Open Skies, Open Societies: How Civil Society Can Use New Technology for Social Change

The project introduces drones to civil society organizations, independent media outlets, journalists and bloggers in Central Europe.

Drones in visual media, especially in investigative journalism have a great potential: with a flying camera, journalists can record public protests, state owned properties and constructions or land affected by the state agricultural policy, to name just a few. Since drone technology is still relatively new, regulatory system that would be appropriate for its civil use is still under development in Central Europe.

During highly interactive sessions, participants in the project Open Skies, Open Societies: How Civil Society Can Use New Technology for Social Change discussed the use of drones to increase transparency and accountability, shared best practices, and partook in hands-on sessions on drone use for investigative journalism, environmental monitoring, and other humanitarian purposes. The project consisted of presentations and discussions by international experts, activists, journalists and policy makers on the topic of commercial drone use; questions around regulation and the legal framework; as well privacy and data protection implications.