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The future of the Internet is at risk if we don’t act now, global experts say
The future of the Internet as we know it is at risk, but a new report from the Global Commission on Internet Governance is set to guide us on how to keep it open, accessible, secure and trustworthy.
Imagine not being able to connect with people or access information on the Internet from wherever you are in the world. Or imagine private interests or governments having unfettered access to your personal information. And what if the three billion people currently offline remain unconnected and can’t do business or even seek out information on the Internet? These may be worst-case scenarios, but if we don’t act now the future of an inclusive, open, secure and trustworthy Internet is at risk.
The need to address these problems is the central message of One Internet, the final report and recommendations of the Global Commission on Internet Governance (Commission), released on 21 June 2016 at the OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Digital Economy in Cancun, Mexico. Chaired by former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, the Commission’s report contains a series of concrete recommendations crucial to ensuring the Internet’s promised future of greater digital freedom, security, trustworthiness and accessibility for all.
“The Internet is at a crossroads. The threats to privacy and the risk that the Internet will break apart are real,” said Bildt. “If we want a future where the Internet continues to provide opportunities for economic growth, free expression, political equality and social justice then governments, civil society and the private sector must actively choose that future and then take the necessary steps to achieve it.”
The Internet touches almost every aspect of our lives and has become the most powerful infrastructure in the world. Its importance will only grow along with the Internet of Things. But basic access to the Internet is under threat, people don’t trust it to be secure, and the technology that underpins it is due for a major update. The Internet may lose its ability to support innovation, and many of the gains we have seen over the past two decades could be erased.
“A healthy Internet is one where data and information flow freely, where barriers to Internet access are eliminated, where personal and commercially-sensitive data are protected, and the technical infrastructure that makes it all possible is stable,” added Bildt. “Achieving this, however, will only happen if governments, business and civil society commit to working towards a new model of Internet governance.”
One Internet addresses a range of issues related to Internet governance. Most importantly, the Commission highlights the need for all parts of society to achieve a new social compact as the basis for Internet governance. Following are 18 key recommendations from the report, grouped according to the four foundational aspects of a robust, healthy Internet: open, secure, trustworthy and inclusive of all.
The world needs a new social compact for Internet governance
The Commission envisions a world in which the Internet reaches its full economic and social potential, where fundamental human rights such as privacy and freedom of expression are protected online. This optimistic future can only be achieved if there is universal agreement to collectively develop a new social compact ensuring that the Internet continues on track to become more accessible, inclusive, secure and trustworthy.
Open
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Companies should not become the enforcement arm of governments. Private actors should publish transparency reports that reveal the amount of content being restricted or blocked in response to requests by governments along with how and why it is being blocked.
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Governments should only intercept communications for legitimate purposes, openly specified in advance, as authorized by law, and requiring the application of the principles of necessity and proportionality. Purposes such as gaining domestic political advantage, industrial espionage or repression are not legitimate.
Secure
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Governments should negotiate a list of targets that are off limits to cyber-attacks.
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UN member states should agree not to use cyber weapons against the core infrastructure of the Internet.
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States should coordinate and provide mutual assistance to limit damage and deter cyber-attacks, and never shelter those linked to the commission of cybercrimes.
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Governments should undertake significant campaigns to raise awareness and develop cyber hygiene skills, for example, by incorporating cyber security awareness into primary and secondary education curriculums.
Trustworthy
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The standards and protocols of the Internet should enhance privacy, not weaken it. Governments should not compromise or require third parties to weaken or compromise encryption standards, for example through hidden “backdoors” into the technology. Access to data should be legally warranted only where providing access does not unreasonably endanger the security of others’ data.
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Consumers should be free to choose the services they use, and should have greater say in how their personal data is used by those “free” service providers for commercial purposes. They should not be excluded from using software or services because they have concerns about how their personal data will be used.
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Because of their impact on human behaviour and opinion, governments, civil society and the private sector need to come together to understand the effects of algorithms on the content available to us online.
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Governments should require that major data breaches be publicly reported.
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All states should have comprehensive data protection legislation and privacy enforcement authorities with legal enforcement powers.
Inclusive
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The US government should adopt the proposal put forward by the international Internet community for the transition of the stewardship of the IANA functions, and meet the September 2016 deadline for that transition.
