The Internet is a fundamental component of economic, social, and political life around the world. It currently connects more than three billion people, and it is estimated that 50 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2020. The stable and flexible functioning of the Internet is increasingly important for developed, emerging, and developing countries and their citizens.
The governance of this ecosystem has long been the concern of a selected group of stakeholders, but the number of interested parties, both state and non-state stakeholders, is increasing as global connectivity spreads. Internet Governance is a contested topic, where the Pakistan School on Internet Governance (pkSIG) will try to offer understanding, framing, and actions to be taken in this Internet governance current environment. It will offer potential governance scenarios and analyze its international, regional, and national political, economical, and technical implications.
As part of the APNIC/ISOC/ICANN commitment to strengthen the understanding of Internet Governance within stakeholder groups, the organizations aim at developing and sponsoring outreach programs and initiatives in order to stimulate the Pakistani Internet community and ensure effective participation in regional and global Internet Governance fora.
The pkSIG will help individuals from Pakistan to better understand the global and regional Internet Governance issues, settings, and processes while gaining access to comprehensive and structured knowledge on the various aspects of Internet Governance, and the actors, issues and settings surrounding it.
The pkSIG will offer a 4-day intensive learning course spanning several tracks. The course will cover the political, legal, economic, socio-cultural, technological and other dimensions of the Internet Governance within the context of the Pakistani national imperatives. The program is expected to carry practical oriented workshops, round tables, and case presentations.
The target audience will be comprised of students, practitioners, researchers and professionals from the following sectors:
Simple knowledge and understanding of the Internet is enough to attend this school.
For further reading, folks are encouraged to read/watch content found at the following links:
Lecture Hall
Higher Education Commission (HEC)
Sector H-9, East Service Road
Islamabad, Pakistan
Google Map (here)
The agenda can be found here [PDF]