On December 12-13, 2024, the International Conference ‘State, Security and Human Rights in the Digital Age’ took place at the Faculty of Law of the Moldova State University. The event brought together representatives of public authorities, the associative sector, and the academic environment from Romania, Spain, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria, Ireland, the USA, China, Armenia, and the Republic of Moldova.
The event has been opened by the Vice-Rector of the Moldova State University, Ms. Georgeta STEPANOV, who highly appreciated the quality of the university community, whose beneficiary considers to be herself, and the beautiful tradition of coagulating efforts to change mentality, to configure the traditional optics of visualizing contemporary issues, in order to identify solutions for strengthening national security and ensuring human rights.
Prof. Dan Claudiu DĂNIȘOR, Director of the Doctoral School of the Faculty of Law of the University of Craiova, Romania, welcomed the organization of the conference, which contributes to the promotion of democratic values. In his opinion, democracy is not just any power, but a power limited by the rights of each of us, and the university education system has a special role in this process and, consequently, in the construction of the democratic dimension of the people’s lives.
Adriano REMIDDI, Head of the Capacity Development Unit of the Global Campus of Human Rights (GCHR), a global university network, of which MSU is also a member, recalled the beautiful collaboration with the Faculty of Law of the MSU, in the context of the implementation of two new master’s courses, IT Regulation and Human Rights and European Standards and Practices of Family and Child Rights Protection. He also emphasized the support provided by the GCHR and the EU Delegation in Moldova in the development of a current teaching and research direction for the global community, namely on Climate Justice and Human Rights, appreciating the dedication of the local university team and providing assurances of support in the continuation of ongoing projects.
Prof. Rodica Iordanaca IORDANOV, Executive Director of public association ‘EcoContact’ emphasized the essential role of the scientific environment and the associative sector in identifying current problems, generated by digitalization and climate change, and in shaping sustainable solutions for environmental protection, including by supporting the university hubs, start-ups and by promoting human rights, through science, involvement and joint efforts.
Prof. Serghei BRINZA, Dean of the Faculty of Law of MSU, highlighted that human rights in the digital age are being put under an unprecedented test, which requires the need to ensure a balance between the development of advanced technologies, on the one hand, and data protection, national security, on the other. States must adopt clear and transparent laws in the field of digitalization, establishing mechanisms for capitalizing on these technologies in the key to protecting fundamental rights and human dignity, and the educational sector has a special role in empowering users of new information technologies.
The Head of the Public Law Department of the Law Faculty of the MSU, Prof. Rodica CIOBANU, thanked the participants for their openness in developing partnerships, in implementing joint projects, in unifying efforts to find solutions that work in the context of the multiple challenges and crises facing the national and global community. Ms. Rodica Ciobanu launched the idea of reconceptualizing the conference, by reorienting it under the auspices of artificial intelligence, which has become a priority in the development of today’s society.
The scientific speeches that followed have covered cutting-edge topics of great interest to theorists and practitioners in law, philosophy, sociology, political science, security, economics, medicine, technology, engineering, etc.
Prof. Darko TRIFUNOVICI from the Institute for National and International Security in Serbia addressed the topic of national security in relation to human rights. He emphasized that the state has a special role in guaranteeing human rights. He also firmly supported the indispensability of strengthening security culture and science, which are prerequisites for human security and for national security itself.
Ms. Iana CHETREAN, State Controller at the National Center for Personal Data Protection (CNPDCP), Moldova, continued with a speech on the protection of personal data, from the perspective of ensuring a balance between security and human rights. She reiterated the risks generated by digitalization, through massive data collection, and called for caution in the storage, use and distribution of data, especially in the online environment.
Prof. Carlos GALAN and Prof. Javier VALENCIA from the Antonio de Nebrija University, Spain, surprised the audience with a presentation focused on new realities, addressing the topic of propaganda tactics, techniques and procedures used in the context of hybrid attacks on security. The need to develop skills to detect disinformation and data manipulation was highlighted, with concrete steps to be followed in this regard: identification, mapping, assessment, response and feedback.
Prof. Peter KLOTZ from the University of Public Service in Hungary continued with an original scientific approach, on state capture and strategic corruption. Strategic corruption, according to him, aims to weaken and eliminate the defensive power of the state, to distort the policy-making process and to diminish public trust in institutions. Taking into account the affected areas and the diversity of actors involved in coordinating strategic corruption, the indispensability of well-thought-out, visionary and balanced mechanisms to combat corruption and ensure national security on various dimensions was emphasized.
Prof. Sorin Gabriel ANTON from the ‘Alexandru Ioan Cuza’ University of Iasi, Romania, directed the speech towards the economic dimension of security, the topic regarding the impact of financial inclusion on the consumption of renewable energy generating discussions against the background of the realities in Romania, the Republic of Moldova and other legal systems. The conclusions were built on empirical data, presenting as an imperative the need to develop effective measures for the transition to renewable resources.
The opening session was moderated in a friendly atmosphere by Acad. Ion GUCEAC, Faculty of Law of the MSU and Dr. Natalia CRECIUN, Faculty of Law of the MSU, who thanked the speakers and participants of the event for their sincere contribution to preserving the beautiful tradition of organizing, on International Human Rights Day, the international conference ‘State, Security and Human Rights in the Digital Age’, which has become, at its 9th edition, a platform for promoting transversal values, through science, research and innovation, across borders.
