Extending Rights: Innovations in Global Internet Governance

Abstract

Highlighting the extension of rights to participate in Internet governance related dialogue, this paper makes a distinction between e-government and internet governance, although it identifies an e-government trend toward a focus on civic engagement and thus, ‘participation’. It focuses on the almost six year old institutional innovation, the Internet Governance Forum, a part of the complex Internet governance ecosystem. Using findings from the environmental governance and the public administration literatures, it identifies important elements for successful multistakeholder engagement including network management, cross-cultural communication, and the ability to co-create knowledge. It also lists three findings that possess implications for higher education curricula design today.

Keywords: global governance, internet policy, innovation, e-government, multistakeholderism, co-creation