On Wednesday, June 25, 2025, from 15:45 to 17:00 CEST, the Marconi Society will host Workshop #139: Internet Resilience – Securing a Stronger Supply Chain at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Oslo, Norway. This hybrid roundtable is built for meaningful participation, offering real-world insights and cross-sector collaboration rather than scripted presentations.
In an era where every digital interaction depends on an invisible web of interconnected systems, understanding and securing the Internet’s infrastructure is no longer optional. It is urgent, global, and increasingly political.
A Wake-Up Call from Spain
Just last month, a nationwide power outage in Spain triggered cascading Internet disruptions across Portugal, Morocco, Andorra, and Southern France. It broke connectivity, blocked access to essential services, and exposed the fragility of an infrastructure we too often take for granted.
Recently an analysis was published on Internet Society’s Pulse, arguing that events like this one highlight a pressing reality: resilience is about real people losing access in real time.
Internet Society’s principal Olaf Kolkman shared, “We depend on digital technology in all aspects of our daily lives. These days those technologies are made from interdependent digital building blocks connected via the Internet. Understanding what can possibly go wrong in those complex environments is a first step to a risk-based approach to improve resilience.”
What to Expect from the Marconi Society Workshop #139
This 75-minute, high-engagement session brings together leading voices in Internet infrastructure, government, standards, and civil society to address three core themes:
- The Current State of Internet Resilience
Drawing from the findings of the 2024 Internet Resilience Institute Report, we’ll explore where systems are holding up and where they’re under increasing stress. - The Internet’s Hidden Supply Chain
From subsea cables to DNS resolvers, certificate authorities to policy frameworks, resilience isn’t just about uptime. It’s about the complex chain of interdependencies that sustain digital trust and the single points of failure that threaten it. - Lessons from the Field
Real-world experiences from operators, standards leaders, and voices from the Global South will illuminate the on-the-ground challenges of maintaining resilient connectivity, especially under geopolitical pressure, resource constraints, or regulatory uncertainty.
“The important thing here is a call for action. We want participation in this effort, and we need many perspectives,” said Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist at Google. “This is a gigantic complex system, and making it more reliable is plainly in everyone’s interest.”
Speakers include Fiona Alexander, Vint Cerf, John Crain, Anriette Esterhuysen, Manal Ismail, John Janowiak, Olaf Kolkman, Ram Mohan, and Mark Nottingham, all of whom will be moderated by Maarten Botterman, David Huberman, Pablo Hinojosa, and Marina Pappas.
Why This Matters
Resilience has a supply chain, an interconnected network of infrastructure, standards, policies, and people. If one link fails, the consequences ripple far and fast.
Our work through the Internet Resilience Institute is focused on strengthening the Internet’s ability to withstand and recover from shocks through a combination of:
- Technical standards and operational best practices
- Dependency mapping and failure-mode analysis
- Cross-sector governance coordination
- Scenario-based exercises and knowledge transfer
“Resilience isn’t a given. It’s a shared achievement, built network by network, decision by decision,” said John Janowiak, President and CEO of the Marconi Society. “This workshop is a chance to start building those decisions together.”
Be Part of the Conversation
With dozens of parallel IGF workshops competing for attention, Workshop #139 is a unique opportunity to get behind the practical reality of Internet resilience. Whether you’re a policymaker, engineer, civil society advocate, or just passionate about digital trust, your voice is needed.
