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September 2015

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Berkman Center Launches New Internet Data Dashboard
by Rebekah Heacock Jones Sept. 28, 2015

Sept. 28, 2015

Dear Friends, The Berkman Center is delighted to share its new Internet Monitor data dashboard with you! The official announcement is below, and the dashboard is up at https://dashboard.thenetmonitor.org/. As noted in the announcement, we are actively seeking additional data partners, and we would welcome suggestions from you and your networks regarding potential data sources, data partners, new data visualizations, and collaborators. We've created a video that provides an overview of the new tool here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUs-5XRgVKw. A short teaser/trailer video is at https://youtu.be/Rwld3EGMbKw, and a video tutorial is at https://youtu.be/PnjEXgJ1Ge0. We're excited to provide this tool to policymakers, researchers, advocates, and user communities who are shaping the future of the Internet. Should you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to reach out to me directly atrheacock(a)cyber.law.harvard.edu or to the full Internet Monitor team at info(a)thenetmonitor.org. Cheers, Rebekah ********** *Berkman Center Launches New Internet Data Dashboard* *Dashboard debuts at World Economic Forum meeting in Geneva* The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University <https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/> is pleased to announce the launch of the Internet Monitor dashboard <https://dashboard.thenetmonitor.org/>, a freely accessible tool that aims to improve information for policymakers, researchers, advocates, and user communities working to shape the future of the Internet by helping them understand trends in Internet health and activity through data analysis and visualization. “Over three billion people around the globe use the Internet—for communication, for education, for livelihood,” said Urs Gasser, Executive Director of the Berkman Center. “As the Internet becomes a vital part of more and more people’s lives and as we shape its future, we need both data and analysis to help understand how it’s working. The Internet Monitor dashboard brings this data and analysis together in an easily shareable way.” The dashboard lets users customize a collection of data visualization widgets—some offering real-time data—about Internet access and infrastructure, online content controls, and digital activity. Users can create multiple collections that enable easy comparisons across countries and data sources, and are quick to configure, edit, and share. In addition to creating their own collections, visitors to the dashboard will be able to view a selection of featured collections based on topics such as online media and network traffic around the world. “I love what the Internet Monitor makes possible: a nuanced, informative view of what is really happening on the Internet all around the world,” said John Palfrey, a Director of the Berkman Center. “I couldn’t be more excited by what we can learn by virtue of having this tool at the disposal of researchers, policymakers, journalists, and the public at large.” The Internet Monitor dashboard launched on September 28 at the World Economic Forum's Future of the Internet Initiative (FII) core community meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. As a Knowledge Partner of the FII, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society is leading and participating in a set of activities that aim to foster an open, interoperable, and affordable Internet, serving the global public interest. “Internet Monitor is a key part of our effort to expand the evidence base for public and private decision making about the future of the Internet,” said Mark Spelman, Future of the Internet Initiative, World Economic Forum. “We are glad to be partnering with the Berkman Center on such an important venture.” Internet Monitor’s public data platform <http://thenetmonitor.org/map> and Access Index <https://thenetmonitor.org/faq/a-hackable-access-index>, which launched in July 2014, offer free public access to an initial set of primary and secondary data and related analysis. The project’s research series <https://thenetmonitor.org/research> focuses on key events and new developments in Internet controls and online activity. The new dashboard offers an interactive view of of the state of the Internet across a variety of dimensions. By making data more available and approachable, the dashboard aims to inspire both greater use of the data that exists and greater efforts to collect and share that data that does not yet exist. "Internet architecture relies on an extraordinary collective hallucination: there is no central authority or switching station,” said Jonathan Zittrain, Faculty Chair of the Berkman Center. “That has made measurement of even basic facts about the size and scope of the Internet, and the flow of bits within it, difficult. We need those measurements to inform any number of debates about the state and future of the Internet. This project aims to get them.” Zittrain added that a key feature of the dashboard is that its data comes from many sources, making important work from a variety of people and institutions around the world more accessible to people who can use it. Internet Monitor continues to seek and integrate new sources of data in order to provide policymakers, digital activists, researchers, journalists, and user communities with an authoritative, independent, and multi-faceted set of quantitative data on the state of the global Internet. Current data partners include organizations such as Akamai, which is contributing data on country-level Internet connection speeds, network attacks, and web traffic; Kaspersky, which is contributing data on spam, cyberattacks, and infections; Media Cloud, which is contributing data on online media worldwide; and Herdict, which is contributing data on crowdsourced reports of website unavailability. The project will continue to add new data partners and sources on a rolling basis. About Internet Monitor Internet Monitor is a research project based at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society. Internet Monitor's aim is to evaluate, describe, and summarize the means, mechanisms, and extent of Internet content controls and Internet activity around the world. The project helps researchers, advocates, policymakers, and user communities understand trends in Internet health and activity through research, analysis, and data visualization. More information can be found at https://thenetmonitor.org. About the Berkman Center The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University is a research program founded to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its development. Founded in 1997, through a generous gift from Jack N. and Lillian R. Berkman, the Center is home to an ever-growing community of faculty, fellows, staff, and affiliates working on projects that span the broad range of intersections between cyberspace, technology, and society. More information can be found at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu. About the World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum is a comprehensive and integrated platform to strategically shape global, regional, national and industry agendas. The Forum helps the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to improve the state of the world, serving as an independent and impartial partner and acting as the officially recognized International Institution for Public-Private Cooperation. More information can be found at http://www.weforum.org/. Contact info(a)thenetmonitor.org -- Rebekah Heacock Jones Senior Project Manager Berkman Center for Internet & Society | http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/ +1-617-384-9141 | Skype: rebekah.heacock

