Internet Governance

The European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) is an open platform set up in 2008 to bring together organisations, government representatives and experts to discuss public policies for the use, management and governance of the Internet.

The annual EuroDIG conference was going to be hosted in Trieste by ICTP from 10 to 12 June 2020 as the first ESOF 2020 satellite event. The physical meeting has been cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 emergency, but the event will proceed as planned, in a virtual format, thanks to the support of ICTP. The importance of Internet governance looks even more relevant now that most of people’s lives have been forced to move online, and having access to a safe and secure Internet often means having access to education, work opportunities and social contact.

“ICTP is honoured to host the 2020 online edition of EuroDIG,” says ICTP Director Atish Dabholkar. “While Europe and the whole world are facing an unprecedented situation, I believe it is important to continue the dialogue on Internet governance. We are all witnessing the importance of Internet access for remote collaboration, online education and for our daily lives. We must ensure a fair access to the Internet for all, and EuroDIG’s overarching theme is more relevant than ever.”

The three-day programme will include discussions about themes that are crucial for building and supporting a fair, secure and people-centred development of the Internet. The main topics include 5G, quantum computers, social networks, cyber security, privacy and safety online, and access to infrastructures.

“The Internet, as the underlaying structure, keeps up at least a minimum of our social and cultural life,” says Thomas Schneider, President of the EuroDIG Association. “Also, the economy is heavily dependent on a robust network. But we need to discuss constantly how it should be developed and governed in a way that it is for the benefit of all. Therefore, the overarching theme of EuroDIG is Towards a sustainable governance of the Internet."

The meeting will foster dialogue and exchange between representatives from academia, the public and the private sector, governmental and political stakeholders as well as Internet activists and the general public.

Among others, one of the main topics to be discussed will be Open Science, which is also a theme of major consideration for UNESCO, ICTP's UN partner. The UNESCO Open Science initiative aims to make scientific information and data more accessible and reliable for everybody, and to guarantee the connection and engagement with society and its needs.

“Reaching this goal requires the involvement of different stakeholders, and ICTP is an ideal forum for such discussions,” says ICTP’s Marco Zennaro, local organizer of the event. “Adopting an Open Access and Open Data policy is challenging as the current approach has been working for a long time and a new policy must be supported by all actors involved.”

During the 40th session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 2019, 193 Members States agreed on the adoption of an international standard starting from 2021. The UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science is built on an inclusive, transparent and consultative process involving all countries and all stakeholders, with the goal of defining shared values and principles and promoting concrete actions to strengthen the connection between citizens and science on a global scale, with a regionally balanced, highly inclusive and collaborative approach.

UNESCO has launched an online consultation on Open Science to gather inputs from all regions and stakeholders in order to include in the Recommendation different perspectives, experiences and needs, to better assess implications, benefits and challenges of Open Science across the globe.

The online consultation is open to everyone with experience or interest in the themes of Open Science and Open Data. The deadline for submitting inputs is 15 June 2020.

“Access to the Internet is essential to go in the direction of Open Science,” says Zennaro. “In 2020 still half of the world population does not have access to the network. The focus of EuroDIG is on Internet Governance, and while this might sound like a distant concept, it has profound impact on the way we live our professional and personal lives on the Internet. The ‘D’ in EuroDIG stands for Dialogue, and I believe this is what makes this event special: corporations, service providers, academicians, decision makers and users are called to discuss the best way to regulate the Internet.”

The speakers in the event include Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences and member of ICTP's Steering Committee, who will be giving one of the opening talks on the second day of the meeting, on 11 June.

The involvement of ICTP in Open Science will go further after this event: the Centre is hosting the virtual UNESCO Regional Consultation on Open Science for Western European and North American Countries on 6 July 2020. This will be a place to discuss regional experiences, policies and challenges to provide additional inputs to the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science. This event is organized by UNESCO with ICTP, EuroDIG, ESOF2020 and TWAS.

“During this pandemic we have all witnessed the importance of the Internet to carry out our scientific work through online collaboration,” says Zennaro. “I think ICTP’s role in these events is manifold: engaging our colleagues from developing countries in the discussion about Open Science, highlighting the importance of academic networks when we discuss connectivity and making sure that the voice of academic networks is heard when discussing Internet Governance.”

Registrations for the EuroDIG meeting are open at eurodig.org until 9 June.

A virtual press conference for this year's EuroDIG meeting will be held on 4 June at 10:30 CET. Speakers include ICTP's Marco Zennaro, as well as a special message from Vint Cerf, the so-called "Father of the Internet". Pre-register for the press conference here.