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Declaration of Internet Rights (Italy's Chamber of Deputies)
by J.C. DE MARTIN Feb. 25, 2015

Feb. 25, 2015

Dear Friends, Let me submit to your attention that Italy's Chamber of Deputies has recently published a draft Declaration of Internet Rights. The draft has been written by an ad hoc study commission whose members are part members of Parliament and part experts. Although many similar declarations (charters, etc.) has been proposed in the past, this is the first time (to the best of my knowledge) that a Parliamentary institution has produced something similar. The draft Declaration is now being commented in Italian on the public platform camera.civi.ci, but it is also possible to comment the Declaration in three other languages: German: https://publixphere.net/i/publixphere-de/page/Italiens_Entwurf_einer_Erkl%C… French: http://www.networkofcenters.net/more/internet-rights-fra English: http://www.networkofcenters.net/more/internet-rights-eng The consultation will end on 27 February 2015. With the hope that the Declaration might influence the Internet debate at several levels, I cordially invite you to contribute your thoughts and proposals. Many thanks, best, juan carlos prof. juan carlos de martin co-director / nexa center for internet & society politecnico di torino - italy http://nexa.polito.it office: +39 011 090 7217

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Governance of Online Intermediaries: New Study by the Global Network of Internet and Society Centers
by Raimondo Iemma Feb. 18, 2015

Feb. 18, 2015

* Governance of Online Intermediaries: ** New Study by the Global Network of Internet and Society Centers* February 2015 The Global Network of Internet and Society Research Centers <http://networkofcenters.net/> (NoC) and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/> at Harvard University are pleased to announce the release of a new report <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2566364>, which examines the rapidly changing landscape of online intermediary liability at the intersection of law, technology, norms, and markets, and is aimed at informing and improving Internet policy-making globally._ ___ This report is a first output of a larger initiative on the governance of online intermediaries and consists of a case study series <https://publixphere.net/i/noc/page/Online_Intermediaries_Research_Project_C…> exploring online intermediary liability frameworks and issues in Brazil, the European Union, India, South Korea, the United States, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam, and a synthesis paper <https://publixphere.net/i/noc/page/NoC_Online_Intermediaries_Research_Proje…> that seeks to distill key observations and provide a high-level analysis of some of the structural elements that characterize varying governance frameworks, with a focus on intermediary liability regimes and their evolution. In particular the synthesis highlights the importance of cultural and political context, as reflected in both the legal norms aimed at regulating intermediaries and the perception of intermediaries’ social function within the countries studied. The research effort is grounded in a diversity of global perspectives and collaborative research techniques, committed to objective and independent academic standards, and aspires to be useful, actionable, and timely for policymakers and stakeholders. More broadly, the Network of Centers seeks to contribute to a more generalized vision and longer-term strategy regarding the role of academic research, facilitation and convening, and education and communication in the Internet age. The full text of the case studies <https://publixphere.net/i/noc/page/Online_Intermediaries_Research_Project_C…> and the synthesis paper <https://publixphere.net/i/noc/page/NoC_Online_Intermediaries_Research_Proje…> are available on the Publixphere website, where the authors welcome comments and feedback. The series and individual papers are also available for download from SSRN <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2566364>. -- *About the Global 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. More information can be found at 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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ITS Global Fellowship Program 2015
by Raimondo Iemma Feb. 11, 2015

Feb. 11, 2015

Dear Friends, I am happy to forward you information about the Global Fellowship Program 2015 of the Institute of Technology and Society (ITSrio.org) Deadline for application is the 20th of March. http://www.itsrio.org/2015/02/04/its-global-policy-fellowship-program-2015/ Best, Raimondo -- ITS Global Policy Fellowship Program 2015 *Program overview:* The Institute of Technology and Society (ITSrio.org) invites researchers, graduate students as well as professionals working with technology policy, to apply to its Global Policy Fellowship Program and spend four weeks* in Brazil at ITS. Last year, we welcomed six fellows from all over the world, who contributed immensely for the success of the Fellowship Program. (See the list of our 2014 fellows here <http://www.itsrio.org/sobre-o-its/fellows/>, and what they have to say about their experiences here <http://www.itsrio.org/2015/02/04/its-fellows-2014-and-what-they-said-about-…>). Our Global Fellows will have the opportunity to work with the team who created and developed the landmark “Marco Civil” legislation, a bill protecting fundamental rights, including privacy, net neutrality and freedom of expression, approved as law in Brazil in April 2014. ITS will offer the opportunity to work with research in the five broad areas, namely: * Law, democracy and technology (dealing with topics such civic engagement, online participation, and others); * Access to technology, justice and human rights (dealing with topics such as connectivity, accesibility, digital divide and others) * Internet regulation and Internet governance; * Privacy and data protection (dealing with topics such as big data, anti-survailance, data protection and mass surveilance); * Rethinking culture, media and education (working with topics such as intelectual property, digital entrepreneurship, art & technology, online teaching, and others). The ITS Fellowship Program will offer the opportunity for those interested in internet and technology policy to deepen their knowledge about the Brazilian technology context. We have prepared an intensive 4-week* program for our fellows, which include visits to the biggest technology national and international companies operating in Brazil, the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br) and visits to São Paulo and Brasília, including meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Culture, and Congress members who are advocating for policies related to internet and technology. During their stay, selected fellows will be expected to: * Present at least one public seminar, organized in partnership with ITS. Suggested topics can include: broadband and access policy, content regulation, copyright and creativity, consumer privacy, open government, government surveillance, data security, data innovation, freedom of expression, democracy and technology and human rights. * To publish at least one article or webpost about their experience as a fellow in Brazil. * To collaborate with the ITS team and its projects. *Who should apply?* We are looking for students, researchers, and professionals who are following the debates in the public policy field, and who want to spend part of their summer/winter in Brazil, learning about Internet policy. People from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. For the selection processes, please send us: * Your complete academic and professional resume, including your LinkedIn profile and other online references you want us to consider; * A 1-page personal statement about your motivations to work in Brazil; * A brief work description of your experience with technology policy; * Proposal for a public presentation of your work; * Indication of one of the five main areas ITS which you would like to work on; * One project or idea you would be interested in developing while at ITS. Portuguese skills are not required (but English is mandatory). All documents must be sent in one single e-mail message to itsrio(a)itsrio.org <mailto:itsrio@itsrio.org>, with the subject “Global Fellows Application :: YOUR NAME”. *Our Fellowship Package includes:* * Intensive 4-week* program for the fellows; * Air tickets to São Paulo and Brasília; * Accommodation in São Paulo and Brasília during the days of our visit; * Shared office space at our headquarters for four weeks*; * A visit to a “samba” music club will also be organized, but is not mandatory; *Our Fellowship Package does not include:* * International Traveling to and from Brazil; * Accommodation for the four weeks* in Rio de Janeiro, where our program takes place; * Other costs related to your stay in Brazil other than those mentioned above. * Necessary visa to entry the country. Our team will provide tips and information about how to find accommodation in the city during that time. *Relevant Dates:* Applications deadline: March 20th, 2015; Announcement of fellows by e-mail: March 31st, 2015; Fellowship Program will start: June 29th, and will finish in July 27th, 2015*; /* Fellows are expected to stay in Rio from 29/June/2015 to 27/Jul/2015. After this date, fellows can coordinate with ITS the possibility of staying for a longer term if they wish. Visa and costs for additional stays are to be provided by the fellows./

