NTIA RFC on IoT – deadline 5/23

NTIA[You may have heard this mentioned in https://livestream.com/internetsociety/sotnw/videos/120095892]

https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/fr_rfc_iot_04062016.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Telecommunications and Information Administration [Docket No. 160331306–6306–01] RIN 0660–XC024

The Benefits, Challenges, and Potential Roles for the Government in Fostering the Advancement of the Internet of Things

AGENCY: National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice, request for public comment.

SUMMARY: Recognizing the vital importance of the Internet to U.S. innovation, prosperity, education, and civic and cultural life, the Department of Commerce has made it a top priority to encourage growth of the digital economy and ensure that the Internet remains an open platform for innovation. Thus, as part of the Department’s Digital Economy Agenda, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is initiating an inquiry regarding the Internet of Things (IoT) to review the current technological and policy landscape. Through this Notice, NTIA seeks broad input from all interested stakeholders—including the private industry, researchers, academia, and civil society—on the potential benefits and challenges of these technologies and what role, if any, the U.S. Government should play in this area. After analyzing the comments, the Department intends to issue a ‘‘green paper’’ that identifies key issues impacting deployment of these technologies, highlights potential benefits and challenges, and identifies possible roles for the federal government in fostering the advancement of IoT technologies in partnership with the private sector.

DATES: Comments are due on or before 5 p.m. Eastern Time on May 23, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by email to iotrfc2016@ ntia.doc.gov. Comments submitted by email should be machine-readable and should not be copy-protected. Written comments also may be submitted by mail to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW., Room 4725, Attn: IOT RFC 2016, Washington, DC 20230. Responders should include the name of the person or organization filing the comment, as well as a page number on each page of their submissions. All comments received are a part of the public record and will generally be posted to http:// www.ntia.doc.gov/category/internetpolicy-task-force without change. All personal identifying information (for example, name, address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter may be publicly accessible. Do not submit confidential business information or otherwise sensitive or protected information. NTIA will accept anonymous comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Travis Hall, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room 4725, Washington, DC 20230; telephone (202) 482–3522; email thall@ntia.doc.gov. Please direct media inquiries to NTIA’s Office of Public Affairs, (202) 482–7002.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: As part of the Department of Commerce’s Digital Economy Agenda, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is requesting comment on the benefits, challenges, and potential roles for the government in fostering the advancement of the Internet of Things (IoT). Description of IoT and its Impact on the Economy: IoT is the broad umbrella term that seeks to describe the connection of physical objects, infrastructure, and environments to various identifiers, sensors, networks, and/or computing capability.[1]

In practice, it also encompasses the applications and analytic capabilities driven by getting data from, and sending instructions to, newly-digitized devices and components. Although a number of architectures describing different aspects or various applications of the IoT are being developed, there is no broad consensus on exactly how the concept should be defined or scoped. Consensus has emerged, however, that the number of connected devices is expected to grow exponentially, and the economic impact of those devices will increase dramatically.[2]

While some types of devices will fall into readily identifiable commercial or public sectors in their own right—for example, implantable health devices—most will serve the function of enabling existing industries to better track, manage, and automate their core functions. The potential health, safety, environmental, commercial, and other benefits of IoT are enormous, from reducing the risk of automobile-related injuries and fatalities to enabling micro-cell weather forecasting. IoT has the potential to catalyze new user applications and give rise to new industries. For example, IoT is the foundation for ‘‘Smart Cities’’ efforts, which use pervasive connectivity and data-driven technologies to better manage resources, meet local challenges, and improve quality of life. However, the IoT also presents challenges,[3] which in turn have begun to generate initial thinking and policy responses both inside and outside of government. A number of Federal agencies—for example, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—have already begun grappling with potential health, safety, and security issues arising from the connection of cars and medical devices to the Internet.[4] The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has identified privacy and cybersecurity aspects of IoT, and proposed some possible best practices.[5]

Pursuant to the White House Smart Cities Initiative, the U.S. Government is providing $35 million in new grants and nearly $70 million in new spending on Smart Cities across several departments.6 Additional activities at the federal level seek to take advantage of the potential opportunities as well as address any possible issues raised by the deployment of IoT in relation to agency missions. IoT has also garnered interest by other national governments, standards organizations, and intergovernmental organizations that are interested in understanding how to engage in the IoT ecosystem to encourage economic growth and innovation.[7] Unfortunately, country specific strategies threaten the possibility of a global patchwork of approaches to IoT, which would increase costs and delay the launch of new products and services, dampening investment. The U.S. government will need to work with stakeholders to develop industry-driven solutions; however, thus far no U.S. government agency is taking a holistic, ecosystemwide view that identifies opportunities and assesses risks across the digital economy.

The Department’s Digital Economy Initiatives: More than six years ago, the Department created the Internet Policy Task Force (IPTF) to identify and address leading public policy and operational challenges in the Internet ecosystem. The IPTF collaborates across bureaus at the Department, seeks public comment, and has produced policy papers on a variety of important topics. In recognition of the broad impact that the Internet and digitization are having across the economy, in 2015 the Department created the Digital Economy Leadership Team (DELT). Comprised of senior officials from across the Department, the DELT provides highlevel guidance and coordination, leveraging the substantial expertise within the agency to promote initiatives that have a positive impact on the digital economy and society. The DELT currently focuses on the four pillars of the Department’s 2015–16 Digital Economy Agenda: promoting a free and open Internet worldwide; promoting trust and confidence online; ensuring Internet access for workers, families, and companies; and promoting innovation in the digital economy. Working closely together, the DELT and IPTF ensure that the Department is helping businesses and consumers realize the potential of the digital economy to advance growth and opportunity. Given the cross-cutting nature of the IoT landscape, the Department of Commerce—through the DELT and IPTF—is able to provide important perspective and expertise on IoT. The mission of the Department is to help establish conditions that will enable the private sector to grow the economy, innovate, and create jobs.

