[LAC-Discuss] GigaNet 07: Call for Papers

Mon May 21 15:15:53 EDT 2007

Call for Proposals
Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet)
Second Annual Symposium

Hotel Windsor Barra, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
11 November 2007

The Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet) is a
recently-formed scholarly community that promotes the development of
Internet governance as a recognized, interdisciplinary field of study and
facilitates informed dialogue on policy issues and related matters between
scholars and governments, international organizations, the private sector,
and civil society. (See www.igloo.org/giganet for more information.) 

Each year, GigaNet organizes a research symposium. The first was held
October 2006 in Athens, Greece, a day prior to the inaugural meeting of the
United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The second GigaNet symposium
also will be held on site prior to the 2nd IGF meeting, on November 11, 2007
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Attendance at the symposium will be open to all
and free of charge. Registration with the UN as an IGF participant may be
necessary to gain entry to the building.

This is a call for proposals from scholars interested in presenting an
original research paper on one of the panels to be held at the conference.
The panel themes are described below. The Program Committee will select
several speakers for each panel, drawing on the following materials to be
provided by applicants: 1) a one page maximum description of the proposed
paper that includes the main research questions, its methods, and its
relevance and value-added to the thematic area; and 2) a one page summary
curriculum vitae listing in particular the applicant's current institutional
affiliation(s), advanced degrees, scholarly publications relevant to
Internet governance, and web sites, if available. If the proposed paper has
already been drafted, applicants are welcome to include the paper in their
submission in addition to the one-page summary.

These materials should be emailed directly to the chairperson of the 2007
Program Committee, Dr. Milton Mueller, at info [at] internetgovernance.org
by no later than August 1, 2007, midnight GMT. The Program Committee will
notify applicants of its decisions via email by August 24. A full paper upon
which the presentation will be based must be delivered to the same address
by October 1, midnight GMT in order for the author(s) to be included in the
relevant panel. The selected speakers will give ten-minute presentations,
after which there will be open discussion with audience members. While
GigaNet asserts no copyright to authors' work, it is expected that the
version of the paper presented will be made available for posting on the
GigaNet website.

----------
Preliminary Theme Descriptions

1. The Changing Institutionalization of Internet Governance

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) raised the profile and
changed the global policy discourse of Internet governance. The creation of
the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was the most visible result, but other
major signs should be noted, such as the willingness of more governments to
participate in ICANN, the increased diversity of players entering Internet
governance processes as stakeholders, and wider discussion of as yet
inchoate changes to Internet governance mechanisms and decision making.

We invite paper submissions that explore the dynamics of the changing
institutionalization process. Papers can examine institutionalization
theoretically, by placing it in the context of theories of international
relations, international regimes, and global governance; or empirically,
through critical assessment of its outcomes so far. Submissions addressing
the mechanisms of a given collaborative, deliberative process, and
particularly how the different players behave, are especially welcome. We
seek papers analyzing collaborative policy-making in Internet governance
institutions; the mobilization of new actors, their roles and the power
relationships between them; the role of the private sector in governance;
the transformation (if any) of the role of governments and their means of
intervention in relation to existing intergovernmental processes; and the
interactions between Internet governance-related institutions such as IGF,
IETF, the Regional Address Registries, ICANN, ITU, WIPO, or WTO. Case
studies based on critical examination of the IGF, the multistakeholder
partnership process and changes, if any, in ICANN dynamics after WSIS would
bring particular highlights to the panel discussion.

2. Toward a Development Agenda for Internet Governance

In recent years, developing countries, civil society organizations, and
concerned academics have sought to promote broad "development agendas" for
reform of the international regimes and organizations dealing with such
issues as trade, debt, and intellectual property. But in the field of
Internet governance, no parallel initiative has taken shape. Developing
countries and other stakeholders did call for what they  said were
pro-development institutional reforms during the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) process, but their suggestions were not
systematically explored as elements of a coherent development agenda.
Moreover, there was no broad consensus among the proponent s as to what
kinds of reforms would actually promote development, as opposed to
satisfying more specifically political demands. In the post-WSIS
environment, discussions of development have tended to focus on capacity
building rather than on institutional reforms.

Accordingly, we invite research papers that analyze the positive and
negative linkages between existing global Internet governance mechanisms and
development; the possible need for new mechanisms; and the potential
foundations of a holistic development agenda. The panel will not explore the
Internet's role in development per se, or more general ICT4D themes; the
focus will be on the mechanisms of Internet governance as defined by the
WSIS. We welcome submission of theoretically informed, empirically rich
papers addressing the following and related questions:

a) General Dynamics: The design and politics of development agendas. What
are the potential risks and rewards of assessing individual Internet
governance mechanisms  in the context of a ho listic development agenda?
What applicable lessons, if any, can be learned from experiences with
development agendas in other international arenas, e.g. trade, the
environment, debt, and intellectual property? What political and
institutional challenges wo uld have to be overcome in order to establish a
development agenda for Internet governance?

b) Case Studies of Problems and Reforms. Do current Internet governance
mechanisms pose any substantive and procedural impediments to development?
What reforms or even new mechanisms might be needed to promote development? 

3. Critical Policy Issues in Internet Governance

The prior two sections deal with broad, cross-cutting themes in Internet
governance. The Program Committee also encourages submission of research
papers on how public policy or governance arrangements are being defined for
specific, narrower Internet policy issues. Examples of such policy issues
would include network neutrality, digital identity, privacy/security,
content regulation, intellectua l property rights/DRM, or others. Each of
these issue-domains involves its own distinctive set of policy conflicts,
stakeholders, technologies and institutional arrangements, and thus can
profitably be examined independently. Papers about specific issues should,
however, be written from a global perspective and/or utilize cross-national
comparative research methods, and should be founded on a clear understanding
of how the issue constitutes a form of Internet governance.

Although submissions in any of the enumerated issue-areas are welcome, the
Committee would be particularly interested in forming a panel devoted to
research on either network neutrality or digital identity. Papers on net
neutrality might address, among other things, its relevance as a global norm
for Internet  governance; how technological, legal and business trends
support or undermine neutrality in the delivery of Internet services; or the
relationship between competing broadband networks and nondiscriminatory
access to Internet content. Similarly, papers on digital identity might
address the current status of standardization in digital identifiers and
authentication, how privacy concerns are or are not addressed by proposals;
interaction of international regimes with digital identity issues,
international initiatives on data retention and data interception, or other
related aspects of Internet governance and privacy. 

To summarize:
* Symposium date and place: November 11, 2007, Hotel Windsor Barra, Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil
* Deadline for submissions: August 1, 2007
* Submit to: GigaNet Program Committee, using the email address info (at)
internetgovernance.org
* Notification of status: August 24, 2007
* Papers due: October 1, 2007

GigaNet Program Committee:
- Seiiti Arata Jr., University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Ralf Bendrath, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
- William Drake, Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva,
Switzerland
- Michael Gurstein, Executive Director of the Centre for Community
Informatics
Research, Development and Training, Vancouver BC, Canada
- Nanette Levinson, American University School of International Service,
Washington DC, USA
- Meryem Marzouki, LIP6/PolyTIC-CNRS Laboratory, Paris, France
- Milton Mueller, Syracuse University School of Info rmation Studies,
Syracuse NY, USA
- Sergio Ramos, ETSI Telecomunicación-UPM, Madrid, Spain 

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