Governance Of Communication Networks

Few would doubt the potential of information technology to connect individuals, firms and organisations. Whether this will actually lead to the integration of markets and societies is a different issue. The articles collected in this book shed light on crucial considerations for the success of global communication networks. These include frameworks for regulation, inclusion of customers in defining product and service strategies, access to advanced technology and networks for all groups, and more.

Few would doubt the potential of information technology to connect individuals, firms and organisations. Whether this will actually lead to the integration of markets and societies is a different issue. The articles collected in this book shed light on crucial considerations for the success of global communication networks. These include frameworks for regulation, inclusion of customers in defining product and service strategies, access to advanced technology and networks for all groups, and more.

Few would doubt the potential of information technology to connect individuals, firms and organisations. Whether this will actually lead to the integration of markets and societies is a different issue. The articles collected in this book shed light on crucial considerations for the success of global communication networks. These include frameworks for regulation, inclusion of customers in defining product and service strategies, access to advanced technology and networks for all groups, and more.

The governance of global communications is consolidating as a field where innovative political practices of multi-actor collaboration are being experimented. Within this broad political landscape, the Internet governance domain is emerging as one of the most relevant areas where institutional and non-institutional actors are converging in order to reform collectively governance mechanisms that will determine the future developments of the Internet technology. This book adopts a network approach to study the progressive and collective construction of a new discourse on Internet governance fostered by the realization of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum, a new “space for multi-stakeholder policy-dialogue” (WSIS Tunis Agenda 2005, art. 72). Looking both at how semantic and social connections are created in the online and the offline discursive spaces, this book seeks to provide insights on how principles of democratic collaboration between institutional and non-institutional actors are translated into actual political dynamics; on how the global political agenda on the governance of the Internet comes to be shaped thanks to the provision of heterogeneous and sometimes opposite thematic inputs; and, finally, on how the roles of States, intergovernmental bodies, civil society entities in participatory supra-national politics are progressively being (re)defined. Starting form the Internet governance case study, this books aims at providing an alternative approach to the study of supra-national politics as well as of global communication governance processes: one that considers simultaneously contents and processes of political dynamics and examines how immaterial resources, such as information and communication, become a new field for multi-actor politics experiments, conflicts and network construction.

The language of governance extends to patterns of rule found throughout our daily lives. Governance also provides us with a language with which to remake our world. We might ask how to make markets, networks, international organizations, corporations, and other associations democratically accountable. We might also ask what values we want to uphold in our practices of governance. It is important for us to address these questions because, by doing so, we make the future. The Encyclopedia of Governance provides a one-stop point of reference for the diverse and complex topics surrounding governance for the period between the collapse of the post-war consensus and the rise of neoliberal regimes in the 1970s. This comprehensive resource concentrates primarily on topics related to the changing nature and role of the state in recent times and the ways in which these roles have been conceptualized in the areas of Political Science, Public Administration, Political Economy, and Sociology. Key Features: Presents a determinedly global scope through approximately 550 entries written by international contributors that explicitly address global, regional, and transnational topics; cover theories and concepts that are debated globally; highlight similarities and differences around the world; and offer examples from diverse regions and countries Examines the changes in the state associated with the transfer of powers, rights, and functions to organizations within civil society as well as the rise of new types of regional and international linkages and problems Explores how the state has become both increasingly dependent on organizations in civil society and increasingly constrained by international linkages Avoids the jargon that characterizes most writing in the field and translates this language into a more familiar and commonsense vocabulary so as to make it intelligible to a wider audience Offers comprehensive coverage of topics including policy analysis, public sector management, sociological theory, economic governance, democratic theory, security, and global governance The Encyclopedia of Governance offers new insights into the global community of which we are all part, making it a must-have resource for any academic library.

Technology is taking us to a world where myriads of networked devices interact with the physical world in multiple ways and at multiple scales. This book presents a comprehensive overview of the most promising research directions in the area of bio-inspired computing. According to the broad spectrum addressed by the different chapters, a rich variety of biological principles and their application to ICT systems are presented.

Media convergence is often propounded as inevitable and ongoing. Yet much of the governance of the media sector’s key parts has developed along discrete evolutionary paths, mostly incremental in character. This volume breaks new ground through exploring a diverse range of topics at the heart of the media convergence governance debate, such as next generation networks, spectrum, copyright and media subsidies. It shows how reluctance to accommodate non-market based policy solutions creates conflicts and problems resulting in only shallow media convergence thus far.

Mikkel Flyverbom s The Power of Networks is a timely and important contribution to the emerging interdisciplinary study of cyberspace politics. In an exceptionally well-written and researched book, Flyberbom employs a form of ethnographic method to uncover the grounded practices that inform the many hybrid forums and entangled authorities of Internet governance. The book will be of interest to those who want a deeper understanding of the complexity and nuance of the many social forces shaping global cyberspace today. Ronald J. Deibert, University of Toronto, Canada Flyverbom presents an original ethnography of the political ordering processes of the digital revolution. He lays bare the relational practices within hybrid global forums in which multiple actors are mobilized to participate, contest, and dialogue. The book makes an important contribution to emergent global politics governing technologies, networks, meanings, and people within the United Nations system. J.P. Singh, Georgetown University, US With an ever-growing number of users, the Internet is central to the processes of globalization, cultural formations, social encounters and economic development. These aside, it is also fast becoming an important political domain. Struggles over disclosure, access and regulation are only the most visible signs that the Internet is quickly becoming a site of fierce political conflict involving states, technical groups, business and civil society. As the debate over the global politics of the Internet intensifies, this book will be a valuable guide for anyone seeking to understand the emergence, organization and shape of this new issue. In this vivid study, Mikkel Flyverbom captures how questions about the digital divide and the information revolution, dialogues with stakeholders, and networked forms of organization have become key features of the global politics of the Internet. Tracing the making and stabilization of this transnational issue in and around the United Nations over almost a decade, this book demonstrates how multi-stakeholder networks make new political domains accessible and unsettle established ways of organizing transnational governance. The Power of Networks offers a rich account of the practices and effects of organizing global politics and governance through dialogues and collaborations between governments, business and societies the world over. Offering a novel analytical vocabulary for the study of ordering, governance and organization, this innovative ethnographic study of hybrid organizations and entangled forms of power in global politics shows how insights from actor-network theory and the Foucauldian governmentality literature can reinvigorate studies of transnational governance and organizational processes.