The Department also has statutory authority, expertise, and ongoing work streams in numerous areas that are critical to the development of IoT, including: cybersecurity, privacy, cross-border data flows, spectrum, international trade, advanced manufacturing, protection of intellectual property, standards policy, Internet governance, big data, entrepreneurship, and worker skills. For example:
• The Department has long standing technological and policy expertise and experience that it is applying to IoT. The Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has coordinated the development of a draft reference architecture for CyberPhysical Systems and is conducting a Global City Teams Challenge to foster the development of Smart Cities and promote interoperability. NTIA’s spectrum planning and management activities contemplate the growth of IoT and its Institute for Telecommunications Sciences (ITS) has begun testing the possible effects of IoT on spectrum usage. Both NIST and NTIA have been actively engaged with international standards bodies and international organizations on aspects of IoT and other related areas (e.g., cybersecurity), and have been further engaged with other Federal agencies.
• The Economic Development Administration (EDA) provides grants to communities around the country to build up their technology-focused innovation ecosystems in order to grow their local economies and create jobs.
• The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) continues to improve its patent quality, especially in new technological domains, including IoT. USPTO also plays a key role in the alignment of intellectual property policies around the world, so that U.S. inventors of IoT technology can have access to the protections they need to continue innovating and sell their products and services everywhere.
• The International Trade Administration (ITA) is an active promoter of IoT and Smart Cities on the international stage, including participation in the CS Europe Smart Cities Initiative and working with the other Federal agencies to consider innovative financing mechanisms for Smart City projects. ITA hosts roundtables on an ad hoc basis with the private sector and federal partners to discuss Smart Cities and infrastructure financing. In addition, ITA’s Office of Textiles and Apparel is holding a Smart Fabrics Summit (http:// smartfabricssummit.com/) on April 11, 2016. The Department, through this RFC and subsequent green paper, will capitalize on the Department’s experience and holistic economic perspective to craft an approach to IoT and its potential impacts that will best foster IoT innovation and growth. Where relevant, comments received may also inform the work of other federal initiatives, such as the recently created Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity.

Request for Comment: Instructions for Commenters:
The Department invites comment on the full range of issues that may be presented by this inquiry, including issues that are not specifically raised in the following questions. Commenters are encouraged to address any or all of the following questions. To the extent commenters choose to respond to the specific questions asked, responses should generally follow the below structure and note the number corresponding to the question. Comments that contain references to studies, research, and other empirical data that are not widely published should include copies of the referenced materials with the submitted comments. For any response, commenters may wish to consider describing specific goals or actions that the Department of Commerce, or the U.S. Government in general, might take (on its own or in conjunction with the private sector) to achieve those goals; the benefits and costs associated with the action; whether the proposal is agency-specific or interagency; the rationale and evidence to support it; and the roles of other stakeholders.

