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5th Virtual WHO Infodemic Management Conference

WHO is delighted to announce that its 5th infodemic management conference will be held between 2 - 11 November 2021. This conference will bring together global experts over four sessions for discussions about quantifying the impact of the infodemic on public health, and the effectiveness of measures to mitigate the infodemic.

While previous conferences have expanded our understanding of infodemic drivers and social listening approaches, there is a need for more rigorous and standardised approaches to measuring impact. The conference discussions will raise awareness of the gaps in metrics required to connect exposure to information with health outcomes. Experts will explore proposals for study designs and approaches that can estimate infodemic burden, as well as approaches, measures and indicators that can evaluate effectiveness of infodemic management interventions.

It is expected that outcomes of the conference will include a conceptual framework to assess the burden of infodemics on health and wellbeing, as well as draft research instruments to measure the impact of information on health behaviours and outcomes. These tools will continue to respond to the WHO public health research agenda for managing infodemics and priorities identified at previous conferences. The outcomes will help to provide the evidence we need to contribute to evidence-based planning.   

Read more here

Image: ©WHO/Sam Bradd

Global infodemic manager community is growing

The WHO EPI-WIN team has been responding to the needs of the global community throughout the pandemic. From infodemic management conferences, technical webinars and infodemic management training, the work has targeted a global audience. The graphic above shows the significant reach of these endeavours, including the growing community of practice of over 500 WHO trained infodemic managers. Trainees are putting their skills to work to respond to the infodemic on regional and country levels, and staying connected to each other through alumni groups. 

These training initiatives, alongside the recently released competency framework, Building a response workforce to manage infodemics, increase capacity for infodemic management and are key sustainability strategies.

With the upcoming 3rd WHO global infodemic manager training, we are looking forward to growing our numbers even more. You can read more about the growing community of practice and the 2nd WHO global infodemic manager training, as well as access the training book. 

Read more here

Opportunities for action

Call for submissions | WHO Western Pacific Innovation Challenge 

The World Health Organization in the Western Pacific has launched the first 'WHO Western Pacific Innovation Challenge: Innovation for the Future of Public Health'. The Innovation Challenge is calling for innovators to submit their solutions to better the health and well-being of people in the Western Pacific region. The five categories of submission are COVID-19 innovation, universal health coverage, health security and emergency, healthy environments and populations, and disease elimination and control.

The challenge is open to all public health innovators from any of the WHO member states, and especially those living in the Western Pacific. Submissions deadline is 31 October 2021.

Find out more here

Call for nominations | Global startup awards

The global startup awards currently operate in 113 countries across 4 continents. The awards aim to inspire, motivate, and recognize entrepreneurship on a global level. Public nominations are now open for many global regions. Nominees will participate in a four phase process to determine the global winners.

Read more here

U.S. National Science Foundation announces phase one cohort | Trust & authenticity in communications

As part of a $US21 million funding commitment, the U.S. National Science Foundation has announced funding for 28 multidisciplinary teams for phase one of its accelerator cohort aiming to accelerate solutions in two areas: trust and authenticity in communications, and the networked blue economy. The teams will have nine months to further develop their idea through a dedicated curriculum and support.

There are 12 key projects in the trust and authenticity in communication systems research track that will be of great interest for infodemic managers to read more about and follow the progress of. These projects cover disinformation, misinformation, fact-checking and new tools using AI, co-design and education.

Read more here

BRICS digital health declaration India 

BRICS brings together the global emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. At their digital health summit held in New Delhi, India in September 2021, the BRICS Digital Health Declaration was approved by all the BRICS countries. We are pleased to share that the innovative use of digital health for infodemic management has been included in the declaration. The recognition of infodemic management in this important document provides further opportunities for driving the field forward.

Read the declaration here

Job opportunities

• Harvard University: Director, Center for Health Communication (Boston, United States) 
• Social Science Research Council: Program Director (New York, United States)
• WHO: Technical Officer, Digital Health (Denmark, Copenhagen)
• WHO: Communications Officer (Geneva, Switzerland)
• WHO: Director, Digital Health and Innovation (Geneva, Switzerland)
• National Democratic Institute: Program Manager, Countering Disinformation (Kyiv, Ukraine)
• Open Democracy: Africa Editor, Tracking the Backlash (Remote from sub-Saharan Africa)
• Counterpart International: Technical Support Consultants (Arlington, United States) 
• Atlantic Council: Associate Director, Capacity Building (Washington, United States) 
• WHO: Risk Communication & Community Engagement Capacity Building Platform Development (Request for proposal) 
• USAID RDMA RIDE: Digital Development Consultants and Experts (Bangkok, Thailand)
• WHO: Foresight Consultant (Remote)
• WHO: Risk Communication and Community Engagement Officer (Multiple locations)
• Indian American Impact: Program Manager, Mis/Disinformation (Remote, United States)
• UN Peacekeeping: Digital Communications Officer (New York, United States)

Upcoming events

Social media lab guest speaker series | Studying the COVID-19 infodemic at scale | Oct & Nov 2021

The upcoming social media lab guest speaker series will feature six selected studies that were published in the special theme issue of Big Data & Society (BD&S) on Studying the COVID-19 Infodemic at Scale. The talks will discuss challenges and benefits of detecting and combating the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and provide examples.

