Ideas

An online knowledge base covering new research, policy proposals and other bold ideas shaping the future of the internet today

  • Post

    Missed our NGI Policy Summit 2021?

    You can still watch the interviews here
  • Post

    Report Launch: Towards Public Digital Infrastructure

    By Katja Bego, principal investigator NGI Forward Today, we are launching our new report Towards Public Digital Infrastructure: A proposed governance model. You can read more about earlier iterations of this work in our NGI Forward vision paper, and blog on open strategic autonomy. On today’s internet, power is concentrated in the hands of a […]
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    DELab and the Next Generation Internet: Identifying and mapping key tech topics using text-mining methods

    contributing to the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative by participating in two consecutive NGI projects: NGI Egineroom (2017-2019) and NGI Forward (2019-2021). This has been quite a journey, with many exciting results and project outputs that we hope will remain useful and relevant. Let us briefly summarise what we have been up to!
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    Policy-in-Practice: Bridging the digital divide through improving the circular economy of digital devices

    Blog by Mireia Roura and Leandro NavarroWe are incredibly excited to launch the report “Bridging the Digital Divide” by the Reuse network, one of our Policy-in-Practice grantees. Learn more about the findings of the project in the blog below, and the detailed report. Computers are important for social and economic development. They are key to […]
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    EVENT: A conversation about Interoperability and building digital public spaces

    Today, we proudly announce the publication of our new report about generative interoperability. To launch the report officially, we will host a live event on the 22nd of March at 3pm (CET).
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    Creating an ethnography of the Next Generation Internet’s broader community: some reflections after the fact

    For the past three years we at Edgeryders have been working on a large-scale ethnography of the Next Generation Internet (NGI), under the aegis of the NGI Forward project. This turned out to be quite challenging, but also very rewarding in its own way. Ethnography evolved to study the culture of well-defined human groups, and was first deployed in the context of anthropological research on indigenous communities. Definining rigorously those groups has its own challenges, but defining the contours of “the NGI community” can be daunting.
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    Public digital infrastructure should be at the core of Europe’s tech sovereignty strategy

    From Beijing to Brussels, Washington to London, tech sovereignty has become the buzzword of the moment in capitals around the world. With the internet now one of the main theatres of rising political tension, it is no surprise that governments are seeking to maximise their influence over its future. But clawing back control over the […]
  • Report or white paper

    Breaking the two-year cycle: Extending the useful life of smartphones

    We must change our approach to smartphones to achieve our environmental goals.
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    We’ve lost ownership over ourselves through the growing role of technology; how do we regain it?

    Artists, academics, writers, and civil society activists are ringing the alarm bell over our lost powers in the age of the internet. Yet, there is hope for optimism. New technologies have given us a wealth of opportunities. They have also made our world smaller. They have allowed us to spend more time with our families […]
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    How video games are becoming the next frontier in the ‘Tech Cold War’

    The 'platformisation' of the games industry is posing some serious challenges for Europe and the internet at large.
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    Calling in the experts: our roundtable on smartphone lifetimes

    We've got some ideas to extend smartphone lifetimes and we invited some experts to put them under the microscope.
  • Event

    26 May: NGI Forward Salon Dark Patterns

    16:30 -18:00 CET Dark Patterns and the ePrivacy Regulation: Putting the spotlight on the current proposals’ blind spot.
  • Event

    17 May: Pre NGI Forum event. Self Sovereign Identity. Trust in NGI

    11:00 -12:30 and 14:00-15:00 CET This workshop has two parts. A webinar with short presentations (60 min) and a general discussion on Big Blue Button for participants to contribute (60 min). The topic is online trust, based on Self Sovereign Identity frameworks funded in NGI projects. International interest in digital identity management and SSI is […]
  • Event

    28 Apr: NGI Forward Salon Primavera De Filippi

    11:00 CET Primavera De Filippi will address self-sovereign identity, the challenges it faces in order to guarantee both unicity (no more than one user per identifier) and singularity (no more than one identifier per user), the way in which these challenges have been addressed by Kiva and WFP through the use of biometrics, and then […]
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    Public procurement conditions for trustworthy AI and algorithmic systems