General:
1. Are the challenges and opportunities arising from IoT similar to those that governments and societies have previously addressed with existing technologies, or are they different, and if so, how? a. What are the novel technological challenges presented by IoT relative to existing technological infrastructure and devices, if any? What makes them novel? b. What are the novel policy challenges presented by IoT relative to existing technology policy issues, if any? Why are they novel? Can existing policies and policy approaches address these new challenges, and if not, why? c. What are the most significant new opportunities and/or benefits created by IoT, be they technological, policy, or economic?
2. The term ‘‘Internet of Things’’ and related concepts have been defined by multiple organizations, including parts of the U.S. Government such as NIST and the FTC, through policy briefs and reference architectures.8 What definition(s) should we use in examining the IoT landscape and why? What is at stake in the differences between definitions of IoT? What are the strengths and limitations, if any, associated with these definitions?
3. With respect to current or planned laws, regulations, and/or policies that apply to IoT:
a. Are there examples that, in your view, foster IoT development and deployment, while also providing an appropriate level of protection to workers, consumers, patients, and/or other users of IoT technologies?
b. Are there examples that, in your view, unnecessarily inhibit IoT development and deployment?
4. Are there ways to divide or classify the IoT landscape to improve the precision with which public policy issues are discussed? If so, what are they, and what are the benefits or limitations of using such classifications? Examples of possible classifications of IoT could include: Consumer vs. industrial; public vs. private; device-to-device vs. human interfacing.
5. Please provide information on any current (or concluded) initiatives or research of significance that have examined or made important strides in understanding the IoT policy landscape. Why do you find this work to be significant? Technology: Technology is at the heart of IoT and its applications. IoT development is being driven by a very diverse set of stakeholders whose expertise in science, research, development, deployment, measurements and standards are enabling rapid advances in technologies for IoT. It is important to understand what technological hurdles still exist, or may arise, in the development and deployment of IoT, and if the government can play a role in mitigating these hurdles.
6. What technological issues may hinder the development of IoT, if any? a. Examples of possible technical issues could include: i. Interoperability ii. Insufficient/contradictory/proprietary standards/platforms iii. Spectrum availability and potential congestion/interference iv. Availability of network infrastructure v. Other b. What can the government do, if anything, to help mitigate these technical issues? Where may government/private sector partnership be beneficial?
7. NIST and NTIA are actively working to develop and understand many of the technical underpinnings for IoT technologies and their applications. What factors should the Department of Commerce and, more generally, the federal government consider when prioritizing their technical activities with regard to IoT and its applications, and why? Infrastructure: Infrastructure investment, innovation, and resiliency (such as across the information technology, communications, and energy sectors) will provide a foundation for the rapid growth of IoT services.
8. How will IoT place demands on existing infrastructure architectures, business models, or stability?
9. Are there ways to prepare for or minimize IoT disruptions in these infrastructures? How are these infrastructures planning and evolving to meet the demands of IoT?
10. What role might the government play in bolstering and protecting the availability and resiliency of these infrastructures to support IoT? Economy: IoT has already begun to alter the U.S. economy by enabling the development of innovative consumer products and entirely new economic sectors, enhancing a variety of existing products and services, and facilitating new manufacturing and delivery systems. In light of this, how should we think of and assess IoT and its effects? The questions below are an effort to understand both the potential economic implications of IoT for the U.S. economy, as well as how to quantify and analyze the economic impact of IoT in the future. The Department is interested in both the likely implications of IoT on the U.S. economy and society, as well as the tools that could be used to quantify that impact. 11. Should the government quantify and measure the IoT sector? If so, how? a. As devices manufactured or sold (in value or volume)? b. As industrial/manufacturing components? c. As part of the digital economy? i. In providing services ii. In the commerce of digital goods d. In enabling more advanced manufacturing and supply chains? e. What other metrics would be useful, if any? What new data collection tools might be necessary, if any? f. How might IoT fit within the existing industry classification systems? What new sector codes are necessary, if any?
12. Should the government measure the economic impact of IoT? If so, how? a. Are there novel analytical tools that should be applied? b. Does IoT create unique challenges for impact measurement?
13. What impact will the proliferation of IoT have on industrial practices, for example, advanced manufacturing, supply chains, or agriculture? a. What will be the benefits, if any? b. What will be the challenges, if any? c. What role or actions should the Department of Commerce and, more generally, the federal government take in response to these challenges, if any?
14. What impact (positive or negative) might the growth of IoT have on the U.S. workforce? What are the potential benefits of IoT for employees and/or employers? What role or actions should the government take in response to workforce challenges raised by IoT, if any? Policy Issues: A growing dependence on embedded devices in all aspects of life raises questions about the confidentiality of personal data, the integrity of operations, and the availability and resiliency of critical services.
15. What are the main policy issues that affect or are affected by IoT? How should the government address or respond to these issues?
16. How should the government address or respond to cybersecurity concerns about IoT? a. What are the cybersecurity concerns raised specifically by IoT? How are they different from other cybersecurity concerns? b. How do these concerns change based on the categorization of IoT applications (e.g., based on categories for Question 4, or consumer vs. industrial)? c. What role or actions should the Department of Commerce and, more generally, the federal government take regarding policies, rules, and/or standards with regards to IoT cybersecurity, if any?
17. How should the government address or respond to privacy concerns about IoT?
a. What are the privacy concerns raised specifically by IoT? How are they different from other privacy concerns?
b. Do these concerns change based on the categorization of IoT applications (e.g., based on categories for Question 4, or consumer vs. industrial)? c. What role or actions should the Department of Commerce and, more generally, the federal government take regarding policies, rules, and/or standards with regards to privacy and the IoT?
18. Are there other consumer protection issues that are raised specifically by IoT? If so, what are they and how should the government respond to the concerns?
19. In what ways could IoT affect and be affected by questions of economic equity? a. In what ways could IoT potentially help disadvantaged communities or groups? Rural communities? b. In what ways might IoT create obstacles for these communities or groups? c. What effects, if any, will Internet access have on IoT, and what effects, if any, will IoT have on Internet access? d. What role, if any, should the government play in ensuring that the positive impacts of IoT reach all Americans and keep the negatives from disproportionately impacting disadvantaged communities or groups? International Engagement: As mentioned earlier, efforts have begun in foreign jurisdictions, standards organizations, and intergovernmental bodies to explore the potential of, and develop standards, specifications, and best practices for IoT. The Department is seeking input on how to best monitor and/or engage in various international fora as part of the government’s ongoing efforts to encourage innovation and growth of the digital economy.
20. What factors should the Department consider in its international engagement in: a. Standards and specification organizations? b. Bilateral and multilateral engagement? c. Industry alliances? d. Other?
21. What issues, if any, regarding IoT should the Department focus on through international engagement?
22. Are there Internet governance issues now or in the foreseeable future specific to IoT?
23. Are there policies that the government should seek to promote with international partners that would be helpful in the IoT context?
24. What factors can impede the growth of the IoT outside the U. S. (e.g., data or service localization requirements or other barriers to trade), or otherwise constrain the ability of U.S. companies to provide those services on a global basis? How can the government help to alleviate these factors? Additional Issues:
25. Are there IoT policy areas that could be appropriate for multistakeholder engagement, similar to the NTIA-run processes on privacy and cybersecurity?
26. What role should the Department of Commerce play within the federal government in helping to address the challenges and opportunities of IoT? How can the Department of Commerce best collaborate with stakeholders on IoT matters?
27. How should government and the private sector collaborate to ensure that infrastructure, policy, technology, and investment are working together to best fuel IoT growth and development? Would an overarching strategy, such as those deployed in other countries, be useful in this space? If the answer is yes, what should that strategy entail? 28. What are any additional relevant issues not raised above, and what role, if any, should the Department of Commerce and, more generally, the federal government play in addressing them?

Dated: April 1, 2016. Lawrence E. Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information.

[FR Doc. 2016–07892 Filed 4–5–16; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–60–P

Notes:

1] The term was initially coined by Kevin Ashton in 1999 in a presentation at Proctor and Gamble in reference to radio-frequency identification tags (RFIDs). See Kevin Ashton, That ‘Internet of Things’ Thing, RFID Journal (June 22, 2009), http:// www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?4986.

2] In 2003, there were only around 500 million connected devices, but by 2015 there were around 25 billion connected devices. Devices now outnumber people by 3.5 to 1. (Intel, A Guide to the Internet of Things Infographic, available at http:// www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/internet-ofthings/infographics/guide-to-iot.html). It is expected by 2020 that there will be up to 200 billion connected devices and these devices will outnumber people by 26 to 1. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that the cross-sector impact of IoT technologies will be between $3.9 trillion and $11 trillion by 2025. See James Manyika et al, Unlocking the Potential of the Internet of Things, McKinsey & Co. (June 2015), http:// www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/ the_internet_of_things_the_value_of_digitizing_the_ physical_world.

3] See, for example, the concerns laid out by the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) in NSTAC Report to the President on the Internet of Things (Nov. 2014), pg. 21–22. https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/ publications/NSTAC%20Report%20to%20the %20President%20on%20the%20Internet%20of %20Things%20Nov%202014%20%28updat %20%20%20.pdf.

