Our Digital Future: Ideas for Internet Research
September 30, 2013
Lindner Family Commons, 6th floor, 1957 E Street NW
12:00 PM – 2:00 PM

The Internet, the network of networks, seems ubiquitous. Many of us can’t live without the services that sit on top of the Internet; we need our daily fix of Pinterest, Twitter, or Facebook. Yet, citizens using the Internet (netizens) and policymakers struggle to understand how the Internet works, as well as how we can ensure that the Internet continues to develop and facilitate economic growth. To guarantee a bright and widely shared digital future, we need to ask and answer several questions including:

How can we measure the Internet’s impact on growth, development, human rights and other factors?
How are the Internet and the services that sit on top of the Internet evolving?
How can we encourage global access to the Internet?
How can national governments regulate a global Internet? Should they?

Our speakers will challenge us to study the Internet and provide the world with greater understanding of its impact and potential. Each speaker will give his or her perspective on needed areas of research on the Internet, and then we will open the floor to your questions.

Lunch and drinks will be provided.

Speakers:
Brian Bieron, Senior Director - Federal Affairs, eBay Inc.
Carolina Rossini, Latin America Resource Center Project Director - Open Technology Institute, New America Foundation
Matthew Reisman, Senior Manager - International Trade, Microsoft Inc.
Milton Mueller, Professor, Syracuse University School of Information Studies