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The Network of Centers welcomes 10 new participants
by Raimondo Iemma Feb. 10, 2015

Feb. 10, 2015

Dear Friends, The Global Network of Internet & Society Research Centers (NoC) is happy to welcome 10 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 44- 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. * *Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS) at the Central Europe University* [Hungary] o Webpage: http://cmds.ceu.edu/ o Twitter: https://twitter.com/CMDSatCEU o CMDS is the leading center of research on media, communication, and information policy in Central and Eastern Europe. Affiliated with the School of Public Policy at Central European University, CMDS produces scholarly and practice-oriented research addressing academic, policy and civil society needs. Their research priorities include: Media and communication policy; Fundamental communication rights; Media and civil society; New Media and technology; Mediain transition. See http://cmds.ceu.edu/research-areas for more information. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Éva Bognár*, Senior Program Officer and Researcher at the CMDS (http://people.ceu.edu/eva_bognar) * *Institute for Information Law (IViR) at the University of Amsterdam *[the Netherlands] o Webpage: http://www.ivir.nl/?lang=en o The Institute for Information Law (IViR), officially established in 1989, is one of the largest research centers in the field of information law in the world. The Institute employs over 25 researchers who are active in an entire spectrum of information society related legal areas: intellectual property law, patents, telecommunications and broadcasting regulation, media law, Internet regulation, advertising law, domain names, freedom of expression, privacy, digital consumer issues, commercial speech. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Thomas Margoni*, senior researcher at the Institute for Information Law (http://www.ivir.nl/medewerkerpagina?id=39) * *New Research on Digital Societies (NeRDS) group at Kozminski University *[Poland] o Webpage: http://nerds.kozminski.edu.pl/ o NeRDS (the New Research on Digital Societies) group was established in 2013 at Kozminski University in Warsaw (Poland). Their aim is to study digital societies by the means of virtual ethnography, anthropology of the Internet, digital sociology, but also network analysis and other quantitative methods. Their projects so far include studies of open collaboration communities (such as Wikipedia), Couchsurfing, the Second Life, piracy, transhumanism, as well as virtual communities of museums. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Dariusz Jemielniak*, Full Professor of Management at Kozminski University in Poland (see the "people" menu in the NeRDS website). * *Swedish Institute for Legal Informatics (IRI) at Stockholm University *[Sweden] o Webpage: http://www.juridicum.su.se/iri/english/ o The Swedish Law and Informatics Research Institute (IRI) was established in 1981 as an independent institute within the Faculty of Law at Stockholm University. The institute is engaged in education and research on the relationship and interaction between law and ICT. Areas of interest include application of regulations in the digital environment and the development of methods for legally customized system design and management. o The main contact persons within the NoC are *Patricia Mindus*, Associate Professor at Uppsala University (http://www.filosofi.uu.se/Department/Staff/Mindus__Patricia_/?languageId=1) and *Peter Wahlgren*, the Director of IRI (http://www.juridicum.su.se/iri/organisation/Peter_Wahlgren/) * *Web Science Institute (WSI) at the University of Southampton* [United Kingdom] o Webpage: http://www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi/index.page o The Web Science Institute fosters interdisciplinary collaboration in research and education that aims to develop knowledge and understanding of the World Wide Web. Current research ranges from Social Media Analytics and Social Machines to Ciber Security, and Online Health (see http://www.southampton.ac.uk/wsi/research/index.page) o The main contact person within the NoC is *Susan Halford*, Professor of Sociology and a Director of the Web Science Institute (http://www.southampton.ac.uk/socsci/about/staff/sjh3.page) -- The following Centers have joined the NoC as *Affiliated Participants*, i.e., other types of institutions, still with Internet & Society-related open threads, carried out, e.g., as non-academic research centers, policy-support entities, or think tanks. They are listed in alphabetical order. * *Chatham House* [United Kingdom] o Webpage: http://www.chathamhouse.org/ o Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChathamHouse o Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is based in London. Chatham House’s mission is to be a world-leading source of independent analysis, informed debate and influential ideas on how to build a prosperous and secure world for all. Their policy threads include Science, Technology, and Cyber Security. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Caroline Baylon*, Research Associate of Science, Technology, and Cyber Security at Chatham House (see http://www.chathamhouse.org/about-us/directory/196737) * *Diplo Foundation *[Malta / Switzerland] o Webpage: http://www.diplomacy.edu/ o DiploFoundation (Diplo) is an independent non-profit organisation established in 2002 by the governments of Malta and Switzerland. Diplo’s main mission is to increase the capacity of small and developing states to engage effectively and efficiently in global policy processes, negotiations, and diplomacy, in particular in the field of Internet governance. o The main contact persons within the NoC are *Jovan Kurbalija*, founding director of Diplo Foundation (http://www.diplomacy.edu/courses/faculty/kurbalija) and *Roxana Radu*, researcher at Diplo Foundation (http://www.diplomacy.edu/courses/faculty/radu) * *Internet Policy Observatory Pakistan (iPOP)* [Pakistan] o Webpage: http://ipop.org.pk/ o Twitter: https://twitter.com/InternetPolicyP o iPOP (Internet Policy Observatory Pakistan) conducts public interest research on ICT policy and regulation in Pakistan. It provides researchers, governments, regulators, operators, multilateral institutions, development agencies and community organizations with the information and analysis required to develop innovative and appropriate policies for modern age digital technologies. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Arzak Khan*, Director and Co-Founder at the Internet Policy Observatory Pakistan (see http://globalnetpolicy.org/ipo-affiliate-arzak-khan-establishes-internet-po…) * *Global Public Policy Institute* (GPPi) [Germany] o Webpage: http://www.gppi.net/ o Twitter: https://twitter.com/GPPi o The Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) is an independent non-profit think tank based in Berlin. Our mission is to improve global governance through research, policy advice and debate in seven issue areas ranging from humanitarian action and human rights over peace and security to internet politics. Within their Global Internet Politics program, we are committed to developing the internet as a free, open and secure space (see http://www.gppi.net/issue-areas/global-internet-politics/) o The main contact persons within the NoC are two research associates with the Global Public Policy Institute: *Isabel Skierka* (http://www.gppi.net/team/isabel-skierka/) and *Mirko Hohmann* (http://www.gppi.net/team/mirko-hohmann/) * *Nesta Innovation Lab on digital technologies and future Internet* [United Kingdom] o Webpage: http://www.nesta.org.uk/our-people/team/25 o Nesta Innovation Lab works with individuals and organisations to generate, develop and test radical new ideas to address social problems. Through developing and applying leading edge innovation practices and methods, it supports innovators in the public, private and social sectors, and links innovative projects to advocacy and policy change to transform whole systems. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Francesca Bria*, Senior Project Lead in the Nesta Innovation Lab (http://www.nesta.org.uk/users/francesca-bria) 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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Internet Law & Politics Conference: Regulating Smart Cities
by Miquel Peguera Jan. 21, 2015

