IGF Workshop Issue/Proposal for 2014
Technology Education Institute
“Where Local Access Meets Local Policy”
This workshop will discuss the nexus of access and policy at the "ground level".
Technology creation drives, challenges, and encourages new laws and policy making; nations all over the world seeking to solve the puzzle of creating high speed access to the internet for their populations, are also seeing numerous innovative or adaptive efforts emerge that seek to solve the problem of sustainable and safe internet access in conflict, humanitarian, and other vulnerable environments.
These initiatives, movements, social enterprises and businesses creating new, alternative, or unofficial access are often in a policy void. Questions about how regulations will be designed, to respond and reflect the opportunities of new and possibly safer access, need to be raised and debated.
Increasingly targeted, tailored and hyper-local access solutions are being created by both state and non-state actors for last-mile, and for those most vulnerable in populations and communities. How can those who need an affordable and safe access to the internet receive it, with assurances that it will serve their needs?
Making tools available of various sorts that piggyback technologies such as the white spaces. Or pushing the boundaries of existing technologies like long distance high power Wi-Fi are eliciting questions from regulators and policy makes at the same time they are creating inexpensive internet access and competition.
How can new types of access be protected, propagated (and not interfered with) is a huge question. How can they be better regulated and supported is still largely un- discussed. There are problems too; where major telcos fear new market segmentation or breaks in a country, there may be a tendency to seek rapid regulatory responses. This is usually less the case in rural and remote areas but not always. In urban areas, it can be challenging.
Further, in authoritarian environs or where there are crackdowns on freedom of expression or privacy, we observe that it’s not just telcos worried about the market, its governments too, seeking to get ahead of the technology and the long-tail opportunities being created. So good regulation of new types of access is an increasing challenge. Innovation of that connectivity needs to be protected, and it needs to continuously, and better develop to become safer and easier to use. How can this best be achieved? What can technology organizations, and their advocacy and expert lawmaking counterparts do together to make that possible, and make it as effective and efficient?