1. Cross-Disciplinary Lessons
for the Future Internet
Anne-Marie Oostveen, Isis Hjorth, Brian Pickering, Michael Boniface,
Eric Meyer, Cristobal Cobo and Ralph Schroeder
Future Internet Assembly,
Aalborg, 11 May 2012
© 2011 The SESERV Consortium 1

2. SESERV project objectives
some people some people
study the Internet build the Internet
those that study and
those that build
need to talk
June 2011 SESERV workshop at University of Oxford where experts in
FI technology engaged with social scientists, economists,
policy makers and other stakeholders.
© 2011 The SESERV Consortium 2

3. Topics of discussion
• Content analysis on 2 recent reports (Towards a Future
Internet and Social Impact of ICT Studies):
Societal concerns for the Future Internet
 Regulation  E-democracy
 Privacy and data protection  Digital Citizenship
 Online Identity  Digital Inclusion
 Green Issues  Online Communities
 Security of Communications  Internet of Things
 Content Regulation  Consumers and Suppliers
 Cloud Computing  Distributed Knowledge
 Trust  Cybercrime and Cyber law
• 98 representatives from FP7 FI Projects rated the relevance.
• 6 key issues: privacy, online identity, security of
communications, online communities, internet of things,
cloud computing.
© 2011 The SESERV Consortium 3

4. Cross-cutting socio-economic
challenges
1. Call for increased transparency
2. Call for more user-centricity and control
3. Continuing need for further multi-disciplinary bridging
4. Striking a balance between extremes in debates and
design
5. Facilitating the development of digital literacy
6. Addressing the lack of common vocabularies and
definitions
7. Need for clarity about digital rights and digital choice
8. Enabling global regulatory frameworks
© 2011 The SESERV Consortium 4

5. Ad 1. Increased transparency
• Systems & applications should offer end-users tools that
allow for filtering of information and sharing of content.
• End-users should know exactly who has access to, for
example, the contents of their online social network.
• Transparency also relates to ISPs and data storage,
particularly in move towards cloud-based services.
• Many companies run services on 3rd party infrastructure
which is not sufficiently transparent.
• Providers could publish monthly statistics on attacks.
• End-users able to identify where and how their data is
stored and how it is, or will be used.
© 2011 The SESERV Consortium 5

6. Ad. 2 User-centricity & control
• Need for increased user-centricity in design of
applications.
• Give users some means of influencing systems on
ongoing basis.
• Creative uses could feed back into systems to improve
them and innovate further.
• Latent scope for more user control:
• Users should be able, in a more granular manner, to
opt-out of services or elements of services
• A range of different choices for how user data is stored
• Better ways of assessing and controlling security risks
© 2011 The SESERV Consortium 6

7. Ad. 3 Multi-disciplinary bridging
• Need for greater knowledge-exchange, dialogue, and
collaboration across and beyond academic fields,
industry, developers, designers and users.
• Create frameworks for knowledge exchange
• Facilitate connections between, for example, technical
and legal analysts to avoid siloization or pillarization.
• Multi-disciplinary engagement between human
resources and institutions from early stages of
technology development and design
© 2011 The SESERV Consortium 7

8. Ad. 4 Balance in debate & design
• Call for more balanced and nuanced approaches in
design avoiding dichotomized thinking.
• For example: an acknowledgement of identity as existing
on a continuum from stable to dynamic.
• For example: eHealth privacy practices. It might be
beneficial to seek a middle ground that allows
proportionate access rather than relying on either
laissez-faire approaches or over-formalization (extreme
regulation) of access.
• For example: Discourses on privacy tend to lack balance
(IoT often perceived as ‘big brother’).
© 2011 The SESERV Consortium 8

9. Ad. 5 Digital Literacy
• Digital literacy skills will equip users with more
sophisticated tools for managing and understanding
identity in online and hybrid contexts and thus solve
some of the problems encountered with privacy
concerns
• Security risks could be managed better if best practice
guidelines were available and there was more
awareness.
© 2011 The SESERV Consortium 9

10. Ad. 6 Common vocabulary
• Cloud computing: current definitions are diverging. Some
refer exclusively to infrastructure, while others include
social uses and online activities.
• Internet of Things: definitions are currently too
academic, lack focus on design, and are therefore
difficult to apply in technology development.
• Related to the call for multi-disciplinary bridging and
collaboration, there is a need for an adequate vocabulary
and definitions that can be applied across sectors and
contexts
© 2011 The SESERV Consortium 10

11. Ad. 7 Digital rights & choice
• There is a need to clarify digital rights and digital choices:
what level of anonymity should be granted, and to
whom, and in which context?
• To which extent should digital rights include the ‘right to
be forgotten’?
• Digital choice can be exemplified in relation to the
Internet of Things, where off-line alternatives should be
available (the right to not make use of technologies
without being penalized).
© 2011 The SESERV Consortium 11

12. Ad. 8 Global frameworks
• Global regulatory frameworks are particularly pertinent
to the discussions of security, online communities and
cloud computing.
• There should be consistency across jurisdictions for data
breaches, as well as for anonymity.
• Increased trans-national legislation could ensure that
providers are not discouraged from operating in certain
countries.
© 2011 The SESERV Consortium 12

13. Finally,
More information:
http://www.seserv.org
Participate. Fill out our questionnaire:
http://tinyurl.com/fiasurvey
Thank you!
© 2011 The SESERV Consortium 13