A2K and the Global Public Sphere

Confirmed Speakers

Seán Ó Siochrú, Communication Rights in the Information Society
Nnenna Nwakanma, Open Source Initiative
Gwen Hinze, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Natasha Primo, Association for Progressive Communications
Moderating: Laura Forlano, Yale Information Society Project

Wednesday, 10 September, 16h00 - 17h30

New technologies enable communication that transcends the boundaries of the nation state, creating the possibility of a public sphere that also transcends the nation state.   The A2K movement itself takes advantage of the digital facilities - such as wikis, blogs, mobile devices, and social networking tools -  that might produce a global public sphere. At the same time, the technologies that enable the possibility of a global public sphere also create mechanisms for censoring, blocking, and restricting access.  Restrictive mechanisms range from traditional forms of censorship to digital filtering through to media concentration. 

This panel will assess how the networked public sphere both engenders new opportunities but also places new limitations on methods of public mobilization and protest.

The questions to be addressed will include: 

• What is the relationship between the global public sphere as exercised through the Internet and the promotion of the democratic space, either nationally or internationally?
• Does it yet make sense to talk about a global public sphere or is the idea itself premature or unlikely to come to pass?
• How could the production of a robust global sphere featuring information and opinion from diverse and antagonistic sources help contribute to development?
• How do technological design choices underlying widely deployed multimedia devices like mobile phones and emerging software approaches such as so-called Web 2.0 both enable and restrict access to a global publicsphere?
• What is the role of technologists in creating the global public sphere?