POLICY FOR A NETWORKED SOCIETY
Policy Participation reports
Public Engagement through Information Technologies reports
IT for Development reports
INTERACTIVE MEDIA FOR CHILDREN reports
Click here to download Adobe Acrobat.
November, 2007
Surveying Internet Usage and its Impact in Seven Chinese Cities
Professor Guo Liang, Beijing's Chinese Academy of Social Science
Nowhere does the transformative power of the Internet present greater challenges or promise than in China, the world’s most populous country. With now over 162 million Internet users, the second largest number after America (211 million), China is undergoing an information revolution on a scale and speed unprecedented in human history. Such fundamental changes raise a number of questions about how the Internet is reshaping Chinese society. Who is having greater access to ideas and information? And what are the broader implications for society in China? In his most recent survey, Professor Guo Liang describes the impact of Internet development in urban China and its impact on politics and society.
Project: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Download Full Report (1.9MB)
November 17, 2005
New Survey in Mainland China Paints a Detailed Picture of Which People are Using the Internet in China and Why
Professor Guo Liang, Beijing's Chinese Academy of Social Science
The ways in which the Chinese internet users utilize and think about the Internet are described in this public opinion survey of Internet use in China. Among the estimated 103 million Internet users in China*, nearly half are using broadband connections, an increase from 41% in 2003. The survey, a rare Chinese public opinion poll using a rigorous methodology, found that large majorities of Chinese believe that certain kinds of Web content, including pornography and violence, should be controlled. However, only 7.6% believe that political content on the Internet should be controlled.
Project: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Download Full Report (1.9MB)
Winter 2003
Serving Citizen's Needs: Minimizing Hurdles to Accessing Government Information Online
Eszter Hargittai, Sociology Department Princeton University
With the rapid spread of the Internet across society, government institutions are taking advantage of using digital technology to distribute materials to citizens. Here, I report on a project that looked at people's ability to find tax forms on the Web. Findings suggest that people look for content in a myriad of ways and there is considerable variance in how long people take to complete this online task. Users are often confused by the ways in which content is presented to them. In this paper, I discuss two common sources of confusion in users' online experiences with respect to locating tax forms online: 1. URL confusion; and 2. page design layout. In addition to describing these problem areas, I also suggest ways in which these two sources of frustration could easily be curtailed yielding less exasperating and more productive user experiences.
Project: Internet Clinical Advocacy Project
Download Report (1.1MB)
November 13, 2003
Study Shows Market Competition and Government Encouragement are Key Drivers of Growth of the Internet in China
Professor Guo Liang, Beijing's Chinese Academy of Social Science
A two-year study of Internet use and its impact in China reveals that the key drivers behind its growth are market forces, including people's increasing desire to go online and competition among service providers, and the government's view of the information technology sector as an engine for economic growth. The study also examines the demographics and attitudes of Internet users in China, finding that a majority of them expect the Internet will bring more freedom of speech and create more opportunities to express their political views.
Project: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Download Full Report (437K)
Download Case Studies: Approaching the Internet in Small Chinese Cities (1.4MB)
July 31, 2003
Assessing ICANN: Towards Civil Society Metrics to Evaluate the ICANN Experiment
Center for Democracy and Technology
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the unique organization responsible for coordinating certain key Internet resources, has devoted a significant part of its energy to change its structure and processes. A comprehensive framework for evaluating ICANN and its changes is however lacking. This paper examines a number of key documents surrounding ICANN that have put forward, explicitly or implicitly, benchmarks or goals for measuring ICANN's work. Recurring themes were identified in how prominent stakeholders have described and evaluated ICANN. Using these themes found the paper offers a set of ten "Civil Society Metrics" for use by everyone in evaluating ICANN from a public interest perspective.
Project: ICANN Related Work
Download Report (473K)
September 18, 2002
Enhancing Legitemacy in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers: Accountable and Transparent Governance Structures
Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
How should the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) reform itself? As the organization begins a process of self-examination and reorganization, this report presents a set of Best Practices to guide the reform efforts. The report chooses three criteria (representation, participation, and accountability), and draws lessons from a number of detailed studies of other global institutions whose structure and organization resemble ICANN. From these case studies, the report suggests a number of steps ICANN could take to enhance its legitimacy. These include increasing the number of delegates from developing countries and civil society; introducing the concept of double majorities into ICANN's voting processes; enhancing transparency by making information publicly available on ICANN's web site; and several other measures that would allow ICANN to better fulfill its mission.
