Dear Friends, The Global Network of Internet & Society Research Centers (NoC) is happy to welcome 4 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 67 - 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. * *Cyberlaw Research Centre (CIJIC) of the University of Lisbon School of Law *[Portugal] o Webpage: http://www.cijic.org/sobre-nos/ o CIJIC - Cyberlaw Research Center is a research center dedicated to the legal aspects of cyberspace and, in particular, cybersecurity. Our mission is to create an intellectual environment that inspires and challenges law students, any type of legal professionals, computer experts and society in general to participate in a broad debate on the legal framework for information technologies and the changes they are introducing in daily life. Embracing a multidisciplinary approach, given the particular nature of the subject matter, the CIJIC aims to provide a forum within which ideas can be disseminated and discussed and new projects developed. Among other initiatives, the CIJIC has a periodical publication named “CyberLaw – by CIJIC” and promotes seminars and all sorts of events. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Nuno Teixeira Castro*, researcher at the Cyberlaw Research Center (CIJIC). * *The Governance Lab at the New York University* [USA] o Webpage: http://thegovlab.org/ o Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegovlab o The GovLab is an action research center with the mission to improve people's lives by changing the way we govern. Our goal is to strengthen the ability of institutions – including but not limited to governments – and people to work more openly, collaboratively, effectively and legitimately to make better decisions and solve public problems. We believe that increased availability and use of data, new ways to leverage the capacity, intelligence, and expertise of people in the problem-solving process, combined with new advances in technology and science can transform governance. We approach each challenge and opportunity in an interdisciplinary, collaborative way, irrespective of the problem, sector, geography and level of government. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Stefaan Verhulst*, Chief of Research at the GovLab (http://thegovlab.org/about/team/stefaan-verhulst/). * *The Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project at the University of Essex’s Human Rights Centre *[UK] o Webpage: http://www.hrbdt.ac.uk/ o Twitter: https://twitter.com/HRBDTNews o The Economic and Social Research Council-funded Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project, based at the University of Essex’s Human Rights Centre, maps and analyses the challenges and opportunities presented by the use of ICT and big data from a human rights perspective. Drawing on the wide range of expertise of its interdisciplinary researchers and partner organisations, the Project considers whether fundamental human rights concepts and approaches need to be adapted to meet the rapidly evolving technological landscape. The work brings together practitioners in the fields of human rights, technology and Internet governance, the United Nations, technology industries, and academics, to assess existing regulatory responses and the need for reforms in order to maximise effective human rights enjoyment and protection. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Catherine Kent*, Project Officer for the Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project (http://www.hrbdt.ac.uk/?team=ms-catherine-kent). -- 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. * *INTERNETLAB *[Brazil] o Webpage: http://www.internetlab.org.br/en/ o Twitter: https://twitter.com/internetlabbr o INTERNETLAB is an independent research center that aims to foster academic debate around issues involving law and technology, especially internet policy. Our goal is to conduct interdisciplinary impactful research and promote dialogue among academics, professionals and policymakers. We follow an entrepreneurial nonprofit model, which embraces our goal of producing scholarly research as an academic think tank. As a nexus of expertise in technology, public policy and social sciences, our research agenda covers a wide range of topics, including privacy and state surveillance, freedom of expression, gender and technology. o The main contact person within the NoC is *Dennys Antonialli*, Executive Director of InternetLab (http://www.internetlab.org.br/en/team/cv/#dennys-antonialli-2). 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/. -- Lorenzo Canova Nexa Center for Internet & Society Politecnico di Torino - DAUIN http://nexa.polito.it Project Manager Global Network of Internet & Society Research Centers http://networkofcenters.net/
