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The Benefits and Challenges of the “Free Flow” of Data

by Prasad Krishna — last modified Nov 08, 2015 02:09 AM
Internet Governance Forum (IGF) 2015 will be held at Jao Pessoa in Brazil from November 10 to 13, 2015. The theme of IGF 2015 is Evolution of Internet Governance: Empowering Sustainable Development. Sunil Abraham is a panelist in this workshop organized by Public Knowledge on November 12, 2015.

The Internet was designed so that global data flows would be dictated by efficiency, rather than centralized control or oversight. This engineering principle has provided businesses and consumers with access to the best available technology, information, and services, wherever those resources may be located around the world. It has benefitted virtually all industry sectors, from manufacturing to financial services, education, health care, and beyond. The “free flow” of data is what has allowed the Internet flourish into what it is today.

Yet governments, corporations, and non-state actors around the world are increasingly employing a variety of technical, legal, and administrative tools to restrict data flows, limiting routing and data storage to particular jurisdictions and restricting the kinds of content and data types that are permitted online. Some of these restrictions have been put in place for legitimate purposes, designed to further privacy protections, network security, and fair commerce, and have been justified within the bounds of international law and norms. Others, however, are less defensible, and are intended to unfairly support preferred commercial interests or to quell domestic political dissent.

This panel will discuss the many benefits and challenges of the free flow of data. It will foster a discussion of the ways in which stakeholders can address the underlying reasons for data flow restrictions (such as the need for law enforcement access to data or the desire to nurture local ICT industry development, etc.) without subverting the Internet’s core potential for innovation, economic growth, and public welfare.

Name, stakeholder group, and organizational affiliation of workshop proposal co-organizer(s)
Carolina Rossini
Civil Society
Public Knowledge

Has the proposer, or any of the co-organizers, organized an IGF workshop before?

no

Subject matter #tags that describe the workshop

#innovation #barriers #policy #cross-boarder flow #privacy

Description of the plan to facilitate discussion amongst speakers, audience members and remote participants

Each panelist will be given approximately 3 minutes for opening remarks, followed by a moderated discussion, and then audience question and answer. Remote participants will be given the opportunity to ask questions over an online forum, such as Webx and Twitter.

Names and affiliations (stakeholder group, organization) of the participants in the proposed workshop

  • Name Carolina Rossini
  • Stakeholder group: Civil Society
  • Organization: Public Knowledge
  • Describe why this speaker has been selected: She is a world-renowned expert on Internet policy and law, a Brazilian national.
  • Have you contacted the speaker? Yes
  • Name Vint Cerf
  • Stakeholder group: Private Sector/Technical Community
  • Organization: Google
  • Describe why this speaker has been selected: He has been involved in Internet issues for many years and currently serving in influential vice president and “chief evangelist” role at Google.
  • Have you contacted the speaker? Yes

 

  • Name Lawrence Strickling
  • Stakeholder group: Government
  • Organization: U.S. Department of Commerce, NTIA
  • Describe why this speaker has been selected: He is the head of one of the United States government’s principal Internet policy agencies.
  • Have you contacted the speaker? Yes
  • Name Richard Leaning
  • Stakeholder group: Government
  • Organization: European Cyber Crime Centre (EC3), Europol
  • Describe why this speaker has been selected: He understands the needs of the law enforcement community from a European perspective, a British national.
  • Have you contacted the speaker? Yes

 

  • Name Marietje Schaake
  • Stakeholder group: Government
  • Organization: European Parliament
  • Describe why this speaker has been selected: She is a prominent privacy advocate within the European Parliament, a Netherlands national.
  • Have you contacted the speaker? Yes

 

  • Name Nasser Kettani
  • Stakeholder group: Private Sector
  • Organization: Microsoft
  • Describe why this speaker has been selected: He helps build and design data centers for Microsoft in Africa, a Moroccan national.
  • Have you contacted the speaker? Yes

 

  • Name Sunil Abraham
  • Stakeholder group: Civil Society
  • Organization: Centre for Internet and Society, India
  • Describe why this speaker has been selected: He is the executive director of one of India’s most influential Internet policy think tanks and advocacy groups.
  • Have you contacted the speaker? No, but know him well.

 

  • Name Zahra Rose
  • Stakeholder group: Civil Society
  • Organization: Developing Countries' Centre for Cyber Crime Law
  • Describe why this speaker has been selected: A lawyer, she understands the needs of the law enforcement community from a civil society perspective in Pakistan.
  • Have you contacted the speaker? No

Name of in-person Moderator(s)

Jonah Force Hill

Name of Remote Moderator(s)

Winter Casey, U.S. Department of Commerce, NTIA

Name of Rapporteur(s)

Seth Bouvier, U.S. Department of State

Description of the proposer's plans for remote participation

We intend to utilize the IGF’s WebX system to include remote participants in the question and answer portion of the panel. The remote participants will be afforded equal/proportional representation in the discussion. The remote moderator will facilitate the Q&A with the moderator. We’ll need a screen in the room to display the remote comments.

For more info visit IGF website.