    A European standard for public procurement of AI and algorithmic systems will help make transparency more practical.
  • Post

    The NGI Policy-in-Practice Fund – announcing the grantees

    We are very excited to announce the four projects receiving funding from the Next Generation Internet Policy-in-Practice Fund.
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    Policy in Practice Fund: Reducing the digital divide by improving the circular economy for devices

    Leandro Navarro from eReuse answers a few of our questions to give us some insight into the project and what it will achieve.
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    Policy in Practice Fund: An internet optimised for human values

    Lianne Kerlin from the BBC answers a few of our eager questions to give us some insight into the project and what it will achieve.
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    Policy-in-Practice Fund: Interoperability with a Purpose

    Sophie Bloemen and Thomas de Groot from Commons Network, and Paul Keller and Alek Tarkowski from Open Future, answer a few of our questions to give us some insight into their project and what it will achieve.
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    Policy in Practice Fund: Data sharing in emergencies

    Manon den Dunnen from the Dutch National Police answers a few of our burning questions to give us some insight into the project and what it hopes to achieve.
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    It’s time to fight for our right to repair

    Can we make our devices last longer for the environment?
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    Workshop report: Ethnography and the internet – collective intelligence insights for digital policy

    The NGI Policy Summit hosted a series of policy-in-practice workshops, and below is a report of the session held by NGI Atlantic, written by Amelia Hassoun, Leonie Schulte and Kate J. Sim.
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    Workshop report: Privacy and trust: trends in experiments in EU-US research and innovation

    The NGI Policy Summit hosted a series of policy-in-practice workshops, and below is a report of the session held by NGI Atlantic.
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    Workshop report: Trustworthy content handling and information exchange with ONTOCHAIN

    The NGI Policy Summit hosted a series of policy-in-practice workshops, and below is a report of the session held by ONTOCHAIN. Today, digital life is an extension of our physical world and it demands the same critical, moral and ethical thinking. However, from the current standpoint and when it comes to exchange of knowledge and […]
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    Workshop report: Follow us OFF Facebook – decent alternatives for interacting with citizens

    The NGI Policy Summit hosted a series of policy-in-practice workshops, and below is a report of the session held by Redecentralize.org.
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    Workshop report: (Dis)connected future – an immersive simulation

    As part of the Summit, Nesta Italia and Impactscool hosted a futures workshop exploring the key design choices for the future internet.
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    Workshop report: Futurotheque – a trip to the future

    Sander Veenhof, Augmented reality artist and Leonieke Verhoog, Program Manager at PublicSpaces took their session attendees on a trip to the future.
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    Workshop report: People, not experiments – why cities must end biometric surveillance

    We debated the use of facial recognition in cities with the policymakers and law enforcement officials who actually use it.
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    Workshop report: What your face reveals – the story of HowNormalAmI.eu

    At the Next Generation Internet Summit, Dutch media artist Tijmen Schep revealed his latest work - an online interactive documentary called 'How Normal Am I?'.
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    Workshop report: Data-sharing in cities

    The NGI Policy Summit hosted a series of policy-in-practice workshops, and below is a report of the session held by the Coalition of Cities for Digital Rights, written by Beatriz Benitez and Malcolm Bain.
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    Two days to change the internet: the NGI Policy Summit 2020

    The Next Generation Internet Policy Summit has gone off with a bang. Find out how it went here.
  • Post

    Pearse O’Donohue: reaching an internet of trust

    I was thrilled to address this year’s Next Generation Internet Policy Summit on behalf of the NGI Initiative, addressing key issues for the future of the internet and our digital economy and society.
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    Think you don’t have anything to hide online? Think again, says Katja Bego from Nesta

    As part of an international campaign to lift the lid on data privacy violations, The Privacy Collective is asking some of the UK’s leading experts why online privacy matters…
  • Woman climbing mountain with European flagLongread

    A vision for the future internet: a summary

    This longread summarises the main conclusions and recommendations of our Vision for the Future Internet working paper.
  • Woman climbing mountain with European flagPost

