Introduction to Social Media: Culture, Identity, and Inclusion Minitrack

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IOs and the Transforming Global Internet Policy Architectures: From Discourse to Concepts to Instruments

Abstract Ten years ago, the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) adopted the concept of Internet governance (IG) and formalized its working definition of this process. In addition to giving it the widest substantive dimension, encompassing any and all normative issues related to the online environment, the WSIS defined the main actors involved in the Internet governance process, namely governments, the private sector and civil society. However, Intergovernmental Organizations (IOs), whether regional (such as the OECD or the Council of Europe) or global (such as some UN agencies like the ITU and UNESCO), also are crafting roles for themselves as stakeholders. Underlining the need for their invaluable experience, capacity and mandate to co-elaborate binding and non binding standards, they have been trying -with varying degrees of success -to establish themselves as the appropriate settings to deal with the crossborder nature of the network in an effective way. With a particular focus on a regional organization (the Council of Europe or CoE) and a global UN agency (the UNESCO), explored through a set of interviews of their key leaders and personnel and through the analysis of their main produced outcomes, this paper identifies and assesses the role IOs have been playing in the development of global Internet policy network architectures, through their own actions and outcomes, as well as through their interactions with other stakeholders

Revista de educación

Se ha hablado mucho de la falta de relación entre ambas y sorprendentemente apenas existe investigación empírica al respecto. Estas relaciones existen y pueden reforzar tanto la investigación como la enseñanza y las prácticas pedagógicas. Partiendo de estos datos, puede deducirse un modelo empírico que muestra que el tipo y número de vínculos creados, junto con las características concretas del personal y del programa de la unidad intermediaria, no son solamente variables decisivas sino también las más manipulables. Estas variables se combinan para crear una interdependencia una conexión más estrechas que se traducen en mejoras claras de los conocimientos y las prácticas, no sólo dentro de las instituciones a las que llega la universidad sin también dentro de ésta. Una cuestión final es la importancia de estos datos por países distintos a Estados Unidos. Estructuralmente existen diferencias claras. Funcionalmente, quizá no las haya. En la OCDE el peso de la colaboración ha decaído sobre el perfeccionamiento del personal docente o sobre el asesoramiento episódico.Ministerio Educación CIDEBiblioteca de Educación del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte; Calle San Agustín, 5 - 3 Planta; 28014 Madrid; Tel. +34917748000; [email protected]

Linking Trajectories: On-line Learning and Intercultural Exchanges

There has been tremendous growth both in study abroad and intercultural exchange options in the United States and also in on-line learning options in higher education. Reviewing 91 cross-cultural experiences with at least one type of formal on-line component, this paper provides an overview and categorization of these offerings as well as a discussion of trends. It also offers recommendations to help strengthen and shape further offerings and related research

IOs and the Technical Communities In The Internet Governance Institutional Complex: Strategies and Perspectives

International audienceWhile the term ‘multistakeholderism’ has become one of the most commonly used words in Internet governance (IG) studies, only three main categories of stakeholders are almost always highlighted in IG arenas: Governments, Businesses, and Civil Society. However, initial findings from our two-year transatlantic research project show that the technical community and Intergovernmental Organizations (IOs) also are crafting roles for themselves as IG actors. This paper focuses on the Technical communities - composed of organizations such as ICANN, ISOC, and other bodies primarily dedicated to the technical management of the Internet - as another IG actor, and its interaction with IOs. Using a framework from political science, communication theory, and organizational sociology, it analyzes (with interview, observational, and archival data) the emergence of this stakeholder, its strategic interactions with IOs, and highlights new trends of the Global Internet Governance institutionalization

Straddling Hegemony and Resistance in Internet Governance: The Soft Power of IOs

International audienceSince the World Summit on the Information Society’s Working Group on Internet Governance (2004-2005), there has been a growing emphasis on the use of the term multistakeholder in Internet governance (IG). The annual Internet Governance Forum established in 2006, the “NetMundial” jointly convened by ICANN and Brazil in May, 2014 and the recent and more controversial “NetMundial Initiative” launched as a follow-up with the World Economic Forum, highlight the need for multistakeholder discussions and consensus finding. They almost always delineate three main categories of stakeholders: governments, private sector, and civil society.However, we have shown in previous work that International Organizations (IOs) also are crafting roles for themselves as IG actors. Underlining the need for their invaluable experience, capacity and mandate to co-elaborate binding and non binding standards, they have been trying to establish themselves as key players in multistakeholder settings. With a focus on two regional organizations (OECD and Council of Europe) and a global UN agency (UNESCO), explored through a set of interviews of their key leaders and personnel and through the analysis of their main produced outcomes, this paper addresses how IOs have been successful in navigating the murky waters of IG and multistakeholderism. Using both qualitative and quantitative analysis of interview and archival data, we examine the emergent roles of IOs and the paths they forge in multistakeholder arenas. Such pathways include coalescing with other stakeholders around some issues of common interest, crafting research agendas, and allowing their Secretariats to smoothly circumvent some of their Member States positions and, as a result, producing positions and non-binding international instruments related to the most contentious IG issues. We explore in-depth how these outcomes have managed to overcome sometimes very conflicting positions among different stakeholders, analyzing critically the processes and means that IOs use to straddle hegemonic and resisting positions from other stakeholders, in particular by shaping dialogues and influencing best practices.We use a conceptual framework from political science, communication theory, and organizational sociology. Enriched with empirical results, our research provides an inside and heretofore unexplored view of the workings of IOs in the IG field, illuminating how they enhance their roles (and concomitant power) in a complex, multilayered, highly discursive and often uncertain internet governance ecosystem

A Global Internet Governance Strategic Triangle: IOs, NGOs, and Technical Communities

International audienceWhile only three main categories of stakeholders (Governments, Businesses, and Civil Society) are most commonly recognized as actors in “multistakeholder” processes in global Internet governance studies, findings from our three-year transatlantic research project show that other kinds of actors also are crafting roles and designing strategies for themselves as global internet governance players engaging in this multistakeholder arena.Using a framework from political science, communication theory, and organizational sociology, this paper analyzes (with interview, observational, and archival data) the emergence of these stakeholders and the strategic interactions between them as well as with other actors. It studies the formal and informal relationships and processes developed by main actors from these three categories, such as knowledge transfer and mutually reinforcing strategies to gain more weight in shaping Global Internet Governance discussions and policies. Particular attention is paid to issues of recognition and power redistribution resulting from these processes. Findings illustrate how global technical community organizations (such as ICANN and ISOC), NGOs (such as APC and ad hoc coalitions of NGOs), and thematic and/or regional international organizations (such as UNESCO, OECD and the Council of Europe) widen their missions, scope and modus operandi in the field. Finally, highlighting new trends of global Internet governance institutionalization processes, the paper examines whether Global NGOs and Technical Communities have succeeded in readjusting recognition equations in complex Internet policy arenas