Concise Description:
(provisional proposal - further inputs are expected by members)
“The internet” describes both the means and the end
The means = the physical infrastructure of the internet (the pipes)
The end = the services, content, and applications delivered via the internet (the poetry)
When we talk about the resilience and stability of the internet, this can mean:
The technical resilience & stability of the infrastructure
The resilience & stability of what the internet actually delivers (i.e. to consumers, citizens, public policy goals)
Mass-communication networks in the past illustrate this point
Television delivers what public policy wants it to achieve (impartial news, plurality, etc) and meets consumer demand (entertainment, etc)
BUT: TV infrastructure can be disabled, jammed, restricted, etc
TV content can be blocked, censored, biased, etc
Historically, the traditional media has sometimes considered itself in competition with the internet, fighting for attention and resources. In recent years, traditional media has become an ambassador for the internet, a pioneer of innovation and new services, and a driver of consumer demand for quality content. This workshop seeks to explore the relationship between traditional media organisations, identifying the common ground and asking: What is the role of the media in safeguarding the resilience and stability of the internet?
This would broadly consider two aspects:
1. How can the media help highlight challenges/threats to the physical infrastructure?
E.g. in crises where the internet is ‘cut off’, what can traditional media do?
E.g. in non-crises where the internet is restricted, what can the media do?
E.g. how can the internet’s infrastructure benefit from media communications networks?
2. How can the media help deliver a resilient and stable internet citizen-consumer outcome?
What does ‘good’ look like on the internet from the citizen consumer perspective? (Reliable, resilient, stable, creative, innovative, accurate, etc)
• E.g. What is the role of the media in providing this outcome?
• E.g. Can media organisations help set a gold standard for quality and incentivise plurality?
What does ‘good’ look like on the internet from a public policy perspective? (e.g. open, ‘neutral’, driving economic growth, enabling democratic participation, etc)
• What is the role of media organisations in delivering this outcome?
• What lessons have we learned from legacy communications networks that can apply to the internet?
Provide the name of the organizer(s) of the workshop and their affiliation to various stakeholder groups:
World Broadcasting Union (WBU) (media organization)
in cooperation with
APC (Civil society organization)
British Broadcasting Corporation (business partner)
Council of Europe (intergovernmental organization)
IT for Change Net(Civil Society organization)
