Hot Energy Topic n° 5, Insight_E publication

Lead Author: Paul Deane (UCC)
Authoring Team: Ulrich Fahl (University of Stuttgart), Carole Mathieu (Ifri)
Reviewers: Kimon Keramidas (Enerdata)

The Snowden affair could bring about major changes in the structure of the Internet and its governance. Technologies should now a priori integrate standards which give citizens the capacity to keep a check on what data is available.

This paper intends to take a step back from current developments in Ukraine in order to analyze the lessons Europeans ought to draw from the crisis that caught many by surprise. Whether the Ukrainian crisis really turns out to be a »game changer« in a structural sense remains to be seen, but it has made clear that Europeans should rethink a number of fundamental assumptions underlying European foreign policy.

The Internet Governance debate opposes multilateral thinking, favoring the role of State and interstate bodies, with a multistakeholder model, which aims to unite all concerned actors: states, business, experts, academics and internet groups, among others. 

Washington plays a leading role in Internet Governance, which is hardly surprising given the origins of the Internet and America’s technological ascendancy. However, the majority of Internet users are in non-Western countries. 

While internet traffic is exploding and there is new costly infrastructure to be implemented, the “net neutrality” debate is raging.

Big Data is changing our view of the world by changing our modes of approach, moving from analogue systems to digital-based knowledge.