Homo Digitalis

Last month, and specifically on May 17-19, a big dream of Homo Digitalis from the first years of its foundation became reality! We co-organized in Greece, for the first time, the annual General Assembly of European Digital Rights (EDRi)!

For three days the heart of digital rights protection and promotion was beating in Heraklion, Crete, with representatives from more than 60 organizations of the EDRi network being there!!!

Three days full of discussions, workshops, exchange of ideas and important celebratory moments, during which participants were given the opportunity to learn more about Cretan tradition, with lessons in traditional dances, local Cretan cuisine from the years of the Minoan Civilization and moments of relaxation on the Dia island.

The GA was a huge success, and this is of course due to the unique contribution of the people who contributed to its organization!

A huge thank you to the President of Homo Digitalis, Elpida Vamvaka, who successfully guided us in this difficult project, to the members of the organization who were the secret ingredient of success, in alphabetical order, Angelina Barla, Adamantia Volikou, Vassiliki Giannaki, Yannis Spanakis, Giorgos Sarris, Kiki Syntichaki, Manos Papadakis, Niki Georgakopoulou, Tania Scrapaliori and Haris Daftsios, as well as to our employees Lamprini Gyftokosta and Eleftherios Chelioudakis who gave all their energy and passion! Also, we could not fail to thank the unique team of the EDRi Office, namely Claire Fernandez, Guillermo Peris, Jean Duclos and Nevena Krivokapic.

It is important to emphasize that during the GA, our members Angelina Barla, Giorgos Sarris, Niki Georgakopoulou and Haris Daftsios, also gave a workshop on the proposed European legislation on combating the trafficking of child exploitation material on the internet (Regulation to Prevent and Combat Child Sexual Abuse – Child Sexual Abuse Regulation – CSAR).

At this point we would like to thank the non-profit organization Bizrupt for the use of its office space for the festive event of the General Assembly on Friday 17 May, the Charitable Foundations Andreou and Maria Kalokairinou for the pro bono use of its Social Space for the hosting of the General Assembly on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 May, the Cretan Cuisine Festival Association for the unique traditional dishes that they provided us with free of charge, and the Lazaros and Manolis Chnaris Folklore Club for the Cretan Traditional Dance classes and the related performance that they provided free of charge.

We would like to express our gratitude for this unique support from the above-mentioned organizations, who have shown in practice with their attitude once again, their unreserved support for the work of the EDRi network organizations, regarding the protection and promotion of Human Rights in the modern digital era. We are honoured to have them as our partners.

Finally, we would also like to thank local businesses for their excellent services throughout this project, namely Gea Holidays, Siganos Executive Food Events, Notos Brewery, Avanti Sailing, Yannaris Grill, Veganato, Guernica Bar, Taverna Xylouris, Plaisio Print, and Creta Oil.