13 February 2012: State Department's Senior Advisor for Innovation in Ottawa
Alec Ross, the State Department's Senior Advisor for Innovation, speaks at OpenPolicy@DFAIT.
Last week, representatives from the State Department and the Embassy took part in OpenPolicy@DFAIT, a one-day event in Ottawa sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). In his keynote address, Senior Advisor for Innovation Alec Ross spoke on the role of innovation, technology and social media in foreign policy. The conference also featured an exhibit and presentation from the Office of eDiplomacy's Bridget Roddy, who explained eDiplomacy tools for digital diplomacy and the Virtual Student Foreign Service program.
OpenPolicy@DFAIT was developed with the aim of adapting the private sector's open innovation model to the public sector's policy process. Approximately 200 Government of Canada officials from across all departments met with outside stakeholders to explore new tools, new partners, and new approaches to collaboration.