Ahmed X. Medien is a Systems Engineer turned community organizer. With 10+ years managing internet ventures and not-for-profit community projects and chairing global conferences, Ahmed launched the Misinformation Village at DEFCON with the intention to create a hybrid space for misinformation specialists and information security professionals; a new space for content policy and information security and cybersecurity science to come together in one place, at one time, at the hackers conference DEFCON.

The Village is a collaborative of dis- and misinformation researchers, data analysts and computer linguists, cybersecurity and defence professionals, and all like-minded professionals across academia, civil society, government and industry.

The Village seeks to establish open and broad-sector frameworks to define, expose, analyze and counter the security challenges of misinformation and disinformation campaigns on democratic regimes, free markets, public trust, and open and progressive societies.

WHY OPEN FRAMEWORKS?

Open frameworks and open data infrastructure enhance and promote the production of scientific knowledge and industry expertise as they enable collaboration, information sharing, transparency, and reproducibility.

We aim to provide a common "space" for researchers to share data, tools, and knowledge, information, context, story, you name it leading to more accurate, fuller, richer, trusted research outcomes, better-informed policy decisions, and innovative solutions to complex problems. Diverse and inclusive research outcomes will ensure the benefits of scientific progress are shared widely, and so it means diverse speakers, unorthodox ideas and unfinished projects. By supporting open frameworks, we strive to accelerate scientific discovery, innovation, and create a more collaborative space for professionals and audience members activated in this space.

WHAT ARE OUR GOALS?

Our mission is to inform, create and share new resources on the thorny and intersectional information, cognitive and security challenge that is disinformation. We want to remain a physical space for broad-sector problem definition and collaboration. Specifically, we aim to:

• Engage technologists, hackers, builders, civil society, defence and law enforcement communities and public servants through rich content, workshops, hackathons, and challenges.
• Engage with media professionals and storytellers on the subject of emerging tech, democracy challenges and information warfare to tell better, more diverse, wholesome stories about what the stakes are, who are the winners and losers and hear directly from affected populations
• Address open-knowledge infrastructure deficits and draw attention to vulnerabilities within existing information ecosystems
• Provide a continuous and resilient space for trust, safety, and civic integrity professionals to engage with the industry.

Throughout our efforts, we also aim to provide and stir funding towards new tools, open knowledge movements and communities, existing and new communities of practice and cooperators in the ecosystem.