Register for the talks here

Cochrane Convenes | Preparing for and responding to global health emergencies: What we have learnt from COVID-19 | 14 October 2021

Cochrane Convenes is an online event hosted by Cochrane and co-sponsored with the World Health Organization and the COVID-19 Evidence Network to support Decision making (COVID-END). The inaugural event aims to bring together global leaders to explore and recommend changes needed in evidence synthesis to prepare for and respond to future global health emergencies. Invitation-only thematic round tables were held 5 & 6 October 2021 and a public plenary session will be held on 14 October 2021.

Read more and register here

Preventing medical misinformation: Cross-disciplinary approaches | 15 October 2021

Registrations are open for the Inaugural Penn medical communication research institute symposium, 'Preventing medical misinformation: Cross-disciplinary approaches'. Speakers will cover topics such as message delivery, social networks and behaviour change, and technology and information delivery.  

Read more and register for the symposium here

Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2021 Feature Conference | 24-31 October 2021

The annual Global Media and Information Literacy Week is a major occasion for stakeholders to review and celebrate the progress achieved towards 'Media and Information Literacy for All'. UNESCO and members of the UNESCO Media and Information Literacy Alliance are calling partners all over the world to promote Global Media and Information Literacy Week by organizing and registering events and activities online or offline. The feature conference will be held over 5 days from the 25-29 October 2021.

Register for the feature conference here

Advancing norms to counter disinformation | 25 October 2021

Hosted by the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS), with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defence of the Netherlands, the upcoming virtual event ‘Advancing Norms to Counter Disinformation: From Formulation to Implementation’ will be held on 25 October 2021.

This event convenes European stakeholders from government, industry and civil society to launch the forthcoming HCSS report on the role of norms to counter disinformation. A panel discussion will cover the viability of intergovernmental norm proposals and an industry charter with standards for social media platforms to counter disinformation. RSVP by 18 October 2021.

Read more and register here

Recent events

Promoting transparency to counter disinformation and build trust

If you missed the event ‘Promoting transparency to counter disinformation and build trust’, the good news is that the recording is now available. Two draft discussion papers have also been released. These are products of cross-UN discussions related to mis/disinformation that were co-chaired by UNESCO and WHO last year.

• Discussion paper 1: Selection of data from online platforms that would enable better understanding of disinformation online and efforts to counter it
• Discussion paper 2: Shared UN considerations for online communications companies on the issues of countering disinformation and enhancing transparency

Watch the recording here

Read more here

Boost podcast | COVID-19 listening and learning series

Boost is a global community which aims to enable immunization professionals to connect with colleagues, learn new skills and lead immunization programs in challenging contexts. They have recently launched a new podcast as part of the COVID-19 listening and learning series. The first 3 episodes are available now.

Read more and listen now

Visualizing global COVID-19 behaviours and vaccine perceptions in 100+ countries: Data and insights from the new COVID behaviours dashboard 

Recordings and resources are now available for the webinar introducing the new Johns Hopkins COVID-19 behaviours dashboard. The dashboard displays global vaccine perception and behaviour data. It is supported through Facebook Data for Good and reflects a collaboration between Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, the World Health Organization, Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, Delphi Group at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Maryland Social Data Science Center.

Access the presentation slides here

Watch the webinar in English or French

Countering online disinformation and hate speech to foster peace

A recent online conference organized by UNESCO with the support of the European Union for the International Day of Peace discussed how to counter online disinformation and hate speech to foster peace. The conference examined pressing global issues of social media content governance to counter online hate speech and disinformation and foster mutual respect and the need to develop common principles for a global online space.

Read more about the event here

Watch the recording here

MISDOOM | Multidisciplinary international symposium on disinformation in open online media 

The 3rd international MISDOOM symposium on misinformation in online media was held on the 21-22 September 2021. The symposium brought together researchers from multiple disciplines, including communication science, computer science, computational social science, political communication, journalism and media studies, as well as practitioners in journalism and online media.

Conference proceedings have been published and are now available here

What we're reading

Fun with numbers

After 1 year of sending out the infodemic management news flash we have some of our own fun numbers to share. Over the last 12 months we have shared a total of 50 features, 113 opportunities for action, 176 past and upcoming events, 141 readings and 132 jobs! We know, because we counted.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the news flash over the past year, including all the contributors and people doing the great work we report on. We are looking forward to the next year.

About the News Flash

An infodemic is an overabundance of information—some accurate, some not—that spreads alongside a disease outbreak. Infodemics are nothing new, but in the digital age, they spread in real time and create a breeding ground for uncertainty. Uncertainty fuels skepticism and distrust, which is a perfect environment for fear, anxiety, finger-pointing, stigma, violent aggression and dismissal of proven public health measures. To manage an infodemic, we need to understand what contributes to it. So that’s why we’re sending you these updates. In each issue of the WHO’s Infodemic Management News Flash we’ll share the latest work happening at the global level, as well as highlight some of the challenges and solutions with infodemics in local contexts. We’ll also provide you with a few takeaways to help you be an effective infodemic manager in your daily life.

If you have a tip on infodemic management or an idea for a future News Flash, email us at infodemicmanagement@who.int. Thanks for joining us on this journey.