On a balmy mid-March evening, 11 Russian journalists clustered around a table in one of Austin’s time-honored barbeque joints, a platter piled high with brisket and a trough of mashed potatoes between them. The group had gathered for a traditional southern meal on the final evening of a ten-day press tour sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and the State Department’s Foreign Press Center.

It is without a doubt pleasing to see that DFAT is on its way to progressing and further developing its digital diplomacy programmes, however, it is still a long way away from meeting the requirements it needs to influence people around the world, and increase the efficiency of its diplomats and enable them to adapt to a rapidly evolving technology and diplomatic space. 

Moses Machipisa's project MaYouth Civic Education Initiative uses WhatsApp to build circles of civic training. Nicolas is a member of Project Friends Chile, a pioneering cultural diplomacy project which aims for the development of co-existence and social consciousness, by inculcating Civic Education to children and youngsters through digital media. 

Digital sites like La Pública in Bolivia, El Pitazo in Venezuela and global site Rising Voices are establishing relationships with low-income, rural and indigenous communities. The idea is to produce their own news agendas different from those of traditional media. The sites give voice to community problems and support the creation of media that come from the communities.