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IPDS Partnership Case Studies · No. 3

Vienna 2025: speaker, exhibitor and media partner at the International Digital Security Forum

At the 4th International Digital Security Forum in Vienna, IPDS and its media partner The Diplomatic Insight took three roles at once: a speaker on the main programme, an exhibitor, and an official media partner. This case sets out how the three fitted together.

Dr. Farhat Asif on the panel on human-centric data governance, IDSF 2025, Vienna.
Dr. Farhat Asif on the panel on human-centric data governance, IDSF 2025, Vienna.
PeriodMay to July 2025
TypePartnership with an international forum
RegionEurope
StatusCompleted

01Context

The International Digital Security Forum is organised by the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology and brings together governments, international organisations, researchers and industry. Its 2025 theme was “Balancing Sovereignty and Solidarity in the Digital Age”.

Voices from the Global South are few at such forums. IPDS saw the forum as a chance to put a Pakistani perspective on digital governance before a European policy audience, and to show what a think tank and a media partner can do together.

02Partners and roles

AIT Austrian Institute of TechnologyOrganiser of the forum; media partnership with The Diplomatic Insight.
IPDSSpeaker on the main programme and exhibitor.
The Diplomatic InsightOfficial media partner: planned and published coverage before, during and after the forum.
Embassy of Pakistan in AustriaReceived the IPDS delegation during the forum.

03What was done

  1. Before the forum

    The Diplomatic Insight publishes pre-forum articles on the forum’s history, programme, speakers and women in cybersecurity. Source →

  2. 4 June 2025

    IPDS exhibits at the forum. Source →

  3. 4 June 2025

    Dr. Farhat Asif speaks on the panel “Bridging Continents: Human-Centric Data Governance and Data Sovereignty for Peace and Security”. Source →

  4. June 2025

    Dr. Farhat Asif and Muhammad Asif Noor meet Pakistan’s Ambassador to Austria, Mohammad Kamran Akhtar. Source →

  5. July 2025

    The Diplomatic Insight publishes its own account of the media partnership. Source →

04Outputs

1Panel contribution on the forum’s main programme
1Exhibition presence for IPDS
14Articles published by The Diplomatic Insight across the forum cycle
1Meeting with Pakistan’s Ambassador to Austria

05Results

A Global South perspective on the programme

Dr. Farhat Asif was one of very few speakers from the Global South, and spoke for communities in the middle of peacebuilding where access to technology is limited or controlled.

Evidence →

Coverage that began before the forum

Instead of reporting only on the day, the media partner planned three phases (awareness, reporting and analysis) and published 14 articles.

Evidence →

A follow-up agenda with Pakistan’s embassy

The delegation put forward ideas for a more sustained Pakistani presence at international forums on public and technology diplomacy.

Evidence →

06How the partnership works

Combine roles

Speaking, exhibiting and media partnership reinforced one another: the speaker gave the media partner first-hand access, and the coverage extended the panel’s reach.

Plan coverage around audience questions

The media partner started by asking what readers would want to know about the forum, and wrote the pre-forum articles to answer it.

Connect the forum to national diplomacy

Meeting Pakistan’s mission in Vienna turned a single forum into a conversation about Pakistan’s presence at future ones.

07Evidence and citation

  1. IDSF 2025 programme (idsf.io)
  2. IDSF speaker profile: Farhat Asif (idsf.io)
  3. IPDS at IDSF 2025 (IPDS)
  4. Panel report (The Diplomatic Insight)
  5. Meeting with Pakistan’s Ambassador to Austria (The Diplomatic Insight)
  6. Media partnership case study (The Diplomatic Insight)
Cite this case studyInstitute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies (2026). Vienna 2025: speaker, exhibitor and media partner at the International Digital Security Forum. IPDS Partnership Case Studies, No. 3. Islamabad: IPDS. https://ipd.org.pk/about-us/partners/case-studies/idsf-vienna/ (last reviewed October 2026).
The Vienna account on Partnerships in Practice →Media and outreach partnerships →
← Case study No. 2Turkmenistan: a decade of joint workCase study No. 4 →Country corners: culture that stays

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Last reviewed October 2026. Partners named in a case study can ask for corrections at info@ipd.org.pk.

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