On the Road in the Name of the Internet

In 2023, I was finally out and about a lot once more for eco, or more precisely, for the Internet. I attended many different events and had the opportunity to speak to a wide variety of people. While virtual meetings work well, face-to-face dialogue and time spent together in the same place open up new opportunities on many levels. I was happy to take advantage of this last year.

As diverse as the locations and agendas were, the big question was always the same: How can we ensure that the Internet remains what we value it for?

Let me start with a highlight that we never had before: the ICANN78 meeting in Hamburg. The last time Germany organised such a meeting was in 1999, when it took place in Berlin. Last year it took place in Hamburg and eco, together with DENIC and the city of Hamburg, hosted the event from 21 to 26 October. Around 2,800 participants from academia, the tech community, politics, business and civil society from all over the world accepted the invitation.

What was it about?

ICANN’s aim is to ensure that the Internet remains securely usable for everyone according to clear rules. To achieve this, the meetings always delve deeply into great technical detail. This time, the agenda included application procedures for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), the further development of the open, free and secure Internet and the privacy-compliant handling of registration data.

From 8 to 12 October, I travelled to Kyoto for the United Nations Internet Governance Forum. The motto of the 18th annual meeting was “The Internet We Want – Empowering All People”. The focal points highlighted how closely interwoven technology and society are and how far-reaching decisions that “only” affect technologies can be. The spectrum ranged from AI & Emerging Technologies, Avoiding Internet Fragmentation, Cybersecurity, Cybercrime & Online Safety, Data Governance & Trust, Digital Divides & Inclusion, Global Digital Governance & Cooperation, and Human Rights & Freedoms to Sustainability & Environment.

I had the pleasure of travelling to Tampere, Finland, from 19 to 21 June for EuroDIG 2023. Everything there centred around the motto “Internet in troubled times: risks, resilience, hope”. Here is an excerpt from the message on AI as an example of the topics discussed there:

1. The European Union (EU) should assume a leadership role in promoting global collaboration in artificial intelligence (AI) research and development, with a particular focus on ensuring the safety and ethical use of AI technologies.
2. To mitigate the risks of AI for society:
   • the EU should invest and support AI alignment and AI development research equally;
   • governmental bodies must ensure that high-risk AI systems are supplemented by human involvement in order to prevent single points of failure.

And finally, on 13 September, I was able to travel to Berlin for the XIV Internet Governance Forum Germany, where AI was once again on the agenda as well as the topics of sustainable development and cybersecurity. Here, too, is an excerpt from the messages, this time on the topic of cybersecurity:

“Despite the increasing international tensions, the decline in trust between states and the war in Ukraine, global negotiations to strengthen international security in cyberspace should be supported by governments and non-state stakeholders in a constructive spirit; (…) Negotiations on Internet-based autonomous weapon systems should be accelerated and brought to a conclusion.”

But I also enjoyed attending eco events once again. The Annual General Meeting, the eco Interaction Day and the summer party in Berlin stood out in particular – as well as our Christmas party, of course, where there was plenty of exchange, even without an official agenda!

Prof. Michael Rotert
eco Honorary President