Jan. 21, 2015

Dear all, Please find below some information on the Internet Law & Politics Conference: Regulating Smart Cities, co-organized by the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute, a member of the Network of Centers. The deadline for sending abstracts is February 1. Do feel free to distribute the call. http://edcp.uoc.edu/symposia/idp2015/cfp/?lang=en Some general information about the Conference: The legal and political issues involved in the Smart City phenomenon will be the main thematic focus of the 11th International Conference on Internet, Law & Politics (IDP 2015). The term smart city is usually referred to the application of information and communication technologies to find innovative solutions to the complexities and challenges that cities must face today. It has multiple dimensions including logistics, communications, the provision of public services (i.e. education, public health, security, etc.). As urban life is increasingly conditioned by the development of technology, the term “smart city” has gained more saliency, though its meaning remains controversial. It has been related to a variety of different aims such as sustainability, citizen participation, improvement of public services, efficiency and resource optimization, etc. But, what makes a city “smart”, and what services should it provide? Information and communication technologies applied to city management involve not only technical but also social, legal and political issues. On the one hand, digital technologies open new spaces that require new forms of regulation (concerning the limits of privacy, the boundary between public and private, the digital divide, etc.). On the other hand, technology also shapes the way urban actors relate to each other, including the relation between citizens and public service providers. This challenges traditional bureaucratic models and gives rise to new ways of articulating social and political life. See more at http://edcp.uoc.edu/symposia/idp2015/?lang=en Miquel -- Miquel Peguera, PhD Associated Professor of Law Resident Researcher, IN3 *Universitat Oberta de CatalunyaBarcelona (Spain)* Barcelona Growth Centre (Roc Boronat 117 - 08018 Barcelona) View my research at my SSRN Author Page <http://ssrn.com/author=606095> | @MiquelP <http://twitter.com/#%21/MiquelP> | Blog <http://responsabilidadinternet.wordpress.com/> Barcelona Growth Centre (Roc Boronat 117 - 08018 Barcelona) View my research at my SSRN Author Page <http://ssrn.com/author=606095> | @MiquelP <http://twitter.com/#%21/MiquelP> | Blog <http://responsabilidadinternet.wordpress.com/>

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Multistakeholder as Governance Groups: New Study by Global Network of Internet and Society Centers
by Raimondo Iemma Jan. 15, 2015

