EsadeEcPol launches the Open Internet Governance Institute to encourage global and open internet governance
EsadeEcPol has lauched the Open Internet Governance Institute (OIGI), a venture aimed at creating knowledge and contributing to the conversation about internet governance, digital change and the use of data. The aim of this three-year, pan-European project is to bolster the creation of an open, global system of internet governance by fostering the best possible digital environment for tomorrow’s world whilst helping to design better public policies by means of new technologies.
“The aim of the Open Internet Governance Institute,” said Toni Roldán, director of EsadeEcPol, “is to create an excellent, well-balanced, multidisciplinary space for the great conversation of our times focussing on the threats technology poses to our freedoms and our democracy, but also for making effective proposals enabling effective governance of technology at critical times, thereby taking advantage of its countless opportunities for constantly improving our lives”.
Addressing the great dilemmas, from Spain to Europe
The OIGI aims to finds solutions in Spain for key dilemmas about digital governance in Europe: how can we reduce the risk of bias in algorithms without sidelining the huge potential of AI? How can we ensure a competitive and innovative digital ecosystem whilst minimising the risks of platforms becoming concentrated and scaled up? How can we bolster digital transatlantic relations with the countries with whom we share democratic values and goals, by ensuring closer cooperation in response to authoritarian threats? What is the best way to strike a balance between the utility and privacy of using personal data?
To answer these questions, OIGI will address specific proposals with foremost researchers in different realms of knowledge. The first year will focus on: “Digital transatlantic relations: the opportunities and threats of the quandary between digital sovereignty and open approaches”; “Digital sovereignty and data: striking a balance between safeguarding privacy and the advantages of cross-frontier data sharing”; “How to reduce bias in AI systems”; “Ensuring open access to a new global market”, and “Data for good during the pandemic.”
“Technology has already completely changed how we produce, work, consume and interact. As in all previous revolutions, there is a mismatch between the rules of the past and the rules we should have in order to govern what lies ahead. We need far more robust conversations about how to make all these changes continue to serve our progress and our democracies,” concluded Toni Roldán, director of EsadeEcPol.
Advisory board
The Open Internet Governance Institute’s advisory board aims to encourage productive discussions about policy, academia and business. Its members include José María Lasalle, director of the Esade Digital Humanism Forum and Spain’s former secretary of State for the Information Society and Digital Agenda (2016-2018); Esteban Moro, professor at the Universidad Carlos III (UC3M) and visiting professor at the MIT Media Lab and the MIT Connection Science at IDSS; Nuria Oliver, member of the European AI Association, the IEEE, the European Academia and the Real Academia Española de Ingeniería; Josep Piqué, CEO of Estudios de Política Exterior SA, president of ITP Aero, board member of SEAT, Amadeus, Abengoa, Alantra and Atrys, and former minister of Foreign Affairs (2000-2002) and Science and Technology (2002-2003); Juan Santaló, professor of Strategic Management at IE Business School and PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago; Cecilia Álvarez, director of Privacy Policy at Facebook; Teresa Rodríguez de las Heras, associate professor of Business Law at UC3M; Jordi Sevilla, senior advisor and director of Economic Context at the Llorente & Cuenca firm, and former minister of Public Authorities in Spain (2004-2007); José Ignacio Torreblanca, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations in Madrid and professor of Political Sciences at UNED; Irene Unceta, professor in the Department of Operations, Innovation and Data Sciences at Esade and PhD in Mathematics and Computing from the Universitat de Barcelona, and Víctor Lapuente, chair of Political Science at Goteborg University and visiting professor at Esade.