Project: ICANN Related Work > Internet Governance Project II (IGPII)
Download Report (280K)
July, 2002
Developing Country Participation in Transnational Decision-making: Lessons for IT Governance
By James Steinberg, The Brookings Institution and Dr. Michael Mazarr, National Defense University
In recent years there has been increasing focus on the need for effective transnational institutions and arrangements to address the growing challenges of governance in an interdependent world. The importance of such arrangements is particularly apparent in the case of information and communication technologies (ICTs), which by their very nature raise both technical and policy questions that transcend national boundaries. This article attempts to further the work in assessing how to enhance developing country participation in ICT decision-making by studying how other transnational organizations, outside the ICT arena, address the issue of developing country participation. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of their various approaches as a way of developing a body of "best practices" and "lessons learned" to be used in designing institutions and arrangements to address transnational ICT policymaking.
Project: The Digital Opportunity Initiative (GDOI)
Download Report (83.8K)
 Back to top
July 1, 2002
DOTForce Final Report Card: Digital Opportunities for All - Meeting the Challenge
The Dot Force was created as part of the Okinawa Charter on the Global Information Society released at the Group of Eight (G-8) Summit in the summer of 2001, by the Heads of State, and was designed to mobilize the resources and coordinate the efforts of governments, the non-profit and for-profit private sectors, multilateral and international organizations, and others. The initiative aims to establish a greater global understanding of the role that information and communication technologies can play in addressing development needs and in helping to achieve sustainable economic growth.
Project: The Digital Opportunity Initiative (GDOI) > United Nations Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force > DOTForce
Related Project Website: Partnership for Global Policy Participation
Download Report Card (376K)
Download DOTForce Meeting, Tokyo, Japan: Remarks by Zoe Baird (8K)
Download DOTForce Letter (16K)
June, 2002
Roadmap Toward Enabling Meaningful Participation by Developing Country Stakeholders in Global ICT Policy Processes.
Implementation Team On Global Policy Participation - G8 Digital Opportunity Task Force
How can international ICT policymaking be made more inclusive? This Roadmap underscores the importance of meaningful participation by developing-nations stakeholders in global ICT policymaking; defines the current global ICT policy environment and the most common barriers to developing-country participation; examines key lessons drawn from other global policy fora that are not ICT focused; and lays out a framework of priorities and recommended actions to increase developing-nation participation.
Project: The Digital Opportunity Initiative (GDOI) > United Nations Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force > DOTForce
Related Project Website: Partnership for Global Policy Participation
Download Report (616K)
July 12, 2002
Accountability and Oversight of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
Tamar Frankel, professor of law, Boston University School of Law
Since its inception, ICANN has faced difficult questions regarding its legitimacy, accountability and oversight. But what procedural and institutional structures could satisfactorily answer such questions? Frankel examines the current state of ICANN, and suggest guidelines for possible reforms in several areas: financial oversight; disclosure of conflicts of interest; procedures for granting contracts; and general operations.
Project: ICANN Related Work
Download Report (185K)
June, 2002
Louder Voices: Strengthening Developing Country Participation in International ICT Decision-Making.
A Study by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation and the Panos London
Commissioned by the UK, DFID, this study examines the nature of the challenges facing developing country participants in international ICT decision making, the constraints facing delegates representing developing countries, research and analytical capacities that already exist in the ICTs and telecommunications of least developed countries, the role and effectiveness of regional forums, and examples of countries that have successfully exposed their decision and policy making to broader public and policy debate, as well as those that have not. In addition the study examines the merit of some specific ideas and initiatives already being discussed, such as creating regional centers of expertise in ICT policy within existing academic/research institutions; establishing an electronic newsletter to report on international ICT forums; and building on current DFID programs aimed at creating opportunities; as well as new initiatives within developing countries to stimulate more informed and more inclusive public debate on ICT-related issues, with an emphasis on perspectives from the poor and marginalized.
