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[infowar.de] GigaNet 07: Call for Papers
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Please distribute as appropriate
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.
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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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Dipl. Pol. Ralf Bendrath
University of Bremen
Collaborative Research Center "Transformations of the State"
Linzer Str. 9a, D-28359 Bremen, Germany
Tel. +49 (421) 218 8735
Fax +49 (421) 218 8721
Web official http://www.sfb597.uni-bremen.de/homepages/bendrath
Web personal http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~bendrath
Blog http://bendrath.blogspot.com
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