Conference to examine cyber safety

New Zealand's online safety organisation NetSafe will be holding its first international conference on "cybercitizens" in Queenstown later this month.

The conference - Cybercitizens: Risks, Rights and Responsibilities of Participation in the Information Age - will be held from July 28 to July 30, bringing together experts on cyberbullying and cybersafety from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia to discuss how to manage the complex issues regarding cyberspace.

NetSafe Executive Director Martin Cocker said the conference would highlight the importance of understanding online dangers such as cyberbullying and the steps to take to manage the problems.

"Just as citizens have responsibilities on city streets, NetSafe and the international community at the conference are working to discuss the rights and responsibilities that come with cyberspace - this is like neighbourhood watch for the new generation," Mr Cocker said.

"This is an opportunity for all those concerned about cybersafety to come together to consider the issues.

"The NetSafe conference offers an outstanding opportunity for the community, industry, and Government to join with leading researchers to share the latest findings about cyberbullying, cybersafety, and how to protect young people."

Keynote speakers at the cybercitizens conference were specialists in online child safety, Internet law and cyberbullying, including USC Annenberg School Centre for the Digital Future's Jeffrey Cole, who is also an adviser on digital strategy to the White House, Coca-Cola and Microsoft.

Other speakers include Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers chairman Peter Dengate Thrush, of New Zealand; Motion Picture Association regional vice-president Frank Rittman; and Symantec's Internet Safety advocate Marian Merritt, who worked with Miss America 2007 Lauren Nelson, protecting children online.

Also at the conference will be New Zealand's five teen ambassadors to the first International Youth Advisory Congress (IYAC), who wrote scripts for an animated series which looks at online safety and security.

Their winning entries earned them a trip to London to attend the IYAC Congress with 200 other young people from around the world.

The ambassadors will also help to write a strategy on the online protection of children - A Children and Young People's Global Online Charter - which will be presented to the United Nations in October.