    Working Paper: A vision for the future internet

    Read our new working paper, setting out NGI Forward's ambitious vision for the future of the internet.
  • Report or white paper

    Internet of Waste: The case for a green digital economy

    The internet’s environmental impact is increasing at a staggering rate and it is time for Europe to act. This report lays out a plan to clean up the internet.
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    Building a greener internet

    How can Europe play a leading role in building a more sustainable internet?
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    Minutes: NGI Forward Advisory Board meeting (22/07/20)

    NGI Forward's advisory board held its inaugural meeting in late July, discussing the project's priorities and ambitions. To promote transparency, we publish written summaries of our meetings.
  • Picture of Toomas Hendrik IlvesPost

    NGI Policy Summit: Former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves interview

    As president of Estonia from 2006 to 2016, Toomas Hendrik Ilves pushed for digital transformation, ultimately leading Forbes to label him “the architect of the most digitally savvy country on earth”. Every day, e-Estonia allows citizens to interact with the state via the internet. Here, Ilves discusses why other governments might be slower with such […]
  • Picture of Marleen StikkerPost

    NGI Policy Summit: Interview with internet pioneer Marleen Stikker

    Marleen Stikker is an internet pioneer who co-founded The Digital City, a non-profit internet provider and community for Dutch people, in 1994. She is now director of Waag, a cultural innovation centre in Amsterdam. Here, she explores the early beginnings of the internet, explains what went wrong, and ponders the future of online life. Marleen […]
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    Announcing the NGI Forward Advisory Board

    Our work requires the support and guidance of a broad community of experts and practitioners, and to help us achieve this we are excited to announce the establishment of our Advisory Board.
  • Post

    Net Partiality, July issue

    We’re on a roll with these newsletters now and I can’t wait for you to see what’s coming up this month. Data, data everywhere When technology perpetuates racism: Charlton McIlwain writes for MIT Technology Review about the fascinating origins of criminal justice information systems in the United States. Drawing parallels to the use of technology to trace […]
  • Post

    Eight goals for a human-centric internet

    As part of the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet initiative, the NGI Forward consortium aims to set out a vision for a more human-centric internet. This blog identifies eight key objectives that can get us there and inform our policy and technology research.
  • New

    Net Partiality, June issue

    Oh, hello! Thanks for joining the latest issue of Net Partiality. It’s lovely to have you.  This month we’ve got more COVID-19 reflections, with a sprinkle of big data and several cookies to chew on. As always, get in touch if you have tips or suggestions for this newsletter. The Great Unwinding? Charting post-COVID-19 futures […]
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    Making sense of the COVID-19 information maze with text-mining

    The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it an ‘infodemic’, flooding society with myriads of conflicting ideas and opinions. To help cut through the noise, we applied some of our data tools to map recent developments and understand how technology is being used and discussed during the crisis.
  • Longread

    The Great Unwinding? Charting post-COVID-19 futures for the internet

    Katja Bego, Principal Researcher, NestaMay 16, 2020 The world has perhaps never been more globalised than under this current lockdown. For billions, the internet – in many ways globalisation’s greatest triumph – has become their sole remaining window into the world. Having a Zoom meeting with team members holed up in their apartments three streets […]
  • New

    Net Partiality – our newsletter is back!

    Here’s the latest issue of our newsletter of great reads about the internet. Send us any suggestions for content and please do share your feedback.
  • Post

    Greening the internet, remotely

    Team NGI Forward has got off to a cracking start in the new world of online conferences, with our debut session at IAM Weekend. Run by a collective of artists, technologists and activists, IAM brought together hundreds of attendees from across the globe to discuss The Weirdness of Interdependencies. We had a great time joining […]
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    €100,000 fund to trial experimental policy ideas and tools to build a more resilient internet

    NGI Forward is offering grants of up to €25,000 to ideas that could help empower governments to build a more resilient internet and tackle today's major challenges
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    How collective intelligence can help tackle major challenges…

    ...and build a better internet along the way!
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    Predicting future trends from past novelty: Trend estimation on social media

    Significant developments of internet technologies are being made across a wide range of fields – breakthroughs that will undoubtedly have a profound impact on society and be highly disruptive in nature. Given the importance of these technological developments, insights into emerging technology trends can be of great value for governments and policy-makers to be able […]
  • Post

    Mapping the tech world with text-mining: Part 1.

