GC: n
S: EEAS (last access: 19 January 2026); DiPLO (last access: 19 January 2026).
N: 1. – digital (adj): mid-15c., “pertaining to numbers below ten;” 1650s, “pertaining to fingers,” from Latin digitalis, from digitus “finger or toe” (see digit). The numerical sense is because numerals under 10 were counted on fingers. Meaning “using numerical digits” is from 1938, especially of computers which run on data in the form of digits (opposed to analogue) after c. 1945. In reference to recording or broadcasting, from 1960.
– diplomacy (n): “the science of formal intercourse between nations through authorized agents; the art of negotiating and drafting treaties;” more loosely, “transactions and management of international business in general,” 1793, from French diplomatie, formed from diplomate “diplomat” (on model of aristocratie from aristocrate), from Modern Latin diplomaticus (1680s), from Latin diploma (genitive diplomatis) “official document conferring a privilege” (see diploma; for sense evolution, see diplomatic).
2. Diplomacy: cyber-diplomacy, cyberdiplomacy, digital diplomacy, e-diplomacy.
- The evolution of public diplomacy to include and use the new platforms of communication in the 21st century.
3. Digital diplomacy, virtual diplomacy, cyber diplomacy, and e-diplomacy are some of the most common English terms international relations (IR) scholars and practitioners use to describe diplomatic work online. The German foreign ministry, moreover, speaks of vernetzte Diplomatie (networked diplomacy), Danish diplomats call their approach “techplomacy,” and the Francophone world talks of diplomatie numérique (numbered diplomacy). Broadly, all these terms refer to the practices, procedures, and norms of doing diplomacy in digitalizing contexts. While the terms look similar, they are used to emphasize considerably different phenomena ranging from how diplomatic or foreign policy actors use digital devices to the stakes and future of diplomatic trust, constraint, or politeness in mediated communication and on social media platforms.
4. While digital diplomacy optimizes communication and addresses internet governance through information power, tech diplomacy engages with the broader innovation ecosystem that shapes technological development and deployment through innovation power.
S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=digital, https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=diplomacy (last access: 19 January 2026). 2. (last access: 19 January 2026). 3. ORE (last access: 19 January 2026). 4. TDGI (last access: 19 January 2026).
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