4] See U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Radio Frequency Wireless Technology in Medical Devices: Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff (Aug. 14, 2013), http:// www.fda.gov/downloads/MedicalDevices/Device RegulationandGuidance/GuidanceDocuments/ ucm077272.pdf; see also NHTSA, Vehicle-toVehicle Communications (last accessed March 9, 2016), http://www.safercar.gov/v2v/index.html.

5] Federal Trade Comm’n, FTC Report on Internet of Things Urges Companies to Adopt Best Practices to Address Consumer Privacy and Security Risks, FTC (Jan. 27, 2015), https://www.ftc.gov/newsevents/press-releases/2015/01/ftc-report-internetthings-urges-companies-adopt-best-practices.

6] The White House, FACT SHEET: Administration Announces New ‘‘Smart Cities’’ Initiative to Help communities Tackle Local Challenges and Improve City Services, The White House Office of the Press Secretary (Sept. 14, 2015), https:// www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/09/14/ fact-sheet-administration-announces-new-smartcities-initiative-help.

7] For example, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and ISO and IEC’s Joint Technical Committee 1 (ISO/IEC JTC1) and the International Telecommunications Union’s Standardization Sector (ITU–T) have initiated discussion and work related to IoT.

8] Federal Trade Comm’n, Internet of Things: Privacy and Security in a Connected World, FTC (Jan. 2015), https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ documents/reports/federal-trade-commission-staffreport-november-2013-workshop-entitled-internetthings-privacy/150127iotrpt.pdf; Abdella Battou, CPS PWG: Reference Architecture, National Institute of Standards and Technology (accessed March 9, 2016), http://www.nist.gov/cps/cpspwg_ refarch.cfm

MEETUPS THIS WEEK: #ICANN55 NYC PUBLIC FORUM REMOTE HUB MON & THURS @CIVICHALL

ICANN 55ICANN’s 55th Meeting takes place this week in Marrakech, Morocco. ISOC-NY, in partnership with Civic Hall, will host a NYC remote hub for the two Public Forum sessions. The hub will be fully interactive, with 2-way video, and refreshments will be supplied. This is an important opportunity to participate in the Internet Governance process at a critical time in ICANN’s development – not just the finalization of the IANA transition, casting off the reins of the US Government, but also other critical issues, such as the further advancement of the TLD expansion, what to do with the millions of revenue from same, how to resolve the conflicts between privacy and transparency in determining a new WHOIS framework, and much more. The issues will be broadly defined at the first Public Forum session (Noon-1:30pm EST Monday March 7) where there will be some time for clarifying questions, and then fully discussed at the second Public Forum session (8:30am-11am Thursday March 10). You will be able to address the entire ICANN Plenary from the remote hub. Please join us at Civic Hall and have your say!

What: ICANN 55 Public Forum NYC Remote Hub
Where: Civic Hall, 156 5th Ave NYC, 2nd Floor (at 20th st)
When: Public Forum 1 – Monday Mar 7 noon-1:30pm EST
?Public Forum 2 – Thursday Mar 10 8:30-11:00 am EST
Register: Monday – http://www.meetup.com/isoc-ny/events/229405818/
Thursday: http://www.meetup.com/isoc-ny/events/229405846/
Twitter: #ICANN55 + NYC

MEETUP/WEBCAST SATURDAY – Wikipedia Day NYC 2016

Wikiday NYC 2016On Saturday January 16, 2016 Wikimedia NYC will celebrate Wikipedia’s 15th Birthday with a miniconference, hosted by NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program at the Tisch School of the Arts,  supported by the Free Culture Alliance NYC (including ISOC-NY). Topics include Wikidata, Education & Editathons, Lightning Talks, and many inconference sessions. From 4pm-5pm there wil be a live link up with some of the many other similar events taking place worldwide. Attendance is free. Food will be provided. Please register at http://bit.ly/wikiday15 if you plan to attend in person. There will also be a livestream via the Internet Society Livestream Channel.

What: Wikipedia Day 15th Birthday Bash NYC
Where: NYU ITP, 721 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10003
When: Saturday, January 16, 2016 10:00 am – 7:00 pm EST (UTC-5)
Register: http://bit.ly/wikiday15
Webcast: https://livestream.com/internetsociety/wikidaynyc2016/
Twitter: #Wikipedia15

#SharetheNet: Support Cuban Net Freedom, Community Networks on #GivingTuesday

 #GivingTuesday

The Internet Society New York Chapter (ISOC-NY) is now supporting other organizations that share our vision of open technology for social good.

Today, Tuesday, December 1, ISOC-NY sponsors our first crowdfunding campaign as part of #GivingTuesday, a global campaign for charitable giving as an alternative to Black Friday.

#SharetheNet will fund Apretaste, an initiative that brings Internet access to Cuba, and NYC Mesh, a wireless community network in NYC.

This is a critical point in the evolution of the Internet:Will the Net remain open and accessible to all – or locked down by repressive governments and corporate monopolies?

The ISOC-NY answer to that question is:

Empower Internet users to build their own Net and share it!

We’re asking your help to raise $152,000 in 24 hours to to make this happen.

Every dollar you give helps the open Net.

For Apretaste:

  • $6 provides one Cuban Internet user access that bypasses government censors
  • $120 connects 20 Cubans to the Net
  • $480 funds 80 Cubans to the Net as well as the development of an online encyclopedia, maps, store and weather service

Help Apretaste now

For NYC Mesh:

  • $65 buys a router with open source software for an NYC resident so they can cut the cord to monopoly ISP’s
  • $480 buys an antenna and sector radio to improve WiFi reception in lower Manhattan and the North and South side of Brooklyn
  • $2400 creates a supernode that connects one neighborhood to the next

Help NYC Mesh now

This is also a critical point for ISOC-NY – we’re asking for your help so our Chapter can take the lead in building an Internet that is truly for everyone.

There are many ways to get involved in #GivingTuesday. I encourage you to join the movement and visit www.givingtuesday.org to learn more about how you can make a difference.

