Introduction to Internet Governance online course (2024)
Internet governance (IG) may be more important to you than you realise.
Have you been reading and worrying about cybersecurity threats? Does online surveillance concern you and your colleagues? These are important IG issues. Learning more about IG will help you understand these personal and professional issues, and what can and should be done about them. Net neutrality? Privacy in online storage? Guidelines for cross-border Internet issues? How can regulators enhance and protect without interfering with the innovative principles that are the core of the Internet?
The 10-week Introduction to Internet Governance online course introduces IG policy and covers main issues, including infrastructure and standardisation, cybersecurity, legal, economic, development, and sociocultural issues, human rights, and IG processes and actors.
The course covers broadband policy; management of domain names and IP addresses, including the transition from IPv4 to IPv6; network neutrality; jurisdiction, intellectual property rights, open source and piracy; privacy protection; data security and cybersecurity; child protection; human rights; content management; digital signatures; emerging issues such as policies related to social networks and cloud computing, and more, with space for regional and other issues raised by the participants.
This course can be taken as part of the Advanced Diploma in Internet Governance.
What will you learn?
- To understand internet-related terminology, concepts, and issues
- To understand the international aspects of internet governance
- How to identify institutional and negotiation aspects of internet governance
- How to explain the various regional and professional understandings and approaches to internet governance
- How to engage in the internet governance policy processes in their countries and regions, as well as in global policy processes.
How will you learn?
In this course you will interact intensively in discussions with classmates and lecturers from around the world. You will receive guidance and personalised feedback on your classwork from the course team.
How long will you learn?
The course lasts for 10 weeks:
- 1 week of course introduction and orientation to online learning
- 8 weeks of addressing the course topics one by one (see below for more details)
- 1 week for the final assignment and completing pending tasks
Who should apply
Diplo seeks applications from the following, from both developed and developing countries:
- Officials in government ministries, departments, or institutions dealing with Information Society, internet and ICT-related policy issues (e.g. telecommunications, education, foreign affairs, justice);
- Postgraduate students, academics and researchers in the IG field (e.g. in telecommunications, electrical engineering, law, economics, development studies);
- Civil society activists in the IG and Information Society fields;
- Journalists covering IG issues; and
- Individuals in internet business-related fields (e.g. ISPs, software developers).
This course may also be of interest to:
- Journalists, staff of international and non-governmental organisations, translators, business people and others who interact with diplomats and wish to improve their understanding of diplomacy-related topics.
- Postgraduate students or practitioners in other fields seeking an entry point into the world of diplomacy.
- Postgraduate students of diplomacy or international relations wishing to study topics not offered through their university programmes or diplomatic academies and to gain deeper insight through interaction with practising diplomats.
- Practising diplomats, civil servants, and others working in international relations who want to refresh or expand their knowledge on the subject, under the guidance of experienced practitioners and academics.
Internet governance (IG) may be more important to you than you realise.
Have you been reading and worrying about cybersecurity threats? Does online surveillance concern you and your colleagues? These are important IG issues. Learning more about IG will help you understand these personal and professional issues, and what can and should be done about them. Net neutrality? Privacy in online storage? Guidelines for cross-border Internet issues? How can regulators enhance and protect without interfering with the innovative principles that are the core of the Internet?
The 10-week Introduction to Internet Governance online course introduces IG policy and covers main issues, including infrastructure and standardisation, cybersecurity, legal, economic, development, and sociocultural issues, human rights, and IG processes and actors.
The course covers broadband policy; management of domain names and IP addresses, including the transition from IPv4 to IPv6; network neutrality; jurisdiction, intellectual property rights, open source and piracy; privacy protection; data security and cybersecurity; child protection; human rights; content management; digital signatures; emerging issues such as policies related to social networks and cloud computing, and more, with space for regional and other issues raised by the participants.
This course can be taken as part of the Advanced Diploma in Internet Governance.
What will you learn?
- To understand internet-related terminology, concepts, and issues
- To understand the international aspects of internet governance
- How to identify institutional and negotiation aspects of internet governance
- How to explain the various regional and professional understandings and approaches to internet governance
- How to engage in the internet governance policy processes in their countries and regions, as well as in global policy processes.
How will you learn?
In this course you will interact intensively in discussions with classmates and lecturers from around the world. You will receive guidance and personalised feedback on your classwork from the course team.
How long will you learn?
The course lasts for 10 weeks:
- 1 week of course introduction and orientation to online learning
- 8 weeks of addressing the course topics one by one (see below for more details)
- 1 week for the final assignment and completing pending tasks
Who should apply
Diplo seeks applications from the following, from both developed and developing countries:
- Officials in government ministries, departments, or institutions dealing with Information Society, internet and ICT-related policy issues (e.g. telecommunications, education, foreign affairs, justice);
- Postgraduate students, academics and researchers in the IG field (e.g. in telecommunications, electrical engineering, law, economics, development studies);
- Civil society activists in the IG and Information Society fields;
- Journalists covering IG issues; and
- Individuals in internet business-related fields (e.g. ISPs, software developers).
This course may also be of interest to:
- Journalists, staff of international and non-governmental organisations, translators, business people and others who interact with diplomats and wish to improve their understanding of diplomacy-related topics.
- Postgraduate students or practitioners in other fields seeking an entry point into the world of diplomacy.
- Postgraduate students of diplomacy or international relations wishing to study topics not offered through their university programmes or diplomatic academies and to gain deeper insight through interaction with practising diplomats.
- Practising diplomats, civil servants, and others working in international relations who want to refresh or expand their knowledge on the subject, under the guidance of experienced practitioners and academics.