FOSI Hosts World's Foremost Online Safety Conference

WASHINGTON, DC - The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) will host its Fourth Annual Conference & Exhibition, "Internet Freedom, Safety & Citizenship: A Global Call to Action," beginning today in Washington, DC. The two-day event brings together an international audience of policymakers, Internet industry leaders, educators, legislators, law enforcement, Internet safety advocates, teachers, and technologists to discuss internet freedom, safety and digital citizenship. Ambassador Melanne Verveer, the United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, will provide a keynote address.

From cyberbullying to sexting to social networking to privacy issues, online safety is top of mind in the United States and around the world. Through a combination of presentations and breakout sessions, the conference will examine a number of topics related to online safety and provide opportunities for attendees to share concerns and best practices. This year's conference offers more than 400 participants, 90 speakers, and 30 exhibitors.

"Our annual conference comes at a time when online safety is a bigger issue than ever before," said FOSI CEO Stephen Balkam. "Working together, we can provide the right combination of tools, rules and schools to help make the Internet a safer place for kids and their families."

"Enabling good digital citizens is a key goal for all who participate at the FOSI annual conference," said Kim Sanchez, chair of FOSI's board of directors and group communications manager at Microsoft. "The conference continues to grow in size and scope each year and has become a key focal point for industry, government and other influencers to share and discuss all types of Internet issues and announce new initiatives."

At the conference, The Aspen Institute will release "Digital and Media Literacy: Developing multimedia skills to participate in contemporary culture," a whitepaper on the digital and media literacy recommendations of the Knight Commission on the information needs of communities in a democracy.

The Family Online Safety Institute Award for Outstanding Achievement will be presented to Rep. Mary Bono Mack, Attorney General Roy Cooper and Attorney General Lisa Madigan. The award is presented to those individuals who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to advancing the goal of a safer Internet.

Also at the conference, FOSI will preview the Global Resource and Information Directory (GRID). GRID, a groundbreaking online portal that collates, consolidates and tracks family online safety initiatives and programs around the globe. GRID brings online safety efforts from countries worldwide into a single, easy-to-search hub. FOSI will also highlight events and outcomes from the past year in a FOSI 2010 Year in Review video.

For more information about the conference, visit our Annual Conference 2010 section. Follow the conference on Twitter: #fosi2010.

About FOSI

The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) works to make the online world safer for kids and their families by identifying and promoting best practices, tools and methods that also respect free speech. FOSI’s members include: AOL, AT&T, Blue Coat Systems, BT Retail, Comcast, Disney, Entertainment Software Association, France Telecom, Google, GSM Association, Kingston Communications, Loopt, Microsoft, Motion Picture Association of America, MySpace, NCTA, Ning, Nominum, Optenet, RuleSpace, Sprint, StreamShield, Symantec, Telefónica, TELMEX, USTelecom, The Wireless Foundation, Verizon, Yahoo. FOSI hosts an annual international conference to bring together Internet safety advocates from a variety of sectors, including global corporations, government, non-profits, academia and the media, to discuss the current pulse of online safety and emerging solutions that will enhance it.