Thanks!
David Solomonoff, President ISOC-NY

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REMOTE PARTICIPATION: IGF2015 in João Pessoa

IGF 2015 in Brazil

The 2015 Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will take place on 10-13 November 2015 in João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil and in a series of remote hubs located around the world.

Quick Links

 

Featured Blog Posts

Overview

Focused on the theme of “Evolution of Internet Governance: Empowering Sustainable Development“, the 2015 IGF focuses on eight primary themes:

  • Cybersecurity and trust
  • The Internet economy
  • Inclusiveness and diversity
  • Openness
  • Enhancing multistakeholder cooperation
  • The Internet and human rights
  • Critical Internet resources
  • Emerging issues

The Internet Society has strongly supported the IGF from its launch after the original World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

In 2015 Internet Society staff and chapter leaders will be active in João Pessoa – ISOC chapters are also providing some of the remote hubs.

2015 IGF Ambassadors

The Internet Society will once again be sponsoring a set of “Ambassadors” to the IGF. Please read their biographies.

More Information

Please see these websites for more information about the IGF 2015:

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Internet Society Trustees meeting in Yokohama – Remote Participation details

ISOC logoToday Friday October 30 2015 and tomorrow Saturday October 31 2015 the Internet Society’s Board of Trustees is meeting in Yokohama prior to IETF 94. Proceedings will include planning for InterCommunity 2016 and a 25th Anniversary event in 2017. Remote participation is available. Japan is UTC+7) 13 hours ahead of NYC.

What: Internet Society Board of Trustees meeting
Where: Yokohama, Japan
When: Friday October 30 2015 – Saturday October 31 2015
Agenda: http://www.internetsociety.org/board-meeting-agenda-no-126
Remote Participation: https://isoc.zoom.us/j/833672101
Twitter: #ISOCBOT https://twitter.com/hashtag/ISOCBOT
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WEBCAST MONDAY 8/1: Fed-State Joint Conference on Advanced Telecom Services – Best Practices in Changing Times

Best PracticesOn Monday August 3 2015 at 10 am the Internet Society Livestream Channel will present a webcast of the entire proceeding of the Federal-State Joint Conference on Advanced Telecommunications Services public forum Best Practices in Changing Times on July 15 at the Marriott Marquis in New York. The program comprises three panels:

10:00am  PANEL 1: High-Speed Broadband Technology – Availability
Moderator: Gregg Sayre, Commissioner, New York Public Service Commission. Speakers: David Salway, Executive Director, NYS Broadband Office; Deb Socia, Director, Next Century Cities; Robert Mayer, Vice President – Industry and State Affairs, USTelecom Association; Brittny Saunders, Deputy Counsel to the Mayor of New York City. (Panel includes Welcome/Introduction from Catherine J.K. Sandoval, Commissioner, California Public Utilities Commission)

11:30am PANEL 2: Broadband Services Adoption
Moderator: Gregg Sayre, Commissioner, New York Public Service Commission, Speakers Thomas Kamber, Older Adults Technology Services (O.A.T.S.); Phillip Jones, Commissioner, Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission; Luke Swarthout, Director of Adult Education Services, NY Public Library; Louis Zacharilla, Intelligent Community Forum. (Panel includes keynote from late-arriving Travis Littman, Legal Advisor, Office of FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel)

1:00pm  PANEL 3: 21st Century Technology & Broadband Innovations
Moderator: Clayton Banks, New York City COPIC Commissioner & Co-Founder of Silicon Harlem. Speakers: Dazza Greenwood, Founder and Principal, CIVICS.com and Visiting Scientist, M.I.T; John T. Chapman, Engineering Fellow & Chief Technical Officer, Cable Access Business Unit, Cisco; Dr. Lawrence Jones, Alstom Grid; Ed Donelan, Telecom Infrastructure Corp.; Michael B. Shear, Strategic Office Networks.

What: Federal-State Joint Conference on Advanced Telecommunications Services – Best Practices in Changing Times
When: Monday August 3 2015 10:00am – 3:00pm EDT | 14:00-19:00 UTC
Webcast: https://livestream.com/internetsociety/bestpractices
Twitter: #broadband + #bestpractices 


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MEETUP TUESDAY: InterCommunity 2015 Global Member Meeting New York node

Next Tuesday/Wednesday July 7-8 2015 the Internet Society will be holding InterCommunity2015 – the first online meeting of our entire 70k+ global members. Session 1 on Tuesday will be optimally timed for participation in the Western Hemisphere and iComm2015 ISOC-NY will be one of several Chapters setting up “nodes” (= remote hubs) to participate. We will meet at Civic Hall starting at 2pm, and the session will run 3pm-6:30pm. After which there will be a reception. We are honoured to be joined in person by ISOC VP of Global Engagement Raúl Echeberría, who will address the global meeting via our node. Space is limited but all ISOC NY members are invited to attend. Please register via our meetup. It is also possible to individually participate remotely in the Global Meeting (including the Session 2 – 2:00am EDT on Wednesday).

What: InterCommunity 2015 Global Member Meeting New York node
Where: Civic Hall, 156 5th Ave, NYC 10010
When: Tuesday July 7 2015 2pm-7pm
Agenda:
2:00pm Doors Open
3:00pm Node Interactions / Chapter Updates (not available remotely)
4:00pm Welcome, Introductions
4:20pm Launch of 2nd annual Global Internet Report
4:30pm Access & Development
5:00pm Internet Governance
5:40pm Collaborative Security
6:10pm Conclusions & Wrap Up
6:30pm Reception (not available online)
Register (in person): http://www.meetup.com/isoc-ny/events/223682765/
Register (remote): https://www.internetsociety.org/intercommunity2015/participate
Twitter: #iComm2015
Facebook: #iComm2015

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Thoughts On Today’s FCC Net Neutrality Ruling

[From Sally Shipman Wentworth , Internet Society VP of Public Policy]

Today the eyes of many people around the world have been focused on Washington, DC, as (http://www.fcc.gov/events/open-commission-meeting-february-2015) the U.S. Federal Communications Committee (FCC) held an Open Meeting where they voted on a Report and Order around  “Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet”.  More commonly known as  the ruling on “Network Neutrality”, the vote today represents what is a potentially major shift in the longstanding policy of the United States with regard to regulation of Internet services.

