolution Talk in Sydney by Member of the Egyptian Council of State

Dr Mohamed Chawki, of the Egyptian Council of State, will speak on "Egypt's Cyber Revolution", in Sydney, Wednesday, 18 May 2011.

Seminar

UNSW's Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre in association with the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology invites you to a free seminar, one of the 2011 Cyberspace Law and Policy Series:

Topic: Egypt's Cyber Revolution
Speaker: Dr Mohamed Chawki (Egyptian Council of State)
Date: Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Time: 4:45 for 5:00-6:00pm, including time for questions and discussion
Venue: Staff Common room, 2st Floor (at opposite end of building to lifts) Faculty of Law building, UNSW lower campus (near Roundhouse), Kensington, Sydney

Abstract: The Egyptian people have managed, through a peaceful revolution, to topple a dictatorship that ruled the country for 30 years. One of the most interesting aspects of the revolution is that technology, particularly the Internet, played a very important role. During the first few days of the revolution, Facebook and Twitter became the primary means for the Egyptian people to spread the word about what was happening in the country. Twitter and Facebook posts provided a real-time update of events taking place all over Egypt, while also providing pictures and videos for the world to instantly see. This presentation will address and analyse the role of ICTs and social networks in the Egyptian revolution.

About the Speaker: Dr Mohamed Chawki is a Senior Judge of the Egyptian Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court. He is a founder of the International Association of Cybercrime Prevention (Paris) and of the African Centre for Cyberlaw and Cybercrime Prevention (Kampala).

Bookings: Entry is free, no need to book. Please RSVP to feedback [at] cyberlawcentre.org.

Library of Alexandria was Not Destroyed

As I tell my e-document students, the Library of Alexandria was founded around 290 BC, destroyed by fire around 48 BC and opened again for business in 2002AD, with an on-line catalogue. It was surprising to hear the librarian detailing the library's role in the recent revolution in Egypt.

In scenes reminiscent of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series of books, Dr. Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina has described how library staff joined hands with members of the public to protect the library during recent protests. Dr. Serageldin also described how the library spread "the values of democracy, freedom of expression, tolerance, diversity and pluralism" and so helped ferment the revolution.

As demonstrations continue despite the delegation of presidential powers to the Vice-President, the Library continues to be protected by the people. Alexandria saw massive demonstrations throughout the city (see video). Young students from the university designed and made a huge National Flag, and put it on the steps of the Library (see images) which elicited cheers from passing demonstrators as the director waved to the crowds (see image)....

From: "Under the protection of the People", Bibliotheca Alexandrina, February 2011