Jan. 15, 2015

Multistakeholder as Governance Groups: New Study by Global Network of Internet and Society Centers January 2015 The Global Network of Internet and Society Research Centers (NoC) <http://networkofcenters.net/>and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/>at Harvard University are pleased to announce the release of a new report <http://ssrn.com/abstract=2549270>on Multistakeholder Governance Groups, which informs the debate about Internet governance models and mechanisms. The report is the result of a *globally-coordinated academic research effort* among NoC participants and consists of twelve geographically and topically diverse case studies <https://publixphere.net/i/noc/page/Internet_Governance_Research_Project_Cas…>of governance structures, and a synthesis paper <https://publixphere.net/i/noc/page/Internet_Governance_Research_Project_Syn…>that summarizes key findings across these cases. The research examines multistakeholder governance groups with the goal of informing the future evolution of the Internet governance ecosystem. Building upon the NETmundial Principles and Roadmap <http://netmundial.br/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/NETmundial-Multistakeholder…>, it contributes to current policy debates at the international level, including the Internet Governance Forum, the NETmundial Initiative, and the World Economic Forum. "We are at crossroads when it comes to the global governance of the Internet, where we must not only respond to complex technical challenges, but also deal with a broad range of policy issues ranging from cybersecurity to net neutrality and human rights," said Berkman Center Executive Director and Harvard Law School Professor of Practice Urs Gasser, who led the international effort. "This collaborative research wants to strengthen the evidence-base as we search for future governance models that preserve the generativity and openness of the Internet, while also addressing pressing challenges and problems." At a point where the future of Internet governance is being re-envisioned, the report deepens our understanding of the *formation, operation, and critical success factors of governance groups*. The study concludes that: “/there is no single best-fit model for multistakeholder governance groups that can be applied in all instances. Rather, it reveals a range of approaches, mechanisms, and tools available for both the formation and operation of such groups. The analysis demonstrates that the success of governance groups depends to a large degree on the careful selection, deployment, and management of suitable instruments from this ‘toolbox’. As governance groups pass through different phases of operation, conveners and facilitators must remain alert to changes in circumstances that necessitate adjustments to the approaches, mechanisms, and tools that they deploy in order to address evolving challenges from inside and from outside. The case study series provides insights into how those instruments can be deployed and adjusted over time within such groups, and highlights how their interactions with important contextual factors may be successfully managed within given resource restraints./” Other *key observations* from the study, as further described in the synthesis paper, include: * Inclusiveness (including mechanisms for participation) and transparency are critical factors to be managed and adjusted throughout the lifecycle of governance groups. * How governance groups define accountability and legitimacy is highly reflective of and dependent on contextual factors. * Different governance groups have different measures of success and effectiveness that are tied to their unique contexts and to factors that change over time. The report is the *first study by the recently launched Global Network of Internet and Society Centers*, which brings together over 30 academic institutions from around the globe. As a milestone, it demonstrates that a global network of academic research centers can create a shared repository of timely and relevant research, which includes peer-reviewed methodologies and adherence to academic standards, open data, and expertise on diverse issues related to global policy debates. More broadly, the Network of Centers seeks to contribute to a more generalized vision and longer-term strategy for academia regarding its roles in research, facilitation and convening, and education in and communication about the Internet age. The full text of these contributions, the other case studies <https://publixphere.net/i/noc/page/Internet_Governance_Research_Project_Cas…>by our international partners, and the synthesis paper <https://publixphere.net/i/noc/page/Internet_Governance_Research_Project_Syn…>are available on the Publixphere website, where the authors welcome comments and feedback. The series and individual papers are also available for download from SSRN <http://ssrn.com/abstract=2549270>. -- 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. More information can be found athttp://networkofcenters.net/about. -- 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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2015 Summer Internship Program, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Application Deadline Feb. 16
by Rebecca Tabasky Jan. 8, 2015