Project: The Digital Opportunity Initiative (GDOI) > United Nations Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force > DOTForce
Related Project Website: Partnership for Global Policy Participation
Download Report(476K)
April, 2002
Second Level Digital Divide" Differences in People's Online Skills
Eszter Hargittai, Sociology Department Princeton University
Much of the existing literature on the digital divide - the differences between the "haves" and "have nots" regarding access to the Internet - limits its scope to a binary classification of technology use by only considering whether someone does or does not use the Internet. To remedy this shortcoming, in this paper I look at the differences in people's online skills. In order to measure online ability, I assigned search tasks to a random sample of Internet users from a suburban county in the United States. My findings suggest that people search for content in a myriad of ways and there is considerable difference in whether individuals are able to find various types of content on the Web and a large variance in how long it takes to complete online tasks. Age is negatively associated with one's level of Internet skill, experience with the technology is positively related to online skill, and differences in gender do little to explain the variance in the ability of different people to find content online.
Project: Internet Clinical Advocacy Project
Download Report (67K)
Back to top
March, 2002
Broadening and Enhancing the Capacity of Developing Countries to Effectively Participate in the Global ICT Policy Fora and the ICT for Development Process.
Professor Clement Dzidonu and Dr. Nii Narku Quaynor
This concept paper written by Professor Clement Dzidonu and Dr. Nii Narku Quaynor, examines the key issues relating to the question of how to facilitate the process of engaging developing countries in a meaningful way at global policy making institutions. The authors conclude that all efforts should be judged on the basis of the footprints they have made on the development landscape and explain why.
Project: The Digital Opportunity Initiative (GDOI)
Related Project Website: Partnership for Global Policy Participation
Download Report(104K)
November 2001
Report on the Global, On-line, Direct Elections for Five Seats Representing At-Large Members on the Board of Elections of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
Carter Center Election Monitoring
This report details the electoral process by which the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) conducted an election for five seats on its Board of Directors representing at-large members. The report concludes that, due to serious technical and other problems, the elections were highly flawed. Nonetheless, the overall design structure of the electoral system satisfactorily established the conditions for an acceptable election, and provides valuable lessons for future application.
Project: ICANN Related Work > Internet Governance Project II (IGPII)
Download Report (112K)
July, 2001
An Accountability Framework for the Internet
How should the Internet be governed? What should be the balance between the state, non-profit, and private sectors? To help answer these questions, the Markle Foundation commissioned this extensive study of public and expert opinion regarding how the Internet should be governed; what protections users should have on-line; who should set rules for online governance; and in which ways can the Internet operation be more responsive to the public's needs and preferences. The research suggests that, while the public has not yet made up its mind on many of these issues, they want to go beyond such black and white choices as "government regulation" or "industry self-regulation" to fashion approaches that involve government, industry, technical experts, nonprofit organizations and the public itself.
Project: Accountability Framework for the Internet
Download Foreword & Executive Summary (280K)
Download Project Description (32K)
Download Chapter 1: The Public's Images and values Regarding the Internet (772K)
Download Chapter 2 - Concerns About Accountability (1.1MB)
Download Chapter 3 - Toward a Pluralistic Model of Governance (1.1MB)
Download Chapter 4 - Making Governance Institutions More Accountable - (80K)
Download Chapter 5 - Mechanisms Used to Improve Accountability For Problems Encountered On-line & Appendix (183K)
June, 2001
Interim Report of the NGO and ICANN Study (NAIS)
At the root of concerns about ICANN's legitimacy are questions about how best to include the public voice. Yet a number of barriers--both practical and theoretical--make it difficult to establish governance structures for global democracy. This study, held in the wake of ICANN's first At-Large elections, considers some of these barriers, examines the results of the At-Large elections, and recommends steps that can be taken in the future to enhance public participation. In particular, the report suggests expanding the scope of ICANN's operations to include all relevant stakeholders from the non-profit, academic, and for-profit sectors.
Project: ICANN Related Work > Internet Governance Project II (IGPII)
Download Executive Summary (40K)
Download Report (536K)
Download Appendices (100K)
February 12, 2001
Report of the High-level Group of Advisers on ICT to the Secretary General
Project: The Digital Opportunity Initiative (GDOI) > United Nations Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force
Related Project: Partnership for Global Policy Participation
Download Report (27K)
March, 2000
On the Internet, For the Internet - A Common Cause / Center for Democracy and Technology Report on the ICANN At-Large Elections
Produced shortly before the ICANN At-Large elections, this report identifies fundamental problems with the election plans. In addition, it suggests that the vast majority of the potential At-Large electorate does not even know of ICANN's existence.
Project: ICANN Related Work > Internet Governance Project
Download Report (168K)
Back to top
|
