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The future of
Internet governance

Eurescom mess@ge 2/2007 - The future of Internet governance

Internet governance has become a high-ranking political issue. With the growing relevance of the Internet for every aspect of our lives, the question who is ruling the Internet has gained importance. After the controversial discussions at “World Summit on the Information Society” in Tunis 2005, public interest had faded. However, the subject is more relevant than ever.

We decided to dedicate this issue’s cover theme to “Internet governance” as we wanted to shed some light on what has happened since 2005. The result is a selection of different views on Internet governance written by some of the stakeholders.

The articles in our cover theme include:

An overview on Internet governance
The introduction article by Eurescom mess@ge editor-in-chief Milon Gupta provides an overview on Internet governance.

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
Markus Kummer, Executive Director of the IGF Secretariat, explains in his article what the IGF has done and achieved since it was founded in the aftermath of the Tunis Summit.

Interview with Christian Möller from the OSCE
Christian Möller, founder of the “IGF Dynamic Coalition for Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media Online”, shares In the interview his views on the future of Internet governance.

Internet governance and ICANN
Theresa Swinehart, Vice President Global and Strategic Partnerships at ICANN, presents an inside view on ICANN and its role in Internet governance.

Should the Internet be governed?
Michael Bartholomew, Director of the European Telecommunications Network Operators Association (ETNO), presents a telco view on Internet governance.

IN FOCUS

The European Research Council
The ERC is the most prominent novelty of the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7). It is the cornerstone of the EU’s ambitious effort to regain leadership in science, an area of crucial importance for growth and prosperity. Eurescom mess@ge editor-in-chief Milon Gupta portrays the ERC based on information by the ERC and the EC.

VIEWPOINT

Struggling with mobile TV
Mobile TV is one of the few coming technologies that could have the potential of becoming a new mass phenomenon - or even a new killer-application - in mobile communications and an important source for new income for numerous business sectors. The current obstacles for a successful introduction of mobile TV are, however, manifold and some of them are so critical that a failure of this technology could happen. Heinz Brüggemann, Director of the Celtic Office, discusses some of the critical risks and possible solutions.

TUTORIAL

Virtualisation of computing and networking resources
In computing, virtualisation is a term used to describe the techniques of hiding the physical characteristics of computing resources from the way in which other systems, applications, and end users interact and use these resources. Eurescom mess@ge editor Anastasius Gavras explains the concepts and the business case of virtualisation in computing and networking.

Future Internet Research and Experimentation
Eurescom mess@ge editor Anastasius Gavras gives an introduction to the EU’s initiative on “Future Internet Research and Experimentation” (FIRE).

Guardian angel for pedestrians
This issue's “A bit beyond” presents the latest technological developments in obile warning systems against traffic accidents.