The Internet Society has always supported the fundamental values of a global, open Internet grounded in transparency, access and choice. We believe that openness should be the guiding principle that continues to enable the success and growth of the Internet. The goals of the U.S. Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) Open Internet Order – providing U.S. consumers with meaningful transparency, addressing concerns over blocking and discrimination, clarifying the role of reasonable network management, and enabling the permissionless innovation that has led to the success of the Internet today – are all really important.

However, if we look at this in light of a range of proposals around the world that aim to apply policies designed for telecommunications networks and services to the Internet, we consider it possible that such an approach could result in the opposite consequences.  We realize that there are unique legislative and procedural challenges in the U.S., but we are concerned with the FCC’s decision to base new rules for the modern Internet on decades-old telephone regulations designed for a very different technological era.

Regulatory approaches that could affect the sustainability of the global, open Internet need to take into account the technical reality of how networks are operated and managed. Allowing the necessary technological flexibility to keep pace with rapid innovation is integral to ensuring the continued growth and success of the Internet. We believe we need to be careful that this flexibility is not undermined by the use of a regulatory framework designed to govern the old telecommunications system.

The explosive innovation that has occurred over the last two decades has allowed for communities across the world to participate in and benefit from connectivity, both socially and economically. Promoting Internet access and availability is integral to the success of our digital future, and global public policies should continue to be guided by (http://www.internetsociety.org/internet-invariants-what-really-matters) the fundamentals that have contributed to the Internet’s growth.  We believe a regulatory paradigm ill-suited for the current and future Internet ecosystem could have severe implications on this continued success.

As a global organization, we recognize that the FCC’s decision today applies only to the United States, but we also realize that other nations may look to the FCC’s ruling as a model for their own regulations. For that reason it’s critical to us that regulations of this nature be compatible with the principles that have led to the innovation and opportunity that are the hallmarks of today’s global Internet.

We know that these are complex issues and that working to maintain the benefits of an open Internet presents us all with an ongoing challenge. We look forward to reviewing the full text of the FCC’s Order once it’s released.

 

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Internet Society Board of Trustees Encourages Continued Trust in the Multistakeholder Process for IANA Transition

ISOC logo[Singapore – 15 February 2015] – The Internet Society Board of Trustees, during its Board meeting 14-15 February 2015, applauded the progress made by the global Internet community on the IANA stewardship transition and encouraged continued momentum to ensure a robust and successful proposal that leads to globalization. Acknowledging the milestones that have been reached to date, the Board stressed that a successful transition will reinforce the value of the collaborative, multistakeholder model.

The Internet Society recognizes the complexity of this transition and that core issues of accountability, security and stability are at stake. The Board noted that it is encouraged by the transparency employed by the IANA operating communities and by the broad engagement of the Internet community in the process.

The Board of Trustees also welcomed the proposals submitted by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) and is encouraged by the solid progress being made on the names’ community proposal. Furthermore, it congratulates ICANN on the effective operation of the IANA functions.

Internet Society Board of Trustees Chair, Bob Hinden, noted, “This process is a true reflection of the power of the multistakeholder approach to bring parties together to solve complex problems. We encourage all parties to stay focused on the goal of achieving a globally interoperable Internet that continues to evolve as a platform for permissionless innovation.”

In this regard, the Internet Society underscores the importance of the following key principles to support the sustainable evolution of the Internet ecosystem:

• Accountability – Robust measures are essential in ensuring that no single group captures the IANA functions.

• Transparency – A multistakeholder, bottom-up framework is the most appropriate model for the operation of the IANA functions.

Recognizing the success that ICANN has had in uniting the community to discuss the issues at hand, the Board of Trustees urges all participants to maintain momentum in the process and to continue to work together to ensure the successful transition of the IANA functions to the global multistakeholder community.

Kathryn Brown, Internet Society President and CEO, emphasized that globalization of the IANA functions is a critical step in providing additional confidence in the collaborative and inclusive Internet governance model. “Smooth operation of the Internet depends upon a global, coordinated approach to managing these shared resources. The process to transition and globalize the IANA functions is a demonstration of global multistakeholder community cooperation in action.”

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MEETUP: Bitcoin for Rockstars – a fireside chat with D.A. Wallach – Sunday Jan 25

Bitcoin for RockstarsOn Sunday 25 January 2015, at 4pm the Internet Society’s New York Chapter(ISOC-NY) will present “Bitcoin for Rockstars – a fireside chat with D.A. Wallach” at TurnToTech NYC. The traditional existing methods of registering works and distributing music royalties are archaic, arcane, inefficient, and unsuited to the global networked marketplace. D.A. Wallach recently proposed thata decentralized, open, global ledger, based on bitcoin style blockchain technology, as an optimal solution for credits and rights information about music. Then a system of “smart contracts” could facilitate the distribution of funds. Thus:

In the proposed music rights network, each song, recording, rights-holder, creator, and payor would have its own unique address on the ledger. And complimenting this ledger would be “smart contracts,” programmatic rules defining how the addresses relate to each other and automating their interactions. For example, Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” would have its own address, as would Katy Perry herself, each of her collaborators, and each of the companies entitled to royalties from the song. One set of “smart contracts” could connect all of these addresses to one another.

Spotify, YouTube and other services could then issue all-in royalty micro-payments (aggregating all negotiated fees) directly to the “Dark Horse” address every time the song is played. The smart contracts connected to the “Dark Horse” address would recognize the source of the payment—say, Spotify—and then instantly split and redirect royalties to all the addresses entitled to payments from the service for the song. Katy Perry, her label, her publisher, and her collaborators would all have total visibility into payments received by the “Dark Horse” address, and each would receive its shares instantly in its own wallet. This software-based relay station for royalty and licensing payments would put creators at the center of the action, allowing them to understand how much money their works were generating, and from which services or licensees. It would also give artists and songwriters instant access to the funds generated by their work, obviating the long waiting periods they currently endure.

