Advocacy is an activity that aims to influence decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions. Advocacy-oriented groups and organizations work networking with interested stakeholders, launching press and communication campaigns, developing strategic partnerships; doing fact-gathering on relevant issues, using focused research to influence and educate public opinion. Creativity and imagination to positively shock the audience is a commonly used tactic.
Advocacy in all its forms seeks to ensure that people, particularly those who are most vulnerable in society, are able to: (1) have their voice heard on issues that are important to them; (2) defend and safeguard their rights; (3) have their views and wishes genuinely considered when decisions are being made about issues that influence their lives.
Advocacy groups aim at having an impact in the agenda-setting by raising significant issues, proposing policy solutions and opening up space for public argumentation
OISTE is a non-governmental organisation that focuses on advocacy work to influence policy making and industrial practices in the following areas:
- Digital identity management
- The protection of individual guarantees and human rights in the use of national digital identity programmes
- Personal data management, ownership and protection
- The right to be forgotten or the right to disappear online
- The defence of the fundamental right to privacy in the digital world
- Coordinated action on the fight against illicit trade and counterfeiting
- The multi-stakeholder governance model of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
- The protection of cryptography from unlawful governmental interference
- The responsible and ethical use of Artificial Intelligence
- Child protection online
The OISTE Foundation liaises with the three largest non-governmental organisations advocating for the defence of human rights in the digital sphere:
