Please visit the DOTCOM Program Forum for all modules, news, staff and student blogs, and links to relevant sites, including the DOTCOM YouTube page and Twitter feed: http://www.netvibes.com/phdotcom#DOTCOM-Home_Page

The Developing Online Tools for Community Outreach and Mobilization (DOTCOM) program engaged media-savvy and civically-engaged youth from Armenia, Azerbaijan and the U.S. and provided training and opportunities for young people to create socially conscious media impacting communities across the U.S. and the Caucasus. The program was sponsored by the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, and supported by a global network of organizations that include OneWorldTV, ListenUp!, Young People’s Media Network and the International Youth Media Summit.

The first phase of the program began in early 2009, when ninety Armenian, American and Azerbaijani students began their online collaboration by exploring youth issues through the lens of media, ultimately creating their own documentaries, digital stories, short films, public service announcements and other media for distribution internationally.

In May 2009, the second phase of the project began. Based on their achievements in the first phase, 30 students (ten per country) were selected as program finalists, and traveled to the U.S. in July 2009 for advanced media and social action training. In March 2010, ten American high school students met their Azerbaijani and Armenian peers in Tbilisi for a two-day regional media conference to showcase their work to a global audience.  American students then traveled to Azerbaijan and Armenia. 

All students in DOTCOM also had an opportunity to vie for mini-grants to implement civic initiatives based on their selected social issues.

The Future Cybersecurity Leaders Exchange (CSP) is a U.S. Embassy London  funded program that will provide twenty 16-17 year-old future cybersecurity leaders (10 from the US and 10 from the UK) with a 14-day hands on and skill-based cybersecurity summer camp in the UK, followed by a seven-day introduction to a range of cybersecurity challenges and meetings with US government agencies, universities/research institutions and private sector companies in Washington, D.C. and Southern California.  PH International is the implementing partner for the US portion of this program.  Specifically, the Future Cybersecurity Leaders Exchange will take place in the UK from July 19-August 2, 2019 and in the US from August 3 – 11, 2019.

Participants in the Future Cybersecurity Leaders Exchange will:

• Travel to the UK for a fourteen-day Cybersecurity Camp that will include training seminars, interactive group activities, and hands-on practical training with ten UK 16-17 year-olds;
• Participate in cybersecurity-related site visits as well as cultural activities in Washington, DC and Southern California following the two-week UK program;
• Participate in a cultural exchange with UK students, creating global networks between future cybersecurity leaders.

US-based program objectives are to:

• Identify, inspire, and connect future cyber leaders in the U.S. and UK;
• Provide firsthand, high-level exposure to public and private sector approaches to cybersecurity issues, including ethics, privacy concerns, and alternative viewpoints; 
• Increase the level of understanding of the U.S. federal system and how cybersecurity challenges are addressed at different levels of government;
• Introduce participants to leading private sector cybersecurity firms/innovators;
• Encourage participants to consider the range of possibilities of cybersecurity career opportunities;
• Provide British participants with a better understanding of American culture.

PH International encourages all 16-17 year olds, (must be 16 by July 1, 2019 & no older than 17 as of September 1, 2019), regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin to apply for the Future Cybersecurity Leaders Exchange. All participants’ costs including airfare, ground transportation, lodging and meals will be covered for both the UK and US portions of the program.

Global New Media Lab (GNML) is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and PH International. GNML consists of two program components: GNML Online and the Youth TechCamp.

The purpose of the Global New Media Lab is to provide students participating in three of the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ high school academic exchanges with the skills to actively engage in and teach others about the use of social media and other forms of information technology for greater civic engagement. GNML gives young people, ages 15-17 the skills to harness innovative online and mobile tools for powerful change in communities worldwide.

The program has trained 240 international students how to create a social media for social change campaign to address an issue in their home countries using the world's most powerful online platforms. Seventy-eight of these students also participated in a one-week Youth TechCamp in Vermont. Youth TechCamp participants gained leadership and training skills enabling them to transfer knowledge and skills in social/digital media and other information technologies to people and groups at home.

The Scottish Study Abroad Program, was funded by the U.S. Embassy’s London Public Affairs Office in England and implemented by PH International from March 8-22, 2014. The objective of  this two-week, U.S.-based exchange was met by providing an opportunity for six education professionals from Scotland to increase their knowledge about and to promote the use of study abroad opportunities to university students and educational institutions in Scotland.  Exchange participants also learned how to provide informed advice and counseling to students interested in these opportunities; and to how measure, document and communicate the outcomes of studying abroad in the United States.

The UK Youth Entrepreneurship Program (summer of 2012) served to inspire the entrepreneurial spirit in UK’s diverse young people, giving them tools that will help them realize their dreams, and connecting these young people to their American counterparts and young American entrepreneurs. The program was funded by the US Embassy Public Affairs Service in London.

The Scotland Study Abroad Professionals Exchange (spring of 2014) better equiped teachers and guidance counselors in Scotland to promote and facilitate application to university level study abroad programs in the U.S.

The UK Young Leaders Program (summer of 2014)  enabled a group of ten up-and-coming young leaders from disadvantaged communities across the U.K. to expand their understanding of leadership, see new models and approaches to promoting leadership among youth, and gain personal experience in the U.S.

The Virtual Classroom Project (VCP)  was a component of Internet and Exchange component of YIEP.  VCP was designed to connect students and teachers from Turkey and New England to develop new insights and understanding of current events, international issues, and cross-cultural perspectives. By participating in VCP, students and teachers developed transformative 21st century skills, including critical thinking, problem-solving and teamwork while integrating the use of technology as part of the learning process. 

For more information about VCP, please visit the website above.

The Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program (YIEP) was implemented by the Turkish Education Association and has provided support for the development of innovation and entrepreneurism among Turkish high school students since 2008. PH’s Internet and Exchange Component served three functions. First, the component provided a means of delivering additional content and new approaches that enhance the teaching of entrepreneurism in the classroom. Second, the component established linkages between Turkish and American youth that allow them to explore how innovation, entrepreneurism, culture and their lives are similar and different in the two countries, enriching awareness and understanding. Finally, the component provided opportunities for leading young entrepreneurs and their teachers to have in-person experiences in one another’s countries, further expanding connections and understanding.

Youth LAB: Turkey-Armenia-U.S. was a program to foster innovative leadership and forge cross-cultural connections among Turkish, Armenian and American youth. Youth LAB was funded by a grant from the Public Affairs Section of the United States Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, and was implemented by PH International and its Turkish partner, ARI Movement. The objective of the Turkish-Armenian-American Youth Leadership Project was to nurture a cadre of youth to become actively engaged in addressing issues of mutual concern to Turks, Armenians and Americans in their schools and communities, and to equip them with the knowledge, skills and confidence to become citizen activists.

The 16-month initiative brought together 75 young leaders – 25 from each country – with creative ideas and open minds. Prior to a three-week leadership camp in the U.S., students from the three countries communicated online via a secure website and begin talking with one another about leadership and change in their communities. In July 2011 students came together in Vermont for a two-week leadership camp at Sugarbush Resort followed by a one-week homestay experience. International teams of students designed and planned civic activities that they would work on in their communities upon their return home, and were to spend the next four months implementing these projects and continuing to communicate with their peers and program coordinators as they put learning into action. In late December 2011, all students got together again and spent ten days in Turkey and Armenia visiting each other’s projects, communities, and expanding their cultural and leadership training.