Foreign minister Carl Bildt to make TEDx debut in Stockholm next week

TEDxStockholm is calling for focus on a new diplomacy at the TEDxStockholmSalon #1/2014 event, taking place in Stockholm on 16 January in connection with the international meeting Stockholm Initiative for Digital Diplomacy (SIDD). At the TEDxStockholmSalon, some renowned experts on diplomacy will share their ideas on topics including how the internet makes it easier to save the world, whether diplomacy really is going digital, and the power of ideas versus the limits of innovation. 

We live in a time of change, where we see nations closing themselves off and nationalism growing stronger, despite the lesson from history that, in times like these, what we really need are more initiatives with the prefix pan-, inter- or uni-. But there is hope, through initiatives taken by both diplomats and ordinary citizens – at best together, across national and cultural borders. 

This TEDxStockholmSalon is arranged in connection to the international meeting Stockholm Initiative for Digital Diplomacy (SIDD), hosted by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where a dozen diplomats from all over the globe will work together with some of the best minds from academia and research, business and the media in a 24-hour diplohack to produce concrete, feasible solutions for the diplomacy of the future. 

The TEDxStockholmSalon is open to both diplomats and the public, who should apply for an invitation through TEDxStockholm, the organisers of this event. The event will also be broadcast live on 16 January at 17.30–20.00 (CET) on www.tedxstockholm.com. 

On stage at this TEDxStockholmSalon: 

Carl Bildt has been Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2006. He was Prime Minister from 1991 to 1994 and has also undertaken a number of international assignments, including roles as a mediator in the Balkans in the 1990s. He has a keen interest in new communication technologies. As Prime Minister, in 1994 his email to US President Clinton was the first known electronic message between two heads of government. His Twitter feed has just passed 250 000 followers. Making his TEDx debut, he will share his thoughts about how the internet makes it easier to save the world.

Anja Türkan is an International Relations and Social Media enthusiast who studied in Germany and Australia, today living in New York where she recently completed her research project “Digital Diplomacy” with the publication “In the Digital Training Camp”.

Moira Whelan serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Digital Strategy at the US Department of State, where she oversees the Department’s flagship social media accounts, website and broadcast platforms. She will question whether diplomacy really is going digital.

Andreas Sandre von Warburg is a Press and Public Affairs Officer at the Embassy of Italy in Washington DC, author of Twitter for Diplomats and articles published in the Huffington Post and other publications. In his TEDx Talk, he highlights the power of ideas versus the limits of innovation. 

Sabinije von Gaffke, stage host for this event, is an experienced journalist, moderator, TV presenter and communicator who has undertaken assignments in Sweden and the UK for organisations and TV channels including E! Entertainment, the Stockholm Film Festival, TV3 and Nasdaq OMX. 

Mahan Moin, who is a true pop icon and superstar to millions around the world, will perform live. She came third in the Persian TV singing contest Googoosh Music Academy (which is recorded in London for political reasons), and later this year will compete in Melodifestivalen where Sweden’s entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest is chosen. 

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Tickets for this event are available by application only. The event will take place on Thursday 16 January 2014 from 17.30 to 20.00 (CET) at the former Embassy of Czechoslovakia in Stockholm. 

Media representatives can apply for accreditation by sending an email to contact[at]tedxstockholm.com. 

More info: 

About TEDxStockholm and TEDxStockholmSalon events: www.tedxstockholm.com 

About the Stockholm Initiative for Digital Diplomacy meeting (SIDD): www.government.se/sidd and www.diplohack.org/stockholm