Jan. 8, 2015

Dear NoC colleagues, Hope you are all well and are enjoying a great beginning to the year. The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University <https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/> is now preparing to welcome another stellar crew of students to join us as summer interns! We are looking to engage a diverse group of students who are interested in studying -- and changing the world through -- the Internet and new communications technologies; who are driven, funny, and kind; and who would like to join our amazing community in Cambridge this summer for 10 weeks of shared research and exchange. Information about the summer program, eligibility, and links to the application procedures can be found below and at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/getinvolved/internships_summer. * The application deadline for all students for Summer 2015 is Monday, February 16, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. ET.** * Please forward this note to relevant lists or students with whom you may work, tweet or retweet <https://twitter.com/berkmancenter/status/553190860050141186>, and let us know if you have any other thoughts or recommendations! We would be thrilled to see applicants from your Centers. With thanks as ever, Becca ----- *Berkman Center for Internet & Society* <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/getinvolved/internships_summer>* Summer Internship Program 2015* Each summer the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University swings open the doors of our vibrant yellow house to welcome a group of talented and curious students as full-time interns -Berkterns! <http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=berktern>- who are passionate about the promise of the Internet. Finding connected and complementary research inquiries among their diverse backgrounds, students represent all levels of study, are being trained in disciplines across the board, and come from universities all over the world to tackle issues related to the core of Berkman's research agenda, including law, technology, innovation, and knowledge; the relationships between Internet and civic activity; and the intersection of technology, learning, and development. Summer interns jump head first into the swirl of the Berkman universe, where they are deeply and substantively involved in our research projects and efforts. Becoming invaluable contributors to the Center's operation and success, interns conduct collaborative and independent research under the guidance of Berkman staff, fellows, and faculty. Specific roles, tasks, and experiences vary depending on Center needs and interns' skills; a select list of expected opportunities for Summer 2015 is below. Typically, the workload of each intern is primarily based under one project or suite of projects, with encouragement and flexibility to get involved in additional projects across the Center. In addition to joining research teams, summer interns participate in special lectures with Berkman Center faculty and fellows, engage each other through community experiences like weekly interns discussion hours, and attend Center-wide events and gatherings with members of the wider Berkman community. As well, each year interns establish new channels for fun and learning, such as organizing topical debates; establishing reading groups and book clubs; producing podcasts and videos; and hosting potlucks, cook-offs, and BBQs (fortunately for us, people share). The word "awesome" has been thrown around to describe our internships, but don't take our word for it. Interns Royze Adolfo and Hilda Barasa documented the summer 2012 internship experience here <http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/berkmancentersummer2012/>. Former intern Zachary McCune had this to say: "it has been an enchanting summer working at the berkman center for internet & society. everyday, i get to hang out with some of the most brilliant people on the planet. we talk, we write (emails), we blog, we laugh, we play rock band. and when things need to get done, we stay late hyped on free coffee and leftover food. it is a distinct honor to be considered a peer among such excellent people. and i am not just talking about the fellows, staff, and faculty, though they are all outstanding. no, i mean my peers as in my fellow interns, who are almost definitely the ripening next generation of changemakers." ***Time Commitment:* Summer internships are full time positions (35 hours/week) for 10 weeks. **The Summer 2015 program will run from June 1 through August 7.*** Payment:* Interns are paid $11.50 an hour, with the exception of a number of opportunities for law students who are expected to receive some version of summer public interest funding (more about these specific cases at the link for law students below). Please be forewarned that payment may not be sufficient to cover living expenses in the Boston area. No other benefits are provided, and interns must make their own housing, insurance and transportation arrangements.* Commitment to Diversity:* The work and well-being of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University are strengthened profoundly by the diversity of our network and our differences in background, culture, experience, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and much more. We actively seek and welcome applications from people of color, women, the LGBTQIA community, and persons with disabilities, as well as applications from researchers and practitioners from across the spectrum of disciplines and methods.* Eligibility:* * Internships are open to students enrolled across the full spectrum of disciplines. * Internships are open to students at different levels of academic study including those in bachelor's, master's, law, and Ph.D programs. * Summer interns do not need to be U.S. residents or in school in the U.S.; indeed, we encourage international students to apply. * Summer interns do not need an existing affiliation with Harvard University.** *To Apply:* We know what you're thinking. /Yes please. I want that. That sounds magical. Did I mention that I have incredible dance moves <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGQbFqH6D4g>//?/ Here's what you should do...*** Law students:*please find application instructions and important additional information here <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/7314>.* Students from disciplines other than law:*please find more information and application instructionshere <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/7315>.** Required application materials for all include: * A cover letter describing your skills and interests. When developing your cover letter, you may wish to consider the following questions: What has led you to pursue research with the Berkman Center and the issues we study? What would you like to gain from working with us this summer, and what will you contribute? How do you think the experience might influence your future efforts? Please feel welcome to address these and/or other topics you would like to share with us. Cover letters should be addressed to Nancy <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/nancy>. * A current resume. * The contact information for two references (professional or academic).* * *The application deadline for all students for Summer 2015 is Monday, February 16, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. ET.*** We look forward to hearing from you! Questions? Check out our FAQ <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/8133>, and if you have a question not addressed there, email Rebecca Tabasky at rtabasky(a)cyber.law.harvard.edu <mailto:rtabasky@cyber.law.harvard.edu>. ----* Select Expected Summer 2015 Opportunities:*/ Academic Innovation/ The Berkman Center, in conjunction with the Harvard Law School Library, has a number of projects focused on innovation in academic spaces. Examples of these projects include H2O and Perma.cc. H2O is a Web-based platform for creating, customizing, consuming, and sharing free and open course materials. Perma.cc is a citation archiver designed to prevent link rot in academic scholarship by saving copies of online resources cited in scholarly publications -- providing authors and editors with permanent URLs that will allow readers to access archived copies of the cited material. Summer interns will assist with the management and growth of these projects, working with the Berkman/Library team to conceptualize and realize the future of these technologies. Individual contributions will depend on the skill set of each intern. Find more at https://h2o.law.harvard.edu/ and https://perma.cc/. /Anti-Hate Speech Initiative/ "Hate speech" and related phenomena manifest and affect young people in many different ways. As part of a new initiative, the Berkman Center, in close collaboration with a Leadership Team and Advisory Committee, is in the early stages of