The Centre for Trusted Internet and Community (CTIC) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) will be organising the Singapore leg of the first- ever “We, the Internet” Global Citizens’ Dialogue on Saturday, 10 October, to discuss the topic of “The Future of the Internet”. Led by Dr Natalie Pang, CTIC Principal Investigator and Senior Lecturer from the Department of Communications and New Media at the NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, this event is part of the largest global citizens’ dialogue ever held.
Initiated by Missions Publiques – an independent company whose mission is to integrate citizens’ voices into decision-making – the “We, the Internet” Global Citizens’ Dialogue aims to give rise to a citizen’s voice on the development of the Internet through a process of citizen deliberation and participatory democracy on a global scale. 78 countries, such as India, Peru and Canada, have responded to join the event. The 10th of October will see 100 citizens from every country – whether they have Internet access or not – invited to the local legs of the Dialogue to learn, discuss and decide what will make the Internet a better tool for them in the years to come.
At a time when the Internet is becoming the backbone of our social interactions, the current pandemic reflects the urgency of this discussion. Most of the themes of the dialogue will therefore be addressed through the prism of COVID-19: digital identity, the digital public sphere, digital inclusiveness and artificial intelligence. All participating countries will conduct a 5th session on a digital topic in line with their economic, social or political context.
Dr Pang said, “The Internet pervades so many aspects of our lives. It impacts how we work, our relationships with family and friends, and how we engage with issues. This is an opportunity for citizens to voice their concerns and participate in shaping how the Internet will continue to evolve.”
Discussions will result in informed citizen recommendations to be submitted to decision-makers at the local, regional and international levels. The results of the deliberation will be submitted to the Internet Governance Forum 2020 – a global multi-stakeholder platform that facilitates the discussion of public policy issues pertaining to the Internet – under the theme “Internet United”.
The “We, the Internet” project is coordinated by a coalition of leading global partners such as European institutions (European Commission, Council of Europe), UNESCO, Internet Society, Wikimedia Foundation, World Wide Web Foundation, World Economic Forum, the Swiss and German governments and private sector actors such as Google and Facebook.
To register for the dialogue, visit tinyurl.com/wetheinternetsg.