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Governments should vigorously promote competition among the producers and sellers of devices to help make devices more affordable.
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Refugees should be provided with access to the Internet by host governments or as part of an aid package from international donors.
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Governments should include accessibility for persons with disabilities in their procurement policies for hardware and software.
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Governments should promote digital literacy programs in schools and within government organizations.
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Governments should invest in public Internet access points, especially in schools, libraries and other social service venues.
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Countries must ensure their new generations have the technology and knowledge necessary to participate in, adapt to and benefit from the coming changes brought about by Internet based innovation.
The Commission is a two-year initiative of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and Chatham House, two independent think tanks who convened 29 commissioners and 45 research advisers to articulate and advance a strategic vision for Internet governance.
A Fine Balance: Promoting a Safe, Open and Secure Internet
The Internet has Generated Tremendous Wealth, Innovation and Oppurtunity
The Internet is revolutionizing how humans work, play and live. From its early beginnings in research laboratories, the Internet has expanded into a system with a global reach and global ramifications. Five years ago, the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) found that Internet-related consumption and expenditure had already surpassed the size of the global agriculture and energy sectors. More recently, MGI has estimated that the Internet contributed some $6.3 trillion, or eight percent of global GDP, in both direct value and productivity gains as of 2014. The impact is continuing to grow rapidly, albeit unevenly across sectors and countries.
A number of disruptive Internet-enabled technologies currently on the horizon or in the early stages of adoption – including autonomous vehicles, 3D printing and next-generation genomics – are likely to accelerate this momentum in the very near future. In particular, the IoT alone could create some $11 trillion in economic value by 2025, as the physical world becomes more networked. One study has estimated that the IoT could yield some $4.6 trillion dollars solely in public-sector efficiency gains.
Furthermore, estimates suggest that cross-border data traffic has increased by a factor of 45 times in the past decade and is projected to increase by an additional nine times over the next five years. Companies increasingly rely on the Internet to interact with their foreign operations, suppliers and customers – and to access the best talent, inputs and ideas from around the globe. Cross-border data flows contributed some $2.8 trillion to global GDP in 2014, surpassing the value of global trade in goods and changing the way business is conducted across borders.
The benefits of the Internet are not strictly economic. As indicated by the 2014 CIGI-Ipsos Global Survey on Internet Security and Trust, the Internet has also given billions of users around the world a tool for free expression, social and political engagement, and access to knowledge.
The Internet has given us the greatest access to information the world has ever seen. Free expression, innovation and access to new ideas have flourished. Societies have been changed by the Internet’s capacities: lower costs of communication have enabled the creation of new types of virtual, interest-based communities across the breadth of human activities; individuals have been empowered by a previously unthinkable access to information and knowledge; support networks have grown to span the globe, including those providing support for migrants and refugees; new patterns of work, collaboration and leisure-time activities have increasingly become the norm; and national and global political environments have been very much altered, whether in terms of engagement in conventional party politics or the development of strong lobbying and issue-based movements, such as the world-wide campaign against global warming.
In the world of commerce, the Internet has also brought opportunities for economic growth. International trade has been facilitated not just for existing businesses, but also for new enterprises small and large, as they connect remotely with suppliers and customers. The phenomenon of global value chains has been turbocharged by Internet openness. Firms in developed and emerging economies are now able to enter into supply chains and open up new markets for products and services. We see collaborative research on a global scale, with publications, patents, researchers, and academic and research institutions taking on international dimensions and drawing on cross-border knowledge flows to address global challenges such as climate change and infectious diseases. Market entrants bubble up with new innovative ideas, and firms can design, develop and deliver their products and services worldwide thanks to Internet-based crowd financing, digital utilities, professional services, micro-manufacturing, innovation marketplaces and e-commerce platforms. In the next few years, the Internet will become the infrastructure underlying all other infrastructures.
All of this has been achieved with an underlying political, technological and economic governance model that has developed in an organic manner, without the benefit of a global “master plan.” That model had its beginnings among the scientists and engineers who pioneered multi-stakeholder policy making in the technical design of the Internet.
» Download: One Internet (PDF, 6.61 MB)
