Olivier Sylvain, Associate Professor of Law, participated in a recent panel discussion on the future of Internet governance. The event, “A Digital Magna Carta: Internet Governance and a New Social Contract” was hosted by New America NYC, an independent organization invested in research and policy innovation. The Consulate General of Switzerland co-hosted the event. Watch video of the event.
Discussion centered on achieving a balance between consistent innovation in the digital realm and optimal security for the public at large.
Professor Sylvain, an expert in public lawmaking processes and communications law and policy, emphasized the ongoing challenge of better assimilating underdeveloped parts of the world into the global connectivity of the Internet. He also addressed the issue of the dispute regarding the Internet as a commodity.
“Many of us in the West value the purported technological principles on which the Internet is based—openness, for example—but these are now political questions, and how do we resolve that?” Sylvain said. “That’s a challenging problem particularly since so much of the world is not yet persuaded that openness is necessarily an important value.”
Sylvain was joined by Dr. Jovan Kurbalija, Director of the DiploFoundation; Constance Bommelaer, Senior Director for Global Policy Partners, Internet Society; George Sadowsky, member of the Board of Directors at Internet Cooperation for Assigned Names and Numbers; and Stefaan Verhulst, co-founder and Chief Research and Development Officer for Governance Lab.