    Introduction As part of the NGI Forward project, DELab UW is supporting the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet initiative with identifying emerging technologies and social issues related to the Internet. Our team has been experimenting with various natural language processing methods to discover trends and hidden patterns in different types of online media. You may find our tools and presentations at https://fwd.delabapps.eu. […]
  • Post

    New Horizons in Search – workshop blog

    On November 13th, the NGI Forward project (the NGI’s initiative’s Policy Lab) held an expert workshop on the topic of search and discovery in the Atelier de Tanneurs in Brussels.  This workshop brought together over 30 invited experts from across Europe to reflect on the future of internet search, and help shape the European Commission’s […]
  • Policy tool or method

    Anticipatory regulation framework

    Regulatory systems are increasingly struggling to cope with the nature and speed of technological change. In this report we show how, through changes in practice, regulators and governments can become more anticipatory in their approach to disruptive emerging technologies and innovation. Download the report here Adopting these principles may require regulators to develop, or further […]
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    Exploring an NGI Trustmark

    Trustmarks are a well-established mechanism which help consumers make more informed decisions about the goods and services they buy. We all know the fairtrade stamp on our bananas, trust environmental certifications, and value Better Business Bureau stickers. Where we haven’t seen the trustmark used much yet, or at least not very effectively, is within the […]
  • Policy tool or method

    Collective Intelligence Design Playbook (beta)

    Nesta have developed a Collective Intelligence playbook to help you design and deliver a collective intelligence project. Collective intelligence is created when people work together, often with the help of technology, to mobilise a wider range of information, ideas and insights to address a social challenge. Although people have been working together since the dawn […]
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    When mind meets machine: harnessing collective intelligence for Europe

    Collective intelligence (CI) has emerged in the last few years as a new field, prompted by a wave of digital technologies that make it possible for organisations and societies to harness the intelligence of many people, and things, on a huge scale. It is a rapidly evolving area, encompassing everything from citizen science to open […]
  • Interview

    Interview with Audrey Tang

    In 2014, Audrey Tang was a software programmer dedicated to reforming the Taiwanese government as part of the Sunflower Movement. Now Taiwan’s digital minister, for more than two years Tang has introduced digital governance to the country, allowing citizens to crowdsource laws via the online platform vTaiwan. Here, Tang – a self-described “conservative anarchist” – speaks about the future of democracy, radically transparent governments, and fact-checking robots.
  • Interview

    Interview with Olivier Bringer

    Olivier Bringer is Head of Unit at the European Commission, and in charge of the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative. Here, he talks about the initiative’s vision for a human-centric internet, the balance between regulation and innovation, and his predictions for the future.
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    The social promises of the blockchain

    Innovation always has a deep impact on society, new processes or technologies can completely transform existing systems and ways of working. But how can we ensure that innovation has a positive impact on today’s society? How can we make sure we achieve the revolutionary promises offered by emerging technologies? How do we identify real opportunities […]
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    Data science tools for technology mapping

    Technological developments play an important role in shaping virtually all aspects of life, from work and leisure to democracy and social cohesion. As technologies like AI grow in importance, and impact, even small issues can create huge challenges: from algorithmic biases to the collection of personal data, negative externalities can easily reach a critical scale. […]
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    Is regulation Europe’s competitive advantage?

    Europe could lead the way in creating a regulatory regime that stimulates innovation
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    Can Cities Be Guardians of Digital Rights?

    Everybody who’s professionally involved in technology in cities and communities agrees that the debate on digital rights has moved beyond the implementation of smart technologies. The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) turned ‘Privacy’ into a hot topic, and the Cambridge Analytica scandal catapulted the debate on ethical use of data high up the political […]
  • Longread

    Ten challenges for the internet

    A look at the ten key challenges that form the basis for our vision for a more inclusive, democratic and resilient internet.