On November 15 to 18, 2024, an international workshop on protecting human rights in the digital age was held at Marriot Hotel in Taipei City in Taiwan. The three-day training started on Tuesday and ended on Thursday but we were grateful that we flew in on Saturday, November 11, 2023 so we had two days off before the meeting starts. We had a chance to explore Tamsui Old Street and King Silin night market. We were so lucky that one of our co-workers was in Taipei for few days before she flew in to Palau.
On Sunday November 19, 2023, we decided it was the ideal weather for a great day in Tamsui so my co-worker came to the hotel to get us and we walk to the MRT Station to catch the Train to Tamsui Old Street. Parallel to these streets in the waterfront that is lined with more food stalls, restaurants and shops. I was so excited that I couldn’t decide what to eat and that’s what I underwent for the first 15-20 minutes. I can’t explain more into the details but all I can say is that it was “EXCITING & AMAZING” experience. The weather was great and the road was full of people, the smell of the delicious food, and the company was great so we were able to walk around and browse all the shops and food vendors.
Aside from all of these, the main purpose of this trip was to attend the 2023 GCTF International Workshop on Human Rights and Digital Age. For example, the rapid advancement of technology is transforming nearly every aspect of daily life. During the workshop were able to get into different group with different countries and share ideas, exchange views on approaches to protecting human rights online, discuss the challenges, and the discuss rules and law, Role of Government, and role of Education and more. The information’s from each panel “the experts” they shared was interesting. Officials from the U.S. Department of State and National Institute of Standards and Technology, as well as scholars, civil society experts, and private sector representatives from Taiwan, Japan, Australia, and Canada shared their experiences and best practices. Participants also explored rights-respecting approaches to cybersecurity and data protection from experts at the Institute for Information Industry. This workshop included 37 international participants from 19 countries and more than 50 local officials and civil society leaders in Taiwan.