I have a confession to make. I have historically been a little sceptical about the role of global “discussion groups” and some of the international debates surrounding Internet issues. I take it back.
Today, I attended the Parliament and Internet conference and came away feeling inspired and enlightened. I gained an understanding of why the preservation of self-regulation in the Internet space is so important. I learned about why and how the IGF was originally established and heard about how this lead to the UK IGF. I began to truly appreciate why the IGF and its premise of learning from sucess, sharing ideas and debating solutions internationally is a good thing; that not all organizations have to deal in the business of decisions.
The event was very valuable for me, in learning from the successes of parliamentarian and industry debate on the subject of “the Internet”. I am beginning to more fully appreciate the balance between local priorities, governance and membership issues and the public purpose role of Nominet. I begin to see how it all fits together. I believe that we all can continue to learn from success ; as a registry and as its Members, as Internet users and online businesses, by engaging as UK stakeholders in the UK IGF to help shape the future of the Internet and the future of Internet governance.
Some quotes from today’s conference:
Ed Richards (Ofcom) talked about how our traditional “creaking regulatory architecture” is straining under the weight of providing a basis for entirely new and fast moving technologies. He commented on how this will have to change as we move “from the broadcast era to the Internet age”.
Martha Lane Fox (Digital Inclusion Champion) spoke about Internet technology as a facilitator and the social and economic imperatives for digital inclusion. She introduced us to the idea of an “intelligent hub” in encouraging peer to peer mentoring, boosting existing schemes and raising awareness. She emphasized that affordability and accessibility are fundamental to digital inclusion and that the space continues to develop rapidly so we must be prepared strategically for “game changing technology”.
The Rt. Hon. Stephen Timms (MP) now leads the Digital Britain strategy and spoke about minimums such as 2MB broadband as well as his concerns about behavioural advertising. He also confirmed that the 50p per month tax on landlines would go ahead as part of the implementation of the Digital Britain strategy.
You can read more about the Parliament and Internet Conference here.
