Beyond NETmundial: The Roadmap for Institutional Improvements to the Global Internet Governance Ecosystem

Beyond NETmundial: The Roadmap for Institutional Improvements to the Global Internet Governance Ecosystem explores options for the implementation of a key section of the “NETmundial Multistakeholder Statement” that was adopted at the Global Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance (NETmundial) held on April 23rd and 24th 2014 in São Paulo, Brazil. The Roadmap section of the statement concisely sets out a series of proposed enhancements to existing mechanisms for global internet governance, as well as suggestions of possible new initiatives that the global community may wish to consider. The sixteen chapters by leading practitioners and scholars are grouped into six sections: The NETmundial Meeting; Strengthening the Internet Governance Forum; Filling the Gaps; Improving ICANN; Broader Analytical Perspectives; and Moving Forward

Stakeholders\u27 Involvement and Participation in the Internet Governance Ecosystem: An African Perspective

From an African perspective, internet governance requires not only an understanding of the variability in access to and use of the internet across the continent, but also an understanding of the disparities between developed and developing countries’ abilities to effectively participate in global internet governance debates. Few developing countries participate in these debates, and even fewer are active in agenda-setting for global internet governance. This paper seeks to understand how these factors transect with the notion of multistakeholder participation as a form of governance for internet policymaking, which is often informed by assumptions from more mature markets and Western democracies. It does so by exploring the evolution of multistakeholder participation through mapping the main international and regional instruments of the internet governance ecosystem in Africa. It critically assesses the ability of current multistakeholder initiatives to provide Africans with a compass to guide them through the miasma of cybercrime, political surveillance, censorship and profiteering that threaten the openness of the internet. The paper also highlights the participatory and accountability gaps in the current status quo, ultimately asking what solutions can be devised to enhance the participation of African stakeholders in internet governance

As reações brasileiras ao Caso Snowden: implicações para o estudo das Relações Internacionais em um mundo interconectado

Despite of the central role the Internet plays in cyberspace-related matters, it was only when Edward Snowden brought light to American-led digital espionage programs that Internet governance and cybersecurity agendas definitely converged. The Snowden Affairs increased the entropy within the broader Internet ecosystem and reignited political tensions that revolve around the US prominence within the narrower arena of critical Internet resources management. In this context, many countries have shown great concern regarding the governance of the Internet, and Brazil has gained a prominent role in the debate. This paper (a) summarizes the concerns arisen from Snowden's leaks and their general impacts over the Internet governance ecosystem; (b) tracks the policy actions undertaken by Brazil in the issue-area of Internet governance both before and after Snowden; and (c) details how Brazil seized the Snowden Affair as an opportunity to promote its broader political agenda internationally, fostering a more democratic and pluralistic Internet governance worldwide. In the end, the paper reflects upon the prospects for change in global Internet governance after the US government announced its intention to relinquish its privileged position vis-a-vis critical Internet resources. Apesar do papel central da Internet para a compreensão atual do ciberespaço, as agendas de governança da Internet e de cibersegurança apenas convergiram a partir das revelações de Edward Snowden sobre os programas de espionagem digital dos Estados Unidos. O Caso Snowden aumentou a entropia do complexo ecossistema da Internet, e reacendeu tensões a respeito da proeminência americana na administração dos recursos críticos da Rede. Nesse contexto, muitos países demonstraram preocupações sobre o futuro da governança da Internet, e o Brasil ganhou destaque no debate. Este artigo (a) resume as preocupações oriundas do Caso Snowden e seus impactos gerais sobre o ecossistema de governança da Internet; (b) analisa as medidas políticas tomadas pelo Brasil no campo em questão, antes e depois dos vazamentos de Snowden; e (c) detalha como o Brasil utilizou o Caso para promover sua agenda política para governança da Rede internacionalmente, fomentando a adoção de um complexo de governança mais pluralístico e democrático. Ao fim, o texto reflete sobre as possibilidades de mudança no ecossistema de governança global da Internet após o anúncio da intenção estadunidense de renunciar seus privilégios na supervisão do funcionamento de recursos críticos da Rede.

"Internet universality": Human rights and principles for the internet

This paper details proposals by UNESCO to manufacture and draft a concept of “Internet Universality” that adopts a human-rights framework as a basis for articulating a set of principles and rights for the Internet. The paper discusses various drafts of this concept before examining the Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the Internet put forward by The Internet Rights & Principles Dynamic Coalition based at the UN Internet Governance Forum, and the working law Marco Civil da Internet introduced by Brazil

Taking Blockchain Seriously

In the present techno-political moment it is clear that ignoring or dismissing the hype surrounding blockchain is unwise, and certainly for regulatory authorities and governments who must keep a grip on the technology and those promoting it, in order to ensure democratic accountability and regulatory legitimacy within the blockchain ecosystem and beyond. Blockchain is telling (and showing) us something very important about the evolution of capital and neoliberal economic reason, and the likely impact in the near future on forms and patterns of work, social organization, and, crucially, on communities and individuals who lack influence over the technologies and data that increasingly shape and control their lives. In this short essay I introduce some of the problems in the regulation of blockchain and offer counter-narratives aimed at cutting through the hype fuelling the ascendency of this most contemporary of technologies

The role of urban living labs in a smart city

In a rapidly changing socio-technical environment cities are increasingly seen as main drivers for change. Against this backdrop, this paper studies the emerging Urban Living Lab and Smart City concepts from a project based perspective, by assessing a series of five Smart City initiatives within one local city ecosystem. A conceptual and analytical framework is used to analyse the architecture, nature and outcomes of the Smart City Ghent and the role of Urban Living Labs. The results of our analysis highlight the potential for social value creation and urban transition. However, current Smart City initiatives face the challenge of evolving from demonstrators towards real sustainable value. Furthermore, Smart Cities often have a technological deterministic, project-based approach, which forecloses a sustainable, permanent and growing future for the project outcomes. ‘City-governed’ Urban Living Labs have an interesting potential to overcome some of the identified challenges

Internet Of Rights(IOR) In Role Based Block Chain

A large amount of data has been accumulated. with the development of the Internet industry. Many problems have been exposed with data explosion: 1. The contradiction between data privacy and data collaborations; 2. The contradiction between data ownership and the right of data usage; 3. The legality of data collection and data usage; 4. The relationship between the governance of data and the governance of rules; 5. Traceability of evidence chain. In order to face such a complicated situation, many algorithms were proposed and developed. This article tries to build a model from the perspective of blockchain to make some breakthroughs.Internet Of Rights(IOR) model uses multi-chain technology to logically break down the consensus mechanism into layers, including storage consensus, permission consensus, role consensus, transaction consensus etc. thus to build a new infrastructure, which enables data sources with complex organizational structures and interactions to collaborate smoothly on the premise of protecting data privacy. With blockchain's nature of decentralization, openness, autonomy, immutability, and controllable anonymity, Internet Of Rights(IOR) model registers the ownership of data, enables applications to build ecosystem based on responsibilities and rights. It also provides cross-domain processing with privacy protection, as well as the separation of data governance and rule governance. With the processing capabilities of artificial intelligence and big data technology, as well as the ubiquitous data collection capabilities of the Internet of Things, Internet Of Rights(IOR) model may provide a new infrastructure concept for realizing swarm intelligence and building a new paradigm of the Internet, i.e. intelligent governance