Interpetal - S8, Maison de la paix, Geneva
What is at stake for how the Internet continues to evolve is the preservation of its integrity as a single network. In practice, its governance is neither centralized nor unitary; it is piecemeal and fragmented, with authoritative decision-making coming from different sources simultaneously: governments, businesses, international organizations, technical and academic experts, and civil society. Historically, the conditions for their interaction were rarely defined beyond basic technical coordination, due at first to the academic freedom granted to the researchers developing the network and, later on, to the sheer impossibility of controlling mushrooming Internet initiatives. Today, the search for global norms and rules for the Internet continues, be it for cybersecurity or artificial intelligence, amid processes fostering the supremacy of national approaches or the vitality of a pluralist environment with various stakeholders represented.
In her book, recently published by Oxford University Press, Roxana Radu provides an incisive analysis of the emergence and evolution of global Internet governance, unpacking the complexity of more than 300 governance arrangements, influential debates, community practices and political negotiations. Based on extensive empirical analysis covering more than four decades, it presents the evolution of Internet regulation from the early days of networking to more recent debates on algorithms and artificial intelligence, putting into perspective its politically-mediated system of rules built on technical features and power differentials.
At this Geneva launch of her book, Roxana will discuss patterns of continuity and change in Internet-related policy-making and new ways of thinking and acting in this field.
Dr Roxana Radu, Research Associate at the Global Governance Centre, Graduate Institute, and Postdoctoral Researcher at the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy, University of Oxford.
Dr Richard Hill, Principal, Hill & Associates
Dr Jovan Kurbalija, Executive Director and Co-Lead of the High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, United Nations
This event is organised by the Global Governance Centre