Internet Governance: The New Frontier of Global Institutions

The expansion of the Internet has been called the most revolutionary development in the history of human communications. It is ubiquitous and is changing politics, economics and social relations. Its borderless nature affects the roles of individuals, the magic of the marketplace and the problems of government regulation. As its development has increased apace, contradictions have arisen between existing regulatory regimes, private interests, government concerns, international norms and national interests. Unlike most areas where there are global institutions, and the role of governments is predominant, the Internet is a field where the private sector and civil society each have a role as important – or sometimes more important – than governments. The borderless nature of the Internet (recognized by most analysts) produces particular needs for global institutions and has opened the door for innovative approaches.John Mathiason tells the story of this new frontier, where the linkage between technology, information, individuals, old regulatory regimes and new approaches have led to a great experiment, what a volume produced by the United Nations Information and Communications Technology Task Force called A Grand Collaboration .