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The role of governments in multi-stakeholder Internet Governance cannot be exaggerated. Governments are responsible for enforcing compliance with Internet Standards (through national standards organizations); providing and maintaining national telecommunications infrastructures; monitoring and benchmarking the quality of Internet service delivery; as well as ratifying and translating multi-stakeholder Internet Governance decisions into policies, legislation, and regulations for effective Internet Governance within their various jurisdictions. These are among many other duties, mandates, and responsibilities.

However, rising tides of Centralization – actions and processes that tend to concentrate mainstream Internet operations in a way that shifts power and influence into the hands of a few strong players – have begun to threaten the strength, stability, and future of the Internet. In part a consequence of the actions of governments that seek to apply the force of regulations to consolidate interest and control over Internet operations and activities within their jurisdictions.

Ultimately, such actions enable a kind of unilateral dominance or superimposed control over national digital spaces, which must be bypassed or overcome by new and unauthorized entities seeking inroads; while also posing added difficulty for those entities with interests that are perceived to be potentially competing or conflicting with the status quo or prevailing political interest. For authoritarian governments, frequent outcomes have included internet shutdowns, censorship, data localization, and privacy violation through digital surveillance; to mention a few.

Indeed, this situation poses an insidious danger to the sustainable future of the Internet. Because, in the long run, such activities create a complicated situation wherein, political considerations begin to interfere, conflict with, and trump the technical principles that have helped insure the growth and development of the Internet over the years – the principles of Trust, Interoperability, Decentralization, Openness, and Neutrality (TIDON).

Our Vision

An open Internet by everyone, for everyone.

In this Statement is reflected our Vision to foster the values for a global Internet that remains open and decentralized. One that is collaboratively nurtured; which continues to exist and grow to serve and represent the interests of all humanity, in a way that leaves no one behind. Even without any form of segregation or exclusion that might be occasioned by reason of gender, cultural disposition, caste ranking / social class, racial identity, age grade, sexual preferences / inclinations, religious affiliation, or citizenship.

Our Mission

To promote an Open, Trusted, and Non-manipulable Internet.

In this Statement is reflected our Mission to safeguard the immutable principles that have continued to insure the sustainable growth and development of the Internet. Which are: Openness, Neutrality, Trust, Decentralisation, and Interoperability.

This Mission is pursued along four (4) panels of Objectives, viz.:

  1. Advocate for open and trusted Internet Policies;

  2. Study policy and regulatory proposals of governments to report and analyze their alignment towards a sustainable future for the Internet, through our Observatory on Regulations for a Better and Inclusive Internet (ORBIT);

  3. Provide advisory for progressive governments seeking trusted and open approaches to Internet policy and regulation;

  4. Support regulatory case studies that reflect the visions for a sustainable Internet, and investigate those that do not.

Scope of Our Work

    Our work focuses on the Internet as a global, ideally decentralized utility that should remain open, inclusive, and equitable; regardless of context that might be imposed by jurisdictional realities, or sovereign political interests.

    Therefore, our work currently incorporates a decentralized but coordinated strategy for regional representation of our Organization’s efforts in Africa, Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean, the Asian-Pacific, North America, and the Middle East.

    Our Approach

    Our work incorporates a number of forward-leaning approaches in the execution of our Mission; which are aimed at creating an evidence-based, ethnographically-relevant, and facts-informed perspective to discourses around Regulatory Propriety, and Open Internet Advocacy.

    In order to pursue our mission on a global scale, while being able to support our position on significant issues which affect the Internet, as well as to address our concerns in relevant fora by formulating constructive proposals, we established the research Observatory on Regulations for a Better and Inclusive Internet (ORBIT), as well as an Open Internet Advocacy Campaign on social media.

    These two (2) broad Panels define the focus of our approaches. As such, we consider the following research-based, and advocacy-based Approaches on the journey towards our Vision.

    Research-based Approaches

    Advocacy-based Approaches

    Periodic Monitoring Reports Publication: We periodically publish high-quality reports to communicate with, and inform the multi-stakeholder Internet governance community about the activities and findings of our work. To help galvanize interest and engender evidence-based dialogue around contemporary issues that pertain to an open Internet across several jurisdictions.

    Social Media Campaigns: The #DearGovernments Campaign is a Social Media Campaign that educates and empowers a global community of Open Internet Advocates to speak knowledgeably, and engage freely, openly, and objectively on issues of Internet freedom, access, growth, and development. Through this Campaign, we advocate for open and trusted Internet policies and regulations in a grassroots, bottom-up manner.

    Proposals for Regulation: Empowered by fact-based research, we seize opportunities provided by progressive governments to propose bills of regulation through jurisdictional action units, which are aimed at fostering an inclusive multi-stakeholder approach to open Internet governance in such jurisdictions.

    Government Petitions: Through evidence-based advocacy, we petition governments on various contemporary issues of technology governance, digital development, and regulatory practices that pose a threat to the openness and accessibility of the Internet within their jurisdictions.

    Research Networks: Through a regional and sub-regional network of researchers, scholars, and professionals in the multi-disciplinary domain of Internet Governance, we drive quality research activities in a way that is both evidence-based and ethnographically-relevant. 

    Watchtower Units: Because the effectiveness of our work relies greatly on having eyes and ears “on the ground”, we nurture and foster a facts-informed strategy that integrates mechanisms for active and spontaneous feedback and collaboration with watchtower units of activists that are geographically distributed across various regions & sub-regions.

    We would be glad that you choose to partner with us on the Journey towards an open Internet by everyone, and for everyone. Do reach out to us through the Inquiry / Feedback Form on the right. Also, consider subscribing to our Mailing List through the button at the top-right pane of this Page, so that you receive our Reports and progress on our Work right in your email box...

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