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The Network of Centers welcomes 5 new participants
by Raimondo Iemma Sept. 24, 2015

Sept. 24, 2015

Dear Friends, The Global Network of Internet & Society Research Centers (NoC) is happy to welcome 5 new participants from across the world! The joining Centers are described below. Please visit the links to get further information on their current research, areas of interest, and on the contact persons. The full list of the Centers involved in the NoC -currently 56- is available at http://networkofcenters.net/centers. -- The following Centers have joined the NoC as *Participating Centers*, i.e., academic research centers whose agenda is primarily focused on Internet & Society topics. They are listed in alphabetical order. * *Centro de Estudos Sociedade e Tecnologia, University of Sao Paulo *[Brazil] o Webpage: http://www.cest.poli.usp.br/en/ o The Centro de Estudos Sociedade e Tecnologia (CEST) was created at Universidade de São Paulo in December, 2013, starting from a grant by Microsoft Corporation. CEST’s purpose is to research and discuss the way Information and Communications Technologies affect people’s life and create new habits, solving many problems but also raising issues related to safety, business, privacy, intellectual property. CEST works on these complex issues by producing research and white papers and by fostering discussions in events involving academics, technologists, public officials, and the society at large. Currently CEST is focusing on issues such as online and open education, creative currencies, Internet of Things. o The main contact persons within the NoC are *Edison Spina* (Founder and coordinator) and *Fabio Nascimbeni* (Collaborator). [See bios at http://www.cest.poli.usp.br/en/pessoas/] * *Institute of Communication Sciences (ISCC) *[France] o Webpage: http://www.iscc.cnrs.fr/ o The Institute of Communication Sciences (ISCC) is a research center of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Paris Sorbonne and University Pierre and Marie Curie (UPMC). Its activities, spanned in 12 research groups with 13 permanent researchers and 31 researchers from partner universities, are dedicated to interdisciplinary research in communication science with a special interest in the interaction between science, technologies and society. o The main contact persons within the NoC are *Mélanie Dulong de Rosnay *(Permanent researcher at CNRS, and Leader of the research group Information and Commons Governance, http://www.iscc.cnrs.fr/spip.php?article1558) and *Francesca Musiani* (Researcher, http://www.csi.mines-paristech.fr/People/musiani/) * *Melbourne Networked Society Institute, University of Melbourne* [Australia] o Webpage: http://networkedsociety.unimelb.edu.au/ o The Melbourne Networked Society Institute undertakes interdisciplinary research on the connectivity between people, places and things to solve the problems facing the networked society. The Melbourne Networked Society Institute officially commenced in February 2015. MNSI builds upon the history of the Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES) and marks the natural evolution of the Institute as research has evolved from focusing on universal access to broadband to the complexity, scale and speed of connectivity underpinning the networked society. o The main contact persons within the NoC are *Adam Lodders* (Executive officer) and *Thas Nirmalathas* (Director, http://networkedsociety.unimelb.edu.au/about/people/nirmalathas.html) * *United Nations University Institute on Computing and Society (UNU-CS) *[China] o Webpage: http://cs.unu.edu/ o The United Nations University Institute on Computing and Society (UNU-CS) is a new research institute at the intersections of information and communication technologies and international development (ICTD). Located in Macau SAR, China, UNU-CS focuses on the key challenges faced by developing societies through high-impact innovations in computing and communication technologies. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Michael L. Best* (Director, http://mikeb.inta.gatech.edu/) * *Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society* at Tilburg University [Netherlands] o Webpage: https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/research/institutes-and-research-groups/t… o The Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT) is a top player in the field of the regulation of technology and its normative implications. They conduct research into the legal and social implications of various emerging technologies such as ICT, bio- and nanotechnology, neurotechnology and robotics. A key feature of the institute’s research program is the interaction between legal, technological, and social perspectives. TILT is consistently ranked a top institute for research and education by national and international Legal Research and Education Assessment Committees. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Ronald Leenes* (Director, http://www.ronaldleenes.nl/prof-dr-ronald-leenes/) Again, a warm welcome to all new participants in the Network of Centers! -- *About the Network of Internet and Society Research Centers* The Global Network of Internet and Society Research Centers (NoC) was launched by a group of academic centers in 2012 in recognition of the lack of internationally coordinated research and engagement activities in issues concerning the Internet and related technologies. The NoC is a collaborative initiative among academic institutions with a focus on interdisciplinary research on the development, social impact, policy implications, and legal issues concerning the Internet. This collective aims to increase interoperability between participating centers in order to stimulate the creation of new cross-national, cross-disciplinary conversation, debate, teaching, learning, and engagement regarding the most pressing questions around new technologies, social change, and related policy and regulatory developments. See http://networkofcenters.net/get-involved/. -- Raimondo Iemma Managing Director & Research Fellow Nexa Center for Internet and Society http://nexa.polito.it/ Project Manager Global Network of Internet & Society Research Centers http://networkofcenters.net/

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