Throughout history, and particularly over the past century or two, technology has dramatically advanced quality of life and increased prosperity through much of the world. The rate and geographic extent with which these advances continue and accelerate in the 21st century will depend, to a substantial degree, on the effectiveness with which national and regional governments pursue robust technology policies. The IEEE Summit on Internet Governance will help inform the development of such policies.
The Summit will begin with two headline key-note presentations, one from a very senior leader of the European Union, and the other from one of the most prominent contributors to the development of internet technology. The program will continue with extended panel discussions, each including both policy makers and technologists, on three of the most important debates around internet governance today:
- Net neutrality. Potential technical and economic consequences of possible decisions.
- Security vs. Privacy. What is the appropriate balance, and how can technology help achieve and maintain it?
- The future of Internet Governance. Visions of multi-stakeholder governance, or multinational governance.
The panels will be moderated by Jacki Davis, an experienced journalist, speaker and moderator of high-level events in Brussels and EU national capitals. The expected audience will include senior policy and technology experts, primarily from Europe.
The IEEE Summit on Internet Governance is the first in a series of high-level discussions bringing influential technology policy specialists together with prominent engineers and scientists to discuss critical issues in technology policy for Europe. IEEE, the organizer of the Summit, is the largest and most global of the world's engineering professional societies, with about 430,000 members in 190 countries.