Our complimentary virtual Symposium will be held November 2-3, 2022. Register here for a keynote session with Marconi Society Fellows and Young Scholars and much more!
The Decade of Digital Inclusion is hosted in partnership with the Institute for Business and Social Impact (IBSI) and Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) at the University of California, Berkeley.
In advance of the Symposium, several of our Marconi Fellows shared their thoughts on bringing digital equity into tomorrow’s technology.
By Siavash Alamouti, 2022 Marconi Fellow; Vint Cerf, 1998 Marconi Fellow; and Taher Elgamal, 2019 Marconi Fellow
Achieving true digital equity over the next decade will require interdisciplinary progress in technology, policy and user behavior. We will need to work together across disciplines to successfully drive change. That is why we are looking forward to our November 3 panel at The Decade of Digital Inclusion: Bringing Digital Equity Into Tomorrow’s Technologies.
Here are ten areas that we believe deserve our focus and attention:
1. Improved security at all levels in the architecture of the Internet and World Wide Web
A truly cross functional challenge, the technology that supports this critical work must be informed by social science and the user perspective to arrive at the right balance of security and usability. Ideally, policy makers will weigh in with a light hand to protect consumers online.
2. Counter the amplification of misinformation, disinformation, ransomware, malware, scams in email (spam), social media, web pages
Though tied to the point above, the polarization and threats to civil society posed by deliberate misuse of our communications channels is an issue unto itself. This is very much a social and behavioral science challenge and a place where new business models may be very useful. It is also an issue where the right regulatory touch can provide both a carrot for good business models and a stick for bad behavior.
3. Fragmentation of the connectivity and data sharing capacity of the Internet as a consequence of national policies
The power and benefits of the Internet are diluted when nations make it inaccessible to their residents either as a routine matter or as a consequence of social unrest. Moreover, countries that demand that data be confined to in-country servers diminish the resilience of data replication across data centers in other countries. Free global flow of information facilitated the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We must develop global policy to keep the Internet open and available for all.
4. Increased use of the Internet for surveillance purposes
Between social network applications, mobile phone tracking and Internet of Things monitoring and surveillance, privacy is at great risk. The use of Internet applications often produces “digital exhaust” that facilitates tracking of Internet use and attribution to individuals. Methods and policies that protect personal privacy are needed but must be moderated by the need to hold people accountable for their online behaviors.
5. Advancing digital inclusion by making the Internet more available, accessible, affordable, sustainable, reliable and useful
As we work to connect the 40% of the planet that does not yet have access to the Internet, the technology to close the gap is there. In the U.S., significant funding is also available. Our focus must be on the mapping and analytics to identify unconnected or inadequately served areas, as well as the policies and economic models that create affordable service at speeds and latencies that support remote learning, work, telehealth and other connected services that improve quality of life.
6. Improving skills needed to take advantage of Internet access
In addition to supporting the organizations and people that do the on-the-ground work of digital literacy, we look to new business models and community platforms to help drive solutions at scale. Infrastructure funding in the U.S. will ideally push our progress toward this goal forward.
7. Establishing an Internet data economy that ensures data monetization by their rightful owners and broad financial inclusion – nearly half of the people in the world still do not have access to the Internet and to the opportunities it brings. Bringing everyone’s voices and contributions into our networked world requires new business models that put people’s data under their control to create a financially inclusive world.
8. Ensuring the correct identities when needed while maintaining anonymity when required – business models and changing and policy debates are raging around user control of personal data. Both public services and organizational networks must become more flexible to identify and authenticate when necessary and let users select their level of anonymity when possible.
9. Increase collaboration between connected entities to improve the trustworthiness of the fabric. These entities do not have to “fully” trust each other. Just as collaboration in everyday work improves outcomes and creates a more frictionless environment, collaboration between networks can help improve interactions without requiring complete trusted network status. We will identify more and more use cases and requirements for these collaborations over the next decade.
10. Maintaining the utility of the Internet and World Wide Web despite the challenges above – although there are many challenges with our connected world, the Internet and the World Wide Web continue to underpin the most transformative opportunities of our time. The governance of these assets continues to be paramount and worthy of our support.
We look forward to seeing everyone on November 3, 2022, at The Decade of Digital Inclusion.
