The Internet’s next ten years: needs, opportunities and governance
Joint Internet Society England and International Institute of Communications
UK Chapter Event
The Internet’s next ten year’s: needs, opportunities and governance
Hosted by Cisco, Park House, 7th Floor, 16-18 Finsbury Square, London, EC2M 7EB
Tuesday 30 October 2012, 17:00 for 17:30 start
Registration closes on Friday 26 October 2012
More than 2 billion people are now connected to the Internet, and the progression of mobile connections should accelerate the trend. Yet, there are questions. Investment in ‘next generation’ Internet access infrastructure is not guaranteed, either in advanced or in developing economies. Convergence between the telecom, IT and media worlds is in full flow and it is difficult to predict what these sectors will look like in a few years. The Internet’s major positive impact on economies and societies continues to be seen, with steady increases in ‘net-enabled’ productivity, job creation, and ‘new sector creation’, plus myriad social changes, particularly the vastly enhanced ability to communicate, in many different ways, with pretty much anyone, anywhere in the world. But these rapid evolutions entail questions and risks as much as hopes.
In parallel, the debate around the Internet’s governance continues. The ‘World Conference on International Telecommunications’ (WCIT), a treaty-making negotiation to review the 1988 International Telecommunications Union’s (ITU) International Telecom Regulations (ITRs) will take place in Dubai in December, with a number of governments raising crucial questions about economic, financial, policy and governance directions for the Internet. The preparatory negotiations have seen a flurry of activities, with proposals to include treaty rules about topics ranging from the architecture and ‘domain name’ system of the Internet, to online content regulation, human rights, mobile roaming, or governments setting telecom prices. Some of the proposals have been described in the media as opposing developed and developing economies, others contrasting repressive vs. more open governments. Adding to the debate, ETNO the European telecommunications incumbents’ association came out with its own suggestions, proposing a radical overhaul of the WCIT treaty to create a ‘new Internet ecosystem’ based around new Internet interconnection rules and charging mechanisms, and ‘levelling the playing field’ between telecom operators and those they refer to as ‘over the top’ players (OTT).
A holistic, open-minded discussion around the future of the “global public Internet” and the key economic, social, and political questions it raises is clearly much needed. Following a lively discussion at the IIC UK Chapter event on WCIT held on July 11th, IIC and ISOC England are teaming up to start this future-looking debate. It will take place less than a month after the ‘Budapest Conference on Cyberspace norms’, one week before the annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and the WCIT just one month away. The event will be an opportunity to ask ourselves what is the reality of Internet access around the world today; how best and how quickly we can bring the benefits of the Internet to all 7 billion humans, looking both at the technologies and the investment, through some of the exciting examples of rapid developments which can be seen today in places like Kenya or South Africa; how advanced and developing economies can harness Internet access for wider economic and social benefits; whether there is actually something wrong with Internet Governance as it is today, that would require a major intergovernmental enterprise; why multi-lateralism versus multi-stakeholderism; how can the views and needs of developing countries regarding the Internet and its governance best be addressed? And what will future international negotiations seek or be able to address, such as the ITU’s 2013 World Telecom Policy Forum (WTPF) and the 2014-2015 Review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS Review), all of which are due to see the same topics debated.
Confirmed speakers include
Markus Kummer, Vice-President Public Policy, Internet Society
Isabelle Mauro, GSMA
Dominique Lazansky, Tax Payers’ Alliance
Malcolm Hutty, London Internet Exchange (LINX) and Chair, EuroISPA
(TBC), Commonwealth Telecoms Organisation or Commonwealth Secretariat
Desiree Miloshevic, Oxford Internet Institute (tbc)
The event will be jointly moderated by Olivier Crépin-Leblond, Chair of the English Chapter of the Internet Society and Jean-Jacques Sahel, Chair of the UK IIC Chapter.
Registration
The event is free to IIC and ISOC members.
Further information and to register, please email Joanne Grimshaw for a registration form. For IIC membership details please go to www.iicom.org. Contact Tel: +44 (0)20 8417 0600.
The meeting has taken place and was a success (link here to short summary)
For ISOC membership details please go to Join ISOC where you can join and manage your membership of the Internet Society and the UK England chapter.