Published July 2017
The following are translations of testimonials submitted by participants of the Open Internet Course.
“The Open Internet Course was very useful for my work as a Policy Analyst for Access Now. It allowed me to review important concepts and re-analyze campaign strategies and priorities for my region. The dynamic of the activities and the help of invited experts made learning a practical and enriching experience.” -Javier Pallero, Policy Analyst for Latin America, Access Now
“The Open Internet Course is extremely important for our region. It serves all who want to enter into the Internet Governance dialogue with theoretical and practical materials. The platform facilitates the interchange of ideas with representatives from different countries, promoting a lasting community. The topics discussed address real and current issues, such as digital security, data protection, and spectrum management. It is always good to share our experiences and our successes and failures – that is why this course has become an invaluable tool for capacity building in Latin America.” -Martín Borgioli, Project Director, Hiperderecho
“Public Knowledge’s course is a great tool for human rights defenders in any sector of society (i.e. civil society, academia, etc.) because they have an interest in beginning to work on issues related to the digital world or because they want to consolidate their knowledge and gain access to reading materials and new ways to analyze the issues. Meeting people from different countries in the region is a key added value that helps strengthen ties, not only personally but potentially professionally, offering the possibility of working on these themes at the regional level.” -Leandro Ucciferri, Lawyer & Researcher on Privacy and Freedom of Expression, Asociación por los Derechos Civiles
“The Open Internet Course was an excellent opportunity to expand areas of discussion, understand the technical, social, and political realities of the various Latin American countries, approach the challenges that we face as a region, and strengthen our arguments in defense of the internet as a human right. Without a doubt, it is a space with a great wealth of arguments, debates, and opportunities for knowledge sharing; the more diverse the arena, the greater the collective knowledge to promote the internet as a free and independent cultural product that we need to protect.” -Carolina Sánchez Hernández, Fundación Acceso
“This course served as a good introduction to the topics in which I had little or no prior knowledge regarding the free and open internet. It helped me a great deal in clarifying and structuring my existing knowledge. It was also a good opportunity to meet people dedicated to digital rights from other countries and to get a general sense of how the internet is being dealt with in the region.” -Santiago Narváez, Research Assistant, R3D
“The Open Internet course by Public Knowledge was key to achieving a better and deeper understanding of important topics on internet governance and what constitutes an open and free internet. There is a focus on the Latin American context, but at the same time it’s possible to learn how topics are handled in other Global South and Global North areas, allowing for a big picture understanding. The course offers high-quality learning material, dynamic methodology and very supportive tutors. The discussion with other students from Latin America is also a relevant part of the course, making it possible to understand specificities and similarities between Latin American and Caribbean countries. I would strongly recommend the course to any professional in Latin America working with digital rights and internet governance in general.” -Raquel Rennó, Senior Researcher, Coding Rights
“Overall, I found the course very comprehensive, it has given me many useful tools to improve my work as a digital rights activist. It has also served as a space in which I was able to meet many other people conducting similar work in their respective countries, and I have been able to share their experiences and interact with them through different means.” -Anonymous, Class of 2015
“Regarding the course itself, I can tell you that out of the various online courses I have taken in recent years this was one of the most interesting. While I started the course with some knowledge on the various topics, I had the opportunity to deepen my knowledge and learn new concepts. I thought the explanation and implementation of the GROW diagram to set goals was brilliant. It was extremely useful to apply this tool outside of the course.” -Javier Raimo, Lawyer, Defensoría del Pueblo de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires
“This course is a great opportunity to understand the challenges and opportunities offered by the internet and how we can collaborate to build a free and open internet. It personally helped me to establish mechanisms to achieve greater internet access in libraries and to carry out further research on issues of access to information.” -Jonathan Hernandez, Researcher, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
“The course has been very good and enriching. We have discussed current topics and we find ourselves expanding our perspective daily, not only nationally, but also regionally since we share experiences with colleagues from different countries and learn about their concerns and issues. This experience allows us to expand our knowledge and engage with people we otherwise would not have known.” -Sandra Guerra, IP Latin America Counsel, Philips