In June, Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert gave a keynote address at the Canadian Science Writers’ Association conference, held at the University of Toronto.

“At the Citizen Lab, we’ve built a kind of digital early warning system,” Professor Deibert told about 100 people at the conference. “What we’ve seen is trouble brewing on the horizon for an open and secure communications system for the planet as a whole.”

In her keynote introduction, Penny Park, executive director of the Science Media Centre of Canada, called Professor Deibert “a 21st century action hero” striving to lift the lid on an increasingly dark and covert digital sphere.

Kelly Haggart of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) wrote about Professor Deibert’s speech, and you can read her full write-up here [in English] and here [in French].

A long-time funder of the Citizen Lab, IDRC supports its Cyber Stewards Network of 14 organizations around the world promoting cyber security approaches that respect openness and human rights.