Frits Bussemaker

COMBINED I4ADA & ARTHUR’S LEGAL INTERNSHIP POSITION, 6 MONTHS, AMSTERDAM

The Institute for Accountability in the Digital Age (I4ADA) in collaboration with Arthur’s Legal is looking for an enthusiastic intern, aiming to start 1 March 2021 or at an other agreed upon date.

We offer a dynamic internship, where you will work on different topics with regard to accountability in the Digital Age. This is not your run-of-the-mill ‘get coffee and copy some papers’ internship: at I4ADA and Arthur’s Legal you will experience what it’s like to be part of a dedicated and passionate team of professionals. You will be working for an average of 3 days per week for I4ADA and 2 days a week for Arthur’s Legal. The daily communication shall be in English.

Institute for Accountability in the Digital Age

Technology changes the world at a fast pace. On 6 August 1991 the internet became publicly available through the World Wide Web. A new technology which would fundamentally change the world as we then knew it. Today we see more than 50% of the world’s population; a number that increases every day.

Societies and individuals can benefit in all manner of ways through access to knowledge, people and organizations on a local and global level. More than that, digital has become a must-have, for people, society and the economy. Indeed, digital technology fosters innovation. Online platforms, e commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, data analytics, robotics and the internet of things (IoT) are further expediting this process by hyper-connecting individuals, organizations, communities, societies and data, with tens of billions of objects and entities.

Unfortunately, the Internet is not immune to evil. Breaches of norms and values are also occurring in the online and cyber worlds, ranging from fraud, identity theft, bullying and other forms of personal harassment or exploitation through to malign social engineering, phishing and hacking attacks which can threaten key networks and even entire nations. Fairness, transparency and accountability dictate that any victim, – whether individual, organization, society, nation or even democracy itself – which suffers from these issues should be able to address those responsible and to secure meaningful, effective redress. However, we are in a position today, in this Digital Age, where ongoing technological developments have outstripped our policy-making capacity, standards-setting and legal frameworks.

The Institute for Accountability in the Digital Age was founded with the mission to ensure that those issues and concerns do not undermine the Internet’s potential for increasing access to knowledge, spreading global tolerance, inclusion and understanding, and promoting sustainable prosperity.

Regarding accountability in the Digital Age, one of the pre-requisites for trusted, trustworthy and future-proof inclusive open societies, democracies and digital sovereignty, the Institute organises and brings together omnistakeholders of all ages, demographies, nationalities, continents and governance layers (including national, European Union, Council of Europe, UN’s ITU/AI for Good, UNESCO and the like), which for instance is reflected in the recent Vision 2020 publication.

In pursuit of its mission of helping the world derive maximum benefit from the internet the Institute is dedicated to helping create a fair and balanced framework of best practices and policy instruments.

Arthur’s Legal

Arthurs Legal is a leading global strategic law firm with headquarters in Amsterdam, with a global practice. Its core team consists of attorneys at law, legal counsels, strategists, economists, technologists, policy specialists, and are frequent speakers globally. For already 20 years the firm has represented several hundreds of organisations – both in the private and public sector, large and small – in all phases of their respective life cycle and in the digital, innovation, sustainability, data, societal and business domains on strategic, ethics, operational, policy and legal aspects. These include without limitation cyber-physical systems, human-centric sustainable and resilient societies, data strategies, digital identities, egovernment, data sharing, platform economy, digital transformation, sustainable development, privacy, cybersecurity, safety, robotics, artificial intelligence, convergence, competence and capability building, sustainability, human values, ethics, accountability and dynamic assurance.

On these aspects Arthur’s Legal for instance provides its expertise to the European Commission for more than a decade and is extensively involved in EU co-funded projects through essential studies as well as large research and innovation projects that pertain to the abovementioned topics.

Internship

We are looking for proactive personalities with a hands-on mentality; You will be guided by I4ADA and Arthur’s Legal team members but you will also get your fair share of responsibilities and freedom.

As a intern you actively contribute to developing and executing activities like working in research projects, support developing publications and other products.

Responsibilities include, amongst others:

1. conduct research with regard to accountability.
2. support I4ADA with reach out and networking.
3. creating and drafting (social) media content.
4. updating and maintaining the social media channel
5. updating and maintaining the website through our CMS.

The deadline for the application is 15 February 2021. The envisioned start date of the internship is envisioned to be March/April, but to be agreed upon.

Required Skills

Candidates should meet the following requirements and have the following competencies:

1. Academic qualifications – in relevant fields, including Policy Analysis, Business Management, Legal Studies, Economics or Business Administration.
2. Writing skills – readiness to attribute or take on responsibility for the drafting of short memos and studies. 
3. Interpersonal skills – ability to work in an international environment, strong oral and written communication skills.
4. Networking – demonstrated ability to network at the level of strategic decision makers and forge trusting relationships with platform members and stakeholders.
5. Work ethic – result and quality oriented; self-motivated and able to work independently as well in teams; strong sense of integrity and responsibility, flexible.
6. Language skills - (near) native fluency in English required. Knowledge of other languages is a plus.
7. We are looking for proactive personalities with a hands-on mentality.

Eligibility

1. Candidates must be enrolled as a student during the entire duration of the internship. Without a proof of enrollment, valid for the entire duration of the internship, you are not eligible, and your application will not be considered.
2. An internship period of six months is highly preferred, although shorter periods can be discussed. Please indicate your availability in your cover letter.
3. Interns should be able to commit to working 40 hours a week.
4. Successful candidates are asked to contribute to a screening test including providing a certificate of good conduct (‘Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag’) by the Dutch Ministry of Justice and proof of enrollment valid for the entire duration of the internship. Candidates residing outside of the Netherlands should provide a certificate from their country of residence.

Practical information

Apply by sending the following documents to arthurvanderwees@i4ada.org using ‘Internship I4ADA’ as the subject line:

1. A curriculum vitae, including references with contact details.
2. A cover letter, indicating your availability.
3. Proof of enrollment valid for the entire duration of the internship.
4. An example of a paper or research you conducted.

We only consider candidates that submit a complete application and fulfill all eligibility requirements. Successful applicants will be invited for an interview.

The internship is paid.

In the interest of the successful candidate’s learning trajectory, the internship will be carried out at the Arthur’s Legal office in Amsterdam, insofar as this is feasible given the current travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Potential working arrangements can be discussed during the interview process.