leveraging its national and global networks to create a first-of-its-kind thematic network of experts, educators, practitioners, company representatives, and others to focus on this issue. The network will attempt to better understand the different kinds of youth-oriented hate speech online; develop, map, and evaluate effective counter strategies; and foster more resilient communities through partnerships with universities and other institutions in the U.S. and other countries. Specifically, the initiative will conduct activities in three analytically distinct but interacting tracks: Research, Curriculum Development, and Network Building. Summer interns' responsibilities will support work in one or more of these tracks. /Chilling Effects/ Chilling Effects is a website, database and research project studying cease and desist letters concerning online content. Our goals are to conduct and facilitate research on the notices, to educate the public about the different kinds of cease and desist letters--both legitimate and questionable--that are being sent to Internet publishers, and to provide as much transparency as possible about the "ecology" of such notices, in terms of who is sending them and why, and to what effect. All summer interns working for Chilling Effects will have the opportunity to work on a range of assignments, including: writing blog posts, updating news and research resources for on-site publication; helping with managing and curating the database, including coding metadata and working with source partners to facilitate the ingestion and processing of notices; working on domestic and international collaboration initiatives; event planning and management; and working on research and writing projects centered on the database corpus, either internally or in collaboration with external researchers. Chilling Effects is especially interested in candidates with coding skills to help Berkman developers work on and improve the project's website and database. An ideal candidate for will have experience with Ruby and/or Ruby On Rails or experience with other MVC frameworks, postgreSQL, and elasticsearch and/or Solr. Experience with large data sets, visualization libraries and/or continuous integration and test suites a plus. Some thoughts from Chilling Effects summer interns about their experience can be foundhere <http://medialaw.unc.edu/2014/01/a-unc-students-summer-experience-at-the-chi…>andhere <https://www.chillingeffects.org/news.cgi?NewsID=817>, and more information about Chilling Effects is at http://www.chillingeffects.org/. /Cyberlaw Clinic/ The Cyberlaw Clinic provides high-quality, pro-bono legal services to individuals, start-ups, non-profit organizations, and government entities. Every summer, clinic interns contribute to a wide range of real-world projects related to the Internet and technology. Interns may help the Clinic team provide guidance on open access, digital copyright, and fair use issues; support advocacy efforts to protect online speech and anonymity; develop legal resources for citizen journalists and new media organizations; advise courts on innovative uses of technology to increase citizens' access to justice; or draft reference documents and training materials for educators on children's privacy and online safety. Interns in the Cyberlaw Clinic can expect direct hands-on experience working with clients under the supervision of the Clinic's staff attorneys. More information about the Cyberlaw Clinic can be found athttp://cyberlawclinic.berkman.harvard.edu <http://cyberlawclinic.berkman.harvard.edu>. /Cybersecurity/ The Cybersecurity Project is engaging in a clean-slate evaluation of the set of responsibilities related to foreign intelligence gathering, which has expanded to include the exploitation of cybersecurity vulnerabilities. In this project, we aim to identify concrete steps to clarify roles and boundaries for the intelligence community, the corporate sector, academics, non-profits, and individuals; to examine how the cybersecurity risks are conceptualized and assessed by governments and companies, particularly companies with global operations; and to rebuild legitimacy and public support for cross-sectoral cybersecurity policies and practices. More information about the project can be found at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/research/cybersecurity. /Digital Problem-Solving Initiative/ The Digital Problem-Solving Initiative <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/research/dpsi>(DPSI) is a University-wide, highly-collaborative project, bringing together a diverse group of learners (students, faculty, fellows, and staff) to work on projects to address challenges and opportunities across the university. DPSI interns will support the Berkman team in assessing the 2014-2015 program and planning for the program's future expansion. Work may include outreach across the University and schools, event planning, research briefs, and general creative thinking and brainstorming. Compelling candidates should be interested in and/or excited about any of the topics mentioned above, as well as innovation at universities and within education, design, student entrepreneurship, and collaboration. This position is an ideal opportunity for a Harvard undergraduate, with the possibility of being extended over the 2015-2016 academic year (part-time). More information can be found at http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/dpsi. /Digital Media and Communications Squad/ The intern with Berkman's digital media and communications squad will have a chance to help imagine, develop, produce, and promote a number of video and audio production resources aimed at telling the world about the amazing Internet research and action coming out of Berkman. This intern will be chiefly responsible for helping to create the Radio Berkman audio podcast <https://soundcloud.com/radioberkman>, but will also play a role in producing videos like these <http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL68azUN8PTNhRvFhAVoboM1NY8_AiKUj4>. On any given day you could be interviewing a senior Berkman researcher <https://soundcloud.com/radioberkman/rb211-bruce-schneier-on>or guest, helping to produce a dynamic video explainer on Internet censorship <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hwn4fRpIr8g&list=PL68azUN8PTNhRvFhAVoboM…>, or digging up astonished cat GIFs to accompany a blog post about the latest NSA-leak revelations. The intern will also help out with other digital communications efforts such as creating and posting content to the Berkman website <https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/>, social media channels, and our weekly email newsletter <https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/9506>, as well as thinking through (and piloting) innovative ways to reach new audiences. This intern should have experience with and access to audio editing software (Logic, Soundtrack, Audacity, Soundbooth, or other), excellent writing skills, enthusiasm and an open mind for creating and executing fun ideas, and interest in digital communications and podcasting. Useful but not mandatory: experience in video production/editing, Photoshop/Illustrator, animation, social media management, Wordpress/Drupal platforms. /Education, Technology, and Privacy/ A summer intern will work on several projects relating to education, technology, and privacy, particularly the Student Privacy Initiative <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/research/studentprivacy>and "Coding for All <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/9222>." The Berkman Center's Student Privacy Initiative explores the opportunities and challenges that may arise as connected learning becomes more of a norm in education. As we conduct our research, we are engaging multiple stakeholders-- from district officials to policymakers to industry members to teachers, parents, and students--to develop shared good practices that promote positive educational outcomes, harness technological and pedagogical innovations, and protect critical values. In addition to ongoing research tasks (such as contributing to "This Week in Student Privacy <http://tinyletter.com/spi/archive>"), a summer intern might help draft research briefs, white papers, and website updates, as well as coordinate with and engage external organizations working in the K-12 ed tech innovation space. More information is available at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/research/studentprivacy. /Freedom of Expression/ The Berkman Center's suite of freedom of expression-related projects, including Internet Monitor, Herdict, and others, is seeking a small team of interns to conduct research on Internet filtering, monitoring, and control efforts around the globe; engage in related data gathering efforts using online sources; contribute to report writing; blog regularly about issues concerning online freedom of expression; and manage various