On March 22^nd, the Diplomatic School of Armenia organized a conference on “Public Diplomacy in the Digital Age: Lessons for Armenia”. Diplomats, heads of information and public relations departments of various state agencies, press secretaries, officials responsible for decentralized international cooperation at regional governments of Armenia, experts and researches in this field attended the event.

International experts in the field of public diplomacy, as well as practitioners from Armenia and other countries discussed the current trends of development of public diplomacy in the digital age, and, based on the experience of different countries, proposed practical steps for public diplomacy in Armenia.

The opening remarks of the event were made by Ambassador Vahe Gabrielyan, Director of the Diplomatic School, Ms Inna Torgomyan, Head of the Media and Public Diplomacy Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Dr Corneliu Bjola, Associate Professor at the University of Oxford and Head of the Digital Diplomacy Research Group.

Professor Corneliu Bjola, internationally renowned expert in public and digital diplomacy, Dr Jennifer Cassidy, Lecturer in Technology and Diplomatic Studies at the University of Oxford, Dr Paweł Surowiec-Capell, Senior Lecturer in Public Relations and Strategic Communication at the University of Sheffield, Dr Dani Madrid-Morales, Lecturer in Journalis and Global Communication and Co-lead of the Disinformation Research Cluster at the University of Sheffield, Dr Iulian Fota, former national security Advisor to the President of Romania, Mr Ekke Nõmm, Director of the Estonian School of Diplomacy, Ms Ani Babayan, Aide and Spokesperson to the Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia spoke about the opportunities and challenges of public diplomacy, digital public diplomacy, countering digital disinformation, the use of artificial intelligence, the Armenian, Estonian and Romanian experience of public diplomacy and other related issues.

The concluding session of the conference discussed ideas and proposals for increasing the effectiveness of a country’s public diplomacy.