IGF-USA: Promoting a More Inclusive Internet
The IGF-USA took place in Washington D.C on July 24, 2017. During the event, the panel “Promoting a More Inclusive Internet” looked at current barriers to an inclusive Internet and explored how access could be expanded to underserved areas and to underrepresented communities. Moderated by Dr. Brandie Nonnecke, Research & Development Manager for CITRIS and the Banatao Institute at the University of California-Berkeley and Chair of the San Francisco-Bay Area Internet Society Chapter Working Group on Internet Governance, the panel brought together several experts on access provision, each with many years experience of connecting the unconnected in the USA and overseas.
Decentralized Approach
One of the main themes of the panel was that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to getting communities online. Rather than focus on technical deployment, the panelists argued that the focus needs to shift to what Internet access actually means to different communities and to solutions adapted to fit their specific needs. When proposing solutions, the first question that needs to be asked is, ‘What are the problems that Internet access will solve?’ Often, what works for one community won’t work for another. “No one should decide what other people’s Internet access Continue reading