projects' Twitter and Facebook accounts. In the past, interns have also supported research on blogospheres and other online communities around the world, contributed to literature reviews, and hand coded online content. Foreign language skills, particularly in Persian, Arabic, Russian, and Chinese, are useful. More information about some of Berkman's work on freedom of expression can be found at the following links: https://thenetmonitor.org; http://www.herdict.org/web/. /Geek Cave/ Interns joining the Geek Cave may extend open source software, build scalable websites, or manage the mixed desktop network that keeps the Center moving. Our team works with ruby, perl, php, bash, jQuery, PostgreSQL, MySQL and a slew of other tools. We have a small group of talented, devoted, fun, full-time developers on staff that can help hone your 1337 coding skillz as well provide fun projects to pair code or geek out on; two project managers to help you keep your work on track; and hardware and software support to help deploy your projects on Berkman infrastructure. More info about the projects that we work on can be found on our github organization page at http://github.com/berkmancenter. /Global Access in Action/ Maximizing the potential of technology to help the global poor requires fresh thinking. The legal and policy frameworks that govern innovation and commercialization can either constrain or facilitate the development and application of innovative technologies to tackle poverty, disease, hunger, and ignorance. Global Access in Action (GAiA) seeks to contribute to the improvement of those frameworks. Guided by six principles <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/9528>, we conduct action-oriented research into access to lifesaving medicines, and alternative incentives for the development of medical treatments for underserved populations. During Summer 2015, GAiA's intern(s) will conduct research and writing related concerning new and underused strategies for increasing access to medicines and designing alternative mechanisms to incentivize pharmaceutical research, respectively. Support with event planning and coordination may also be involved. More information is at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/research/globalaccessinaction. /Harvard Open Access Project (HOAP)/ HOAP fosters open access (OA) to research within Harvard and beyond, undertakes research on OA, and provides OA to timely and accurate information about OA itself. HOAP interns may enlarge the Open Access Directory (OAD), a wiki-based encyclopedia of OA, help with ongoing OA research projects, or contribute to the Open Access Tracking Project (OATP), a social-tagging project organizing knowledge about OA. They might also help document and promote TagTeam, a HOAP-directed open-source tagging platform built at Berkman to support OATP. More information about HOAP can be found athttp://cyber.law.harvard.edu/hoap/Main_Page <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/hoap/Main_Page>. /Media Cloud/ Media Cloud, a joint project of the Berkman Center and the MIT Center for Civic Media <http://civic.mit.edu/>, seeks summer interns to contribute to our team's effort to build new tools and methods that allow us to study and better analyze the shape and dynamics of the networked public sphere. The interns will contribute to the technical development of the Media Cloud platform and will help to extend and improve the project's features, including the Controversy Mapping tool, which allows researchers to use the Media Cloud platform's data collection and network visualization tools to map the evolution of a particular public affair, debate, or policy conversation. We are looking for developers interested in online media research, big data, and natural language processing. More information about Media Cloud is at http://mediacloud.org/. /metaLAB/ metaLAB is a research and teaching unit dedicated to exploring and expanding the frontiers of networked culture in the arts and humanities. In summer 2015, up to three interns will help us to produce a workshop in digital art history involving scholars, developers, and designers from across the country, to take place in early July at the Harvard Art Museums. In the balance of the summer, the interns' time will be split between Curarium, a platform to document, annotate, and remix collections in libraries, museums and other institutions; a suite of short films to be incorporated into an interactive documentary; and an ongoing project documenting urban ecology. These projects will call upon writing, media, and design skills, and will furnish opportunities for learning across such varied domains as ethnography, editing, and software development. More about metaLAB is available at http://metalab.harvard.edu/. /Municipal Fiber Initiative/ The Municipal Fiber Initiative at Berkman is documenting alternative models of Internet provisioning by cities and towns in the United States. An intern with this project will assist with documenting specific municipal efforts---detailing chronologies, lessons, costs, and benefits of municipal Internet projects---or in organizing workshops to disseminate research findings. This work will build off of the research conducted by Berkman Director Susan Crawford and teams; previous publications may be found at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/publications/2013/internet_to_leverettand http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/publications/2014/community_fiber. /Privacy Tools for Sharing Research Data/ The Privacy Tools for Sharing Research Data project brings together expertise in computer science, statistics, law, policy, and social science across four research centers at Harvard. It seeks to develop privacy-preserving methods, tools, and policies to further the tremendous research potential of data containing information about individuals. The legal team, led by Prof. Urs Gasser at the Berkman Center, explores cross-disciplinary approaches to data privacy and devises new privacy frameworks, legal instruments, and policy recommendations that complement advanced tools for private data analysis being developed in the project. To support this work, the Berkman team is looking for rising second and third-year law students to conduct research and analysis on topics related to privacy law and policy. Summer interns will write legal memoranda on selected topics in law, draft data sharing agreements, survey recent privacy-related publications in academic journals, aid in the development of new conceptual models for privacy and data sharing, and attend lectures and events with privacy experts from a wide range of disciplines. More information about the project can be found on the Privacy Tools project website at http://privacytools.seas.harvard.edu <http://privacytools.seas.harvard.edu/>. /Special Projects - Urs Gasser/ A summer intern will work on a variety of projects undertaken by Berkman's Executive Director Urs Gasser (e.g. work on privacy, globalization of law, cyber-liability, interoperability, internet governance). Tasks include research for presentations and events, op-eds, a book, and articles. This position requires the ability to find, absorb, critically analyze, and debate large amounts of written and other media materials from sources including scholarly articles, news articles and blogs, and interviews.This position is an ideal opportunity for individuals interested in pursuing graduate or legal studies in the future, as well as those individuals currently enrolled in graduate or law school.Knowledge in German or an Asian language is a plus. More information about Urs' research can be found at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/ugasser. /Special Projects - Jonathan Zittrain/ Summer interns will work on a variety of projects undertaken by Professor Jonathan Zittrain, assisting in a variety of research areas (e.g. human computing, linkrot and internet robustness, platforms, and Internet filtering). Summer contributions include research for conferences and presentations; brainstorming article outlines; fact-checking materials; and reviewing original article or paper drafts. This position requires the ability to find, absorb, critically analyze, and debate large amounts of written and other media materials from sources including scholarly articles, news articles and blogs, and interviews with public policymakers. This intern position is ideally suited for students or others who would like to get a deeper understanding of academic research and the broader world of Internet law. As well, this position may be extended into the 2015-2016 academic year; if you would be interested and available to continue working from Cambridge, MA in this capacity beyond the summer, please indicate so in your cover letter. More information about JZ's research can be found at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/jzittrainand athttp://www.jz.org/ <http://www.jz.org/>.

