One guest, Eric Barrett joins us from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting project, remotely from the US. He investigates "hidden assets" of Russian oligarchs overseas. https://www.occrp.org/en/asset-tracker/ About GIIP and the Counter-Disinformation Innovation Competition Counter Disinformation Innovation Competition Georgia finds itself in the middle of a hybrid war, through which Russia, on top of occupying 20% of Georgia’s territory, also aims to create chaos and saw division in Georgian society. Russian-backed disinformation is thriving in Georgia, and keeping pace with the actors propagating it is next to impossible. It is part of the Kremlin’s long-term strategic approach to exerting its influence, destabilizing Georgian society and weakening Georgian security. It seeks to foment tensions between Georgia and its neighbors and allies, and within Georgian society itself, and ultimately to undermine the country’s democracy and Euro-Atlantic integration. To be effective and sustainable, we believe that efforts to combat disinformation require innovative tools and methods; and for the talent of technology pioneers to be combined with the skills and knowledge of the front-line organizations fighting disinformation. Background The Georgia Information Integrity Program, funded by USAID and implemented by Zinc Network is an ambitious, experimental program that aims to build resilience to disinformation and propaganda at all levels of Georgian society. It brings together a range of stakeholders to design solutions that disrupt the disinformation ecosystem and change people’s attitudes and behaviors. Where these solutions demonstrate success, we help to scale and adapt them – through funding, hands-on support and access to our network – so that they have maximum impact. The Georgia Information Integrity Program has taken a pioneering approach in involving Georgia’s emerging tech sector in the fight against disinformation, founding and launching the Counter Disinformation Innovation Competition together with our partner Startup Grind. The Competition sees tech companies work with CSOs to build powerful tools to resist disinformation, with teams competing to design solutions to specific Challenges. The first Competition resulted in the creation of three powerful tools: a social media analysis tool, Georgian language speech-to-text transcription, and a public database aggregator platform that provides speed and reliability to researchers and journalists fighting disinformation and corruption. As well as a unique example of private sector/CSO collaboration, the tools already have the potential to become internationally successful. Counter Disinformation Innovation Competition Events As the second iteration of the Competition approaches, we are hosting a series of small events leading up to the announcement of this year’s Challenges, giving you—individuals, teams, and organizations—the opportunity to flex your skills and creativity while learning about the complexities of fighting the growing tide of disinformation. During the events, you will learn about how the information ecosystem works, hear from keynote speakers who are on the front lines of the fight against disinformation, get a sneak peek at some of the powerful software developed during our first Innovation Competition by the companies Pulsar.AI, Wavetech.AI, and MetaMine and receive information about opportunities to access funds and national, international networks.
So come, and share this discussion of how we find ways and tech tools to help investigate and expose bad actors.
