‘Technology, State, and Individual’ was one of three regional conferences organized by Georgian Students For Liberty during FY23, taking place on June 11, 2022. Focusing on innovation, emerging technologies, and their role and capabilities in advancing liberty, the event introduced a range of new concepts and fostered relationships within the broader Caucasus region.
Before the conference itself, the team organized a three-week long lead-up training called “Bitcoin Academy”, which hosted students not only from Georgia, but also Armenia and Azerbaijan, and featured both local and international speakers.
The absolvents of the Bitcoin Academy then could attend the conference – out of the 133 registrants, 86 fulfilled the conditions for joining at the conference in Tbilisi. This not only guaranteed a more enthusiastic audience with a stake in the topic and the conversations, but also a higher standard of discussion at the conference. This approach resulted in a record recruitment drive following the conference, when for the whole following month 80 % of European Students For Liberty’s new applications originated from the Caucasus region.
Besides that, the conference played a vital role in bringing together students from both Armenia and Azerbaijan to discuss the shared ideal of a freer future. Hosting students from two warring countries and inviting them to meet and work together is an important aspect of Students For Liberty’s work in a conflict-strung region such as the Caucasus.
A noteworthy aspect of the conference was the fact that it took place in an audiovisual museum and included a first-of-its-kind NFT exhibition, which featured works on the topics of the conference, Bitcoin, as well as specific artworks made for Students For Liberty, the photos of which have since been used in a range of ESFL and global SFL posts and materials. Not only was it the first exhibition of this kind and extent for SFL, but also for Georgia as a whole.
The topics discussed were the use of technology in the Ukraine-Russia war, how modern technologies can help communities in autocratic countries, decentralized society, and blockchain technology.
Finally, the conference was almost fully covered by local fundraising efforts — the Friedrich Naumann Foundation covered the travel of Armenian and Azerbaijani attendees to Tbilisi for the conference, as well as parts of the conference. Other partners included tech-oriented companies such as Lamassu Industries.
As a result of its success, the conference not only won the European Event of the Year Award, but was further nominated as a finalist for the global Students For Liberty awards alongside events in Brazil and Bangladesh. Moreover, the conference has already returned for its second year, taking place yet again with resounding success in June 2023.
This piece solely expresses the opinion of the author and not necessarily the organization as a whole. Students For Liberty is committed to facilitating a broad dialogue for liberty, representing a variety of opinions.