We invite you, on a Sunday afternoon, to join D.A. Wallach and ISOC-NY to explore this fascinating concept! Our interlocutor will be Aram Sinnreich of Rutgers University. Please RSVP via ISOC-NY’s meetup.

What: Bitcoin for Rockstars – a fireside chat with D.A. Wallach
Where: TurnToTech, 184 5th Ave, 4th Floor, NYC (@22nd St)
When: Sunday January 25 2014 – 4pm-6pm | 2100-2300 UTC
Webcast: https://new.livestream.com/internetsociety/bitcoinforrockstars
Register: http://www.meetup.com/isoc-ny/events/219873421/
Twitter: #bitcoinforrockstars

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What infrastructure is needed for positively disruptive technology?

Cosponsored by Disruptive Technologists

and the New York Chapter of the Federal Communications Bar Association

Infrastructure in this sense could be physical (fiber in the ground) – or open source software, legal/policy, etc. – more broadly any type of support structure.

This will be the beginning of ongoing initiatives to address the issues raised and follow with hackathons afterwards. A major component will be the development of standards and protocols for new Net-connected technologies with consideration of the social and ethical issues as machines become intelligent. We’ll also explore innovative funding methods for these projects using digital currencies.

David Solomonoff, President, Internet Society of New York

November 11, 2014

Brooklyn Law School

Fell Hall, 205 State Street, Brooklyn, New York

10:00 am to 8:00 pm

Admission: $20.00

Students with valid ID admitted free of charge

RSVP here

Zephyr Teachout, New York gubernatorial candidate, organizer, educator, and scholar

Teachout is a constitutional and property law professor at Fordham Law School. She is a deeply experienced leader in the fights for economic and political equality and against concentration of wealth and control in the hands of the few. She is one of the leading legal experts on corruption.

Timothy Karr, Senior Director of Strategy, Free Press

Timothy builds on Free Press’ grassroots and policy work to promote universal access to open networks and protect free speech everywhere. Before joining Free Press, Tim served as executive director of MediaChannel.org and as vice president of Globalvision New Media. He has also worked extensively as an editor, reporter and photojournalist for the Associated Press, Time, Inc., the New York Times and Australia Consolidated Press. Tim critiques, analyzes and reports on media and media policy for the Huffington Post.

Serene Han, Ideas Engineer, Google

Technological initiatives to help people confront threats in the face of conflict, instability, and repression

Dave Burstein, publisher, DSL Prime:

Wireless Engineers predict 50x improvement in capacity; How do we make it so?

Spectrum should be WiFi and less licensed. WiFi wiil do more and more, becoming increasingly crowded. Mobile carriers, using existing spectrum, can increase their capacity using MIMO and more with little or no increase in capex. Logical policy: All newly available spectrum go to WiFi/unlicensed.

Bob Frankston, Ambient Connectivity – merging wired and wireless telecom infrastructures

Co-creator with Dan Bricklin of the VisiCalc spreadsheet program and the co-founder of Software Arts, the company that developed it. In recent years, Frankston has been an outspoken advocate for reducing the role of telecommunications companies in the evolution of the internet, particularly with respect to broadband and mobile communications. (remote)

Sander Rabin:  Neurosecurity, National Security and Cognitive Liberty

Sander Rabin, a physician-attorney, is the executive director of The Center for Transhuman Jurisprudence, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is education in human enhancement and the development of policies and model rules of law for human enhancement that protect our rights to our minds, bodies and genomes, while minimizing human enhancement’s potential for divisiveness and harm.

Nate Heasley, Executive Director, Goodnik

Goodnik has developed a labor-backed digital currency for information workers to share resources with non-profits and for-profit companies with a social mission.

Nate has been working as a manager of and consultant to  non-profit and technology related companies for 20 years. Nate also founded GrassrootsCamp, an organization that provides free training seminars to non-profit organizations and social entrepreneurs. It is from that experience that Goodnik started as a way to broaden the impact of those events and ideas from that community. Nate holds a BA from St. John’s College in Annapolis, MD and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law where he was a Crowley Fellow in International Human Rights and a Stein Scholar for Public Interest Law and Ethics.

Jim Dutcher, CIO, State University of New York, Cobleskill

How broadband is transforming rural America and what is needed now

Panel: Bitcoin and related cryptocurrency-related technologies

• Margaux Avedison, Moderator. Co-founder of EvotionMedia, a “Crypto-Media” production and finance entity. She is on the advisory board of the Bitcoin Shop and organized the first Bitcoin Education Day on Capitol Hill as an Advisor for the Chamber of Digital Commerce.She also consults for banks, individuals, large corporations and venture capitalists on Bitcoin and Blockchain 2.0 technology.  She is an early entrepreneur in the digital currency space and relaunched the first American Bitcoin Exchange, Tradehill, in 2012.

• Erik Anderson, Chairman, WC3 web payments group. Lead/Senior Software Engineer for much of Bloomberg’s Charting, Technical Analysis, Trading Strategies, Data Science, Interactive Data Visualization, Backtesting and Technical Analysis Screening, Core Graphics Infrastructure, math/Quants Developer, Financial Services

• Attorney Jeffrey Alberts, Partner in Pryor Cashman’s Litigation Group. Head of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice. Jeffrey’s practice focuses on government investigations and prosecutions and related regulatory proceedings, asset forfeiture and money laundering litigation, victims’ rights representation, and complex civil litigation. Jeffrey is an experienced trial lawyer who has served as lead counsel in numerous trials, including civil and criminal federal jury trials, state jury trials, and state and federal bench trials. Jeffrey has represented clients in disputes involving virtual currency. He also has been quoted by the media concerning criminal prosecutions of virtual currency service providers and government seizures of bitcoins. Immediately prior to joining the firm in 2013, Jeffrey spent six years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he investigated and prosecuted a wide variety of white collar criminal offenses, including money laundering, securities fraud, bank fraud, mail and wire fraud, and bankruptcy fraud.

