Cari tutti,

recentemente ho mandato la riflessione / domanda riprodotta qui sotto sulla lista dell'"Internet Governance Caucus". Penso possa essere interessante anche per la lista NEXA. Sarei molto lieto di ricevere i vostri commenti / osservazioni, anche in forma privata se necessario.

Ciao,

Andrea

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Andrea Glorioso <andrea@digitalpolicy.it>
Date: Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 12:10 PM
Subject: Evidence-based policy-making and impact assessments for Internet-related policies
To: "governance@lists.igcaucus.org" <governance@lists.igcaucus.org>

Dear all,

during the discussions concerning a possible statement by the IGC on the "nature of the Internet" someone - I think it was Milton - underlined the need to have a clear "problem definition" and to assess the impact of different policy options. I also noted that others - I think it was Mawaki - pointed out that this is rather high bar for an "advocacy" statement.

I take absolutely no position on the need for analysis / assessment before the IGC makes a statement on this, or other topics. The decision to issue a statement as the IGC is of course fully the responsibility of IGC members, which I'm not.

However, this particular exchange led me to a broader consideration. As you might know, the European Commission (similarly to other governments / public authorities) has a formal obligation to conduct an "impact assessment" before proposing new initiatives. In reality, there are some subtleties - not all "initiatives" require it - but the key concept remains.

You can find further information on the European Commission's approach to impact assessments at http://ec.europa.eu/governance/impact/index_en.htm. If you are interesed and have plenty of time at your disposal, you might also be interested in two recent papers analysing how well (or not :) the EC has performed in this particular area (G. Lucchetta, "Impact Assessment and the Policy Cycle in the EU", 2013, http://www.ceps.eu/book/impact-assessment-and-policy-cycle-eu;  O. Fritsch, C. Radaelli, L. Schrefler, A. Renda, "Regulatory Quality in the European Commission and the UK: Old questions and new findings", 2012, http://www.ceps.eu/book/regulatory-quality-european-commission-and-uk-old-questions-and-new-findings).

When conducting impact assessments, there are certain agreed procedures which are rather generic or "horizontal", i.e. applying to different policy areas; but there are also add-on procedures and methodologies that are used when tackling more specific policy areas / impacts. To continue with the example of the European Commission Impact Assessment procedures, which are the ones I know best, specific guidelines / methodologies to assess the impact on SMEs, administrative simplification and fundamental rights have been introduced throughout the years.

I wonder whether there is a need to introduce specific guidelines / methodologies to assess the impact of Internet-related policies (which I define on the fly as "policies (including regulation, soft law, research activities) which either impact on, or are impacted by, the Internet). Questions that come to my mind:

- is the Internet an important enough phenomenon / infrastructure to justify having specific methodologies to assess the impact of policies on it, and its impact on policies?

- are existing methodologies (e.g. concerning the impact on ICT or telecommunication networks generically) enough to cover this need?

- which kind of basic questions should one ask when assessing the impact of Internet-related policies?
- which kind of methodological tools (and from which disciplines) should one consider when performing such impact assessment?

Food for thought. I'd appreciate all your comments / reactions, either on the list or also privately.

Ciao,

Andrea

--
I speak only for myself. Sometimes I do not even agree with myself. Keep it in mind.
Twitter: @andreaglorioso
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--
I speak only for myself. Sometimes I do not even agree with myself. Keep it in mind.
Twitter: @andreaglorioso
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrea.glorioso
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=1749288&trk=tab_pro