[EuroDig Interview] Andreana Stankova, Bulgaria

Andreana Stankova comes from Sofia, Bulgaria. She has a BA degree in Public Relations from the University of Sofia and a MA degree in Public Policy from the Central European University, Budapest.

Andreana has spent three years working as a business news reporter with a news agency publishing online and is currently involved in public affairs and corporate communications projects with a PR and advertising agency in Bulgaria.

Her interests include personal data protection and copyright in the online environment, online media and new possibilities for marketing communication on the Internet. She is part of the team joining the EuroDig meeting in Geneva next week.

DIPLO IGCBP: Andreana, how was the capacity building programme with Diplo? What did you like more about the eLearning experience?

ANDREANA: The Diplo programme was great with the possibility it gives the participants to meet people from different parts of the world who have various experiences in the IG field and from whom one can learn what is not in the books. What is more, once these people know each other, they can share ideas to enrich each other’s research and even work together. To tell you the truth, I am a little bit sorry I did not participate in the programme more actively, thus learning even more…

DIPLO IGCBP: Please tell us more about the current situation in your country: what do you see as the main challenges ahead?

ANDREANA: Bulgaria is an EU member, but this does not mean IG issues are high in the agenda of policy makers. This is largely due to the fact that the society as a whole largely misunderstands and neglects most of the key problems in the field.

For example, many businesses collect large databases of personal information without taking any measures to protect it as required by the law. The private sector does not want to make large investments to protect personal data because the money will not have an immediate return. Businesses are not afraid of the problems they might have because there is nobody to check whether they are complying with the rules or not.

The solution? It will take time and probably many people will have serious problems before the society understands that IG issues are important. That IT infrastructure is probably as important as electricity grids and sewage systems, because it will be the backbone of the economy in the future. That is why it should be paid attention to.

DIPLO IGCBP: Thanks a lot for this illustration, Andreana - in fact, many of our colleagues who took the European Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme mentioned the need for more attention on IG issues on the political agenda. It is interesting to hear a specific case such as the one you just described. For those interested to add a contribution in shifting this and increase awareness on the process, we would suggest to add Andreana as a friend on the Community and continue the discussion and collaboration!

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This interview is part of a series with participants from the European Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme (although in this case our guest Vedran took the Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme). Diplo IGCBP stands for Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme and you can find more on our Facebook profile, the Internet Governance Capacity Building page on Facebook or the Twitter for Internet Governance