Above all fields of study, science and technology is the fastest in terms of change and development. And as we see the year 2016 in horizon, we can expect numerable changes on the technology we experience today – changes that could impact our lives for better or worse. [...] It can be used for conversations and other systematic functions. Organizations may use bots to sort tag articles in real time, manipulate social media activities, surveillance and digital diplomacy.

Saudi Arabia is taking a "soft power" jab at its regional rival Iran this week — a news website in Farsi, the language of Iran. It launches Thursday and the Saudi government expects to eventually start a Farsi-language TV channel as well. The step into soft power is new for the wealthy Kingdom, more known for opening its checkbook to gain influence.

As the public grapples with images of violent extremism advocated by the Islamic State group, UCLA students have developed a website and social movement aimed at slowing its spread by countering recruitment strategies. [...] The result is Safe Spot, which is designed to foster ideals of acceptance, safety, community and ultimately discourage isolated individuals from joining extremist groups.

Despite increasing efforts by western governments and social media providers to counter ISIS online, ISIS  continues to produce and disseminate large quantities of ideologically inspired audio visual content and information.

Politicians and some technologists say that [ISIS accounts], and hundreds just like it, show how Silicon Valley’s efforts to crack down on the use by terrorists of social media have been toothless [...] On Sunday, Hillary Clinton [...] called on tech companies to become more aggressive. “Resolve means depriving jihadists of virtual territory, just as we work to deprive them of actual territory,” she told an audience [...]

In introducing Manzoni, Nefkens described the UK as a world leader in the “digital transformation of government”, a model even for similar schemes in the USA and Australia. Furthermore, New Zealand has used Gov.uk source code - it’s based on open standards and is open source - to help build out own digital services.

#GivingTuesday was born four years ago to encourage people to open their wallets for a good cause...Some critics think #GivingTuesday clutters people's inboxes with empty fundraising appeals…On the other hand, it's hard to argue with the results. Last year alone, #GivingTuesday pulled in a whopping $46 million in charitable donations…The event has expanded to countries like Singapore, Kenya and New Zealand.