ninadok
11 de noviembre de 2020
Written by: The Next Generation Internet Policy Summit
The Next Generation Internet Policy Summit has gone off with a bang. Organised by Nesta and the City of Amsterdam this September, the Summit brought together participants from all over Europe and beyond to shape a vision for the future internet, moving the conversation on from the diagnosis of past and present challenges to the exploration of practical, concrete solutions. Here are some of the highlights.
100 speakers
33 sessions
650 attendees
45 countries represented
Originally scheduled for the end of June 2020 in Amsterdam, the Summit was rescheduled and reformulated for online participation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday 28th September, the Summit began with a morning of Plenary sessions curated by Nesta and the City of Amsterdam. We made Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning available for our Policy-in-Practice workshop sessions and then finished on Tuesday afternoon with a further series of plenary sessions to close the Summit.
Together with policymakers, researchers, and representatives from civil society, we looked at some of the most promising policy interventions and technological solutions, forging a path that cities, Member States and the European Union could follow.
A tangible vision and the steps to get there
We stirred the imaginations of our attendees by launching our new working paper to coincide with the Summit: A vision for the future internet, which is packed full of analysis and ideas for how to create a better internet by 2030. With such a broad range of people and issues involved in shaping the internet, it is clear that a coherent vision is required to tie it all together. We want to hear from you with feedback on the paper.
We were also honoured to host a keynote from the European Commission as they set out their post-COVID-19 recovery agenda. Pearse O’Donohue, Director of Future Networks at the Commission, outlined the way that technology and environmentalism must come together in a ‘twin transition’. He described the broader impact of the Next Generation Internet Initiative, and how the Commission’s funding and research are contributing to the creation of an Internet of Humans. Pearse has also written a blog to capture his message.
The City of Amsterdam’s deputy mayor, Touria Meliani, also launched the world’s first AI registry, co-designed by Amsterdam and the City of Helsinki. This AI registry provides citizens with a powerful tool to understand how algorithms are being used by their local governments to make decisions, putting principles of fairness and accountability into practice. We heard that transparency is a huge issue for the way artificial intelligence and algorithms are being used to make decisions about that data. Deputy Mayor Meliani said: ‘When we say as a city: algorithms are useful for our city, it’s also our responsibility to make sure that people know how they work. People deserve to know how they work. It’s a human right.’
A wide range of topics was discussed during the two days of the summit – not surprisingly, given the broad and interconnected nature of the challenges and opportunities driving the internet’s development today. To make our vision a reality, Europe must mobilise its full ecosystem, with interventions necessary on the local, national and supranational level. We were therefore honoured to feature leading policymakers across all layers of governance, including four MEPs, high-level representatives from the European Commission, a former president, a digital minister, and CTOs of leading digital cities from across the world.
👉Read the summary of just some of the many insights that emerged during the event.
We thoroughly enjoyed the discussions that arose during the Summit, and want them to have a lasting effect. Over the coming months, we’ll be exploring these ideas in our work to guide the European Commission’s policy approach to the future internet.
Our resounding and heartfelt thanks go to everyone that contributed to the Summit. And as always, if you like what you hear, get in touch with us – we are always interested in hearing from new contacts and collaborating on issues that affect the future internet.