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Call for Papers of the 2nd International Conference on Internet Science
by Federico Morando Jan. 7, 2015

Jan. 7, 2015

Dear Friends, I'm happy to forward you the call for papers of the 2nd International Conference on Internet Science, organized by EINS, the European Network of Excellence in Internet Science (http://internet-science.eu/) Best, Federico -- Federico MORANDO Director of Research and Policy & Research Fellow Nexa Center for Internet & Society ================== Call for Papers The 2nd International Conference on Internet Science "Societies, Governance and Innovation" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VENUE: Flagey – Rue du Belvédère 27 – 1050 Ixelles – Brussels – Belgium DATE: 28th – 29th May 2015 WEBSITE: http://www.internetscienceconference.eu/ CONTACT: cfp(a)internet-science.eu <mailto:cfp@internet-science.eu> The 2nd International Conference on Internet Science aims at progressing and investigating on topics of high relevance with Internetβ€™s impact on societies, governance, and innovation. It focuses on the contribution and role of Internet science on the current and future multidisciplinary understanding of societies transformations, governance shifts and innovation quests. Its main objective is to allow an open and productive dialogue between all the disciplines which study the Internet as a socio-technical system under any technological or humanistic perspectives. We invite both research papers presenting new results, and extended abstracts with provoking ideas and work-in-progress, shedding light on Internet Science from all involved disciplines and especially papers crossing rigid disciplines boundaries. POSSIBLE TOPICS FOR SUBMISSION (not limited to) Internet and Society -------------------- - Internet and political participation - Internet of things and society - Digital competences and participation - Virtual communities and behavioral patterns - People-driven Internet technologies and applications, including collaborative platforms & social search, open data and new interfaces - Knowledge, education, and societal Web impact on Internet evolution - Offline and online human behavior with emphasis on social media and online interactions Internet and governance ----------------------- - Internet governance and evolution - Internet economics and new business models - Social sciences and ethics for Internet use - E-democracy and e-participation - Identity, Trust and Privacy - Internet governance and legal policies - Security, Resilience and Dependability Aspects - Internet solutions for Sustainability Internet and innovation ----------------------- - Collective intelligence for innovative solutions - Internet, society, and innovation - Novel network analytics on the Internet - Intellectual property and the commons - Design, implementation, and analysis of novel platforms - New collaborative markets analytics - New research and technical questions and thought-provoking ideas (intersection of design, arts and social interactions) - Economic aspects of the Internet IMPORTANT DATES February 20th 2015: Submissions of papers March 10th 2015: Notification of acceptance for papers March 20th 2015: Camera-ready version of papers INITIAL PAPERS SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS Submissions must represent original work and papers should neither have been published nor be under review elsewhere. All submitted papers must: - be written in English and be submitted in PDF format; - contain author names, affiliations, and email addresses; - be formatted according to the Springer's LNCS format Proceedings template. Information about the Springer LNCS format can be found at http://www.springer.de/comp/lncs/authors.html ; - Three to five keywords characterizing the paper should be indicated at the end of the abstract; - The type of paper (technical/empirical or evaluation/experience/exploratory/position paper) should be indicated in the submission. - Full paper submissions should not exceed 15 pages and short paper should not exceed 8 pages (including all text, figures, references and appendices) ; - Submissions not conforming to the LNCS format, and exceeding the submission pages limits or being obviously out of the scope of the conference, will be rejected without review. Submissions should be made electronically in PDF via the electronic submission system of the EINS 2015 Conference Management system at: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=eins2015 CAMERA-READY SUBMISSION CONDITIONS Camera-ready submissions should corrected by following the remarks of the referees and submitted in zip format including (1) the camera-ready version of the authors' work in pdf format, (2) the camera-ready version of the authors' work in editable sources format as well as (3) the Consent to Publish signed in ink and scanned to image file. The results described must be unpublished and must not be under review elsewhere. Submissions must conform to Springer's LNCS format and should be, including all text, figures, references and appendices: - 15 pages, for the regular papers, - 8 pages, for the short papers. Information about the Springer LNCS format can be found at http://www.springer.de/comp/lncs/authors.html. Submissions of camera-ready should be made electronically in ZIP (including the aforementioned files) format via the electronic submission system of the EINS 2015 Conference Management system at https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=eins2015 by submitting a new version to the original. PUBLICATION Accepted papers will be presented at EINS 2015 and published in the conference proceedings Volume, which is published in the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS). Authors of selected best papers from the conference will be contacted in order to consider submission of an expanded version of their papers for publication in Internet science inter-disciplinary Journal(s). The papers in all the categories should describe original results that have not been accepted or submitted for publication elsewhere. All submissions will be evaluated by at least three members of the international program committee. ORGANIZER The EINS Network of Excellence in Internet Science (www.internet-science.eu <http://www.internet-science.eu>) is supported by the European Commission under its FP7 research-funding programme (ICT theme). It aims to strengthen scientific and technological excellence by developing an integrated and interdisciplinary scientific understanding of Internet networks and their co-evolution with society, by addressing the fragmentation of European research in this area, at geographical and disciplinary levels. GENERAL CHAIR Thanassis Tiropanis, University of Southampton, UK PROGRAMME CHAIRS Athena Vakali, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Laura Sartori, University of Bologna, Italy PROCEEDINGS CHAIR Pete Burnap, Cardiff University EVENT COORDINATOR Roger Torrenti, Sigma Orionis, France ORGANISING COMMITTEE Anna Satsiou, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Greece (Chair) Stavroula Maglavera, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Greece Franco Bagnoli, University of Florence, Italy Hugo Vivier, Sigma Orionis. France

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AlJazeera: "Can Iceland become the 'Switzerland of data'?"
by J.C. DE MARTIN Dec. 30, 2014

Dec. 30, 2014

*Can Iceland become the 'Switzerland of data'?* /Amid government snooping, tiny Nordic nation hopes to brand itself as a safe haven for data privacy around the globe./ Felix Gaedtke Last updated: 28 Dec 2014 13:56 Reykjavík, Iceland - On a cold, windy December afternoon in the southern Icelandic town of Reykjanesbaer, this former NATO airbase looked like nothing more than a huge warehouse from the outside. But the barbed-wire fence surrounding it and surveillance cameras atop its gates betrayed its importance. This facility, which began operating in February 2012, is one of several data centres in Iceland. It's run by Verne Global, a company that allows its customers to store data on servers here. Tate Cantrell, the company's chief technical officer, explained why Verne Global favoured this tiny Nordic nation of all places. "In Iceland, you've got this ideal situation: energy, excellent connectivity for data, and a constant cool climate. So Iceland was an obvious choice." […] More: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/12/can-iceland-become-switze…

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