Internet Governance

Internet governance is defined as the development and application by the governments, the Global Civil society and the private sector of shared rules, rules, procedures and methods that determine the evolution and effective functioning of the Internet.

Digital technologies are affecting all aspects of our life and require new forms of study and teaching for the Digital Society, which rely on knowing how to combine the sciences and technologies of communication and information with the human, legal and socio-economic studies.

For that reason, Internet governance represents an interdisciplinary field of research and technological innovation that is well acknowledged at a global level and which includes “digital governance” and all the activities that determine the evolution of the Internet in its various aspects: technical, legal, economic, social and political. Among these we can find topical studies on international models of management of the Internet ecosystem, on regulation aimed at ensuring the security and stability of the infrastructure, on digital identity and on the problems connected to inappropriate uses of the Internet, on the digital divide, the protection of cultural diversity and the challenges of digital transformation.

Each of these major areas involves a specific group of actors, technologies and institutional arrangements at the national and international level.

The CNR has been a promoter of research and experimentation in the Internet field since the beginning, activating the first Italian node of the Internet at CNUCE in Pisa in 1986. Since then it has contributed with its experts to the definition of an Italian position within the governance structures of the global network (ISOC, ICANN, IETF, IGF-ONU) in support of a system that is distributed and responsible, based on open technical standards, and has followed over time the institutional innovations necessary to adapt the governance of information and communications to the new needs of the Digital Society.

At the IIT-CNR, since the early 2000s, there has been a study and cooperation activity on Internet Governance, aimed at promoting that new interdisciplinary research field. Scholars of the Institute have participated in projects that have introduced the Internet to the world, successfully collaborating in the creation and development of the digital society. The group works continuously to spread Internet culture and technologies (training and updating, organization of conferences, events and seminars for schools). It is a member of the organizational, technical and scientific committees of numerous dedicated bodies; it is the author of numerous publications and editorial contributions. Its members participate in strategic processes of national and international cooperation to facilitate dialogue between all interested parties (stakeholders) in the development of the Internet system. A constant commitment to support highly topical issues: the development of rules and programs for the digital world.

News

Collaboration with the Institute of Legal Informatics and Judicial Systems of the CNR (IGSG-CNR) for the realization of the special issue n. 1/2022 of the Rivista italiana di informatica e diritto (RIID) titled “Internet Governance and the challenges of the digital transformation”. This issue is dedicated to topics related to Internet Governance, for which scholars and experts share and delve into the many questions that impact the evolution of the Internet ecosystem and its Governance from different points of view, such as technical, legal, economics, and political. The main language of the issue is Italian, but there are a few interesting articles available in English. In fact, Vinton G. Cerf, one of the fathers of the Internet, now Vice-President and Chief Internet Evangelist of Google, opens the issue with its essay titled “On Internet Governance”.

Collaboration

Università di Pisa – Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza
IGSG – L’Istituto di Informatica Giuridica e Sistemi Giudiziari del CNR
IGF – Internet Governance Forum
ISOC – Internet Society
ISOC.IT – Società Internet

Contact point

Adriana Lazzaroni