• Adam Krellenstein, Co-founder Counterparty. Lead developer of counterpartyd; chief architect of the Counterparty Protocol. Counterparty is a free and open platform that puts powerful financial tools in the hands of everyone with an Internet connection. By harnessing the power of the Bitcoin network, Counterparty creates a robust and secure marketplace directly on the Bitcoin blockchain, extending Bitcoin’s functionality from a peer-to-peer payment network into a full fledged peer-to-peer financial platform.

  • Patrick Deegan CTO, ID3 Chief Architect. ID3 is developing a new social ecosystem of trusted, self-healing digital institutions. This endeavor seeks to address the severe structural limitations of existing institutions by empowering individuals to assert greater control over their data, online identities and authentication.

Panel: Hear Me, Touch Me, See Me, Feel Me: Moving Natural User Interface (NUI) to the Mainstream

This panel discussion will explore the world of NUI and what it will take to move today’s emerging NUI technologies (voice recognition, Kinect, haptics, facial recognition, etc.) into widespread adoption and make them accessible to all.

  • Deb Benkler, Moderator. Co-founder of NUI Central – NY, the largest NUI group on earth and is known as NYC’s leading NUI evangelist. She is a practitioner of lean and logical UX focusing on best practices in the broader context of CX (customer experience). In 2012, she won a User Experience Award for her work on the Maryland Transit Administration Interactive Maintenance Kiosk, which incorporated facial recognition.
  • Ken Lonyai Co-founder of NUI Central and is known as the other NYC leading NUI evangelist. He’s a 15+ year veteran of user centered interactive project development including some of the industry’s most unique experiential systems. His skills span the on-line world and nearly every realm of human/computer interface used by brands and retailers – mobile, interactive kiosks, experiential displays, etc. He is a User Experience Award winner.
  • David Melville is a Research Staff Member at IBM. He has worked in the area of semi-conductor fabrication and nano-technology, exploring meta-materials and techniques for optimizing illumination and patterning masks for photo-lithography processors before making a jump to developing visualization and interactivity solutions for smart-grid projects. Most recently, he has been exploring what it means to interact with learning systems and working to establish a new era of computing experience.
  • Sean Montgomery is head of hardware at Ringly, the first fashion ring to manage your mobile device. He’s an engineer, professor, and new-media artist in New York City. While finishing his Ph.D. in neuroscience, Sean began to consider the fact that from the perspective of a neuron inside the human brain, both a cold winter day and the embrace of a loved one feels like a sequence of electrical impulses. Sean co-founded SENSORSTAR Labs, an agile R&D consulting group in New York City.
  • Tanya Kraljic is a Principal Designer for Nuance’s mobility division. Her work focuses on the strategy and design of speech experiences in mobile, wearable, in-home, and other emerging technologies. Prior to joining Nuance in 2010, Tanya earned a PhD in cognitive psychology, with an emphasis on adaptation in interactive spoken dialog.

ISOC-NY and Disruptive Technologists cosponsor events

We’re excited to cosponsor two events with the Disruptive Technologists!

Details on the first below. We’ll follow with an all-day event at Brooklyn Law on November 11 with panels providing a more in depth look at a wide variety of new technologies to be followed with hackathons to fill gaps in their realization.

Please join Disruptive Technologists for a panel discussion moderated by:

Bruce Bachenheimer, Professor & Director, Entrepreneurship Lab at Pace University, NYC

Panelists:

1. David Rose, VC & Serial Entrepreneur, New York Angels, Gust.com

2. Jessica Singleton, Digital Director at Office of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio

3. Chez Mee, Brand Innovation Strategist & Serial Entrepreneur

The financial crisis of 2008 was an inflection point where Mayor Bloomberg was widely credited for reinventing the traditional Wall Street Economy through technology entrepreneurship. Yet some criticized his success as having been more of a wealth creation model for a narrow section of the City.

Are we now at a second inflation point? At the recent press conference in Dumbo to announce Digital.NYC, the City’s new hub for tech and startups, Mayor Bill De Blasio talked about his new technology initiatives. So this brings up the question: Will things get worse or will they get better? What will happen to the gains made by the Bloomberg Administration? Or will there not even be a new inflection point, and things will remain the same? What does it take to make a successful tech ecosystem?

Disruptive Technologists is an organization dedicated to finding out what makes Disrupters tick – what they are thinking, how they do what they do and then inspire, promote, support, mentor and advise  in order to future Disruption in NYC through tech. We do this through the weekly publication DisruptiveTechnologists.com, monthly panels through our organization Digital Technologists in NYC and through our monthly newsletter. We also report on and cover new Disrupters and attend the hottest events in order to spread their Disruptive words.  We offer an intimate look at this new breed of tech entrepreneurs and their innovative products and services.

Join us for the event to hear from some of the most qualified, dedicated, and passionate Disrupters in the business.
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MEETUP: NYC Remote Hub for ICANN 51 – Thursday Oct 16 2014 – Register Now!

NYC ICANN 51On Thursday October 16 2014 the Internet Society’s New York Chapter (ISOC-NY), Connecting .nyc, and the Brooklyn Law Incubator & Policy Clinic (BLIP) will host a Remote Hub for the 51st Meeting of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers aka ICANN 51, taking place in Los Angeles. The hub will be fully interactive, with 2-way video, and participate in 3 sessions. Plentiful refreshments will be supplied, courtesy of ICANN. Please register via ISOC-NY’s meetup, or by emailing admin@isoc-ny.org.

What: NYC Remote Hub for ICANN 51
Where: Blip Clinic Dumbo Outpost, 55 Washington St #321, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (map)
When: Thursday October 16 2014 11am-8pm EDT
1. Enhancing ICANN Accountability 11:30am-12:45pm EDT
2. Community Discussion with the IANA Stewardship Coordination Group (ICG) 1pm-3pm EDT
3. Public Forum 4:30pm-8pm EDT
Register: http://www.meetup.com/isoc-ny/events/212661472/
Twitter: #icann51 | #remotehub

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