Global Digital Compact
Last week, states in New York reviewed the latest draft of the UN Global Digital Compact. The GDC is an initiative of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish shared principles and state responsibilities for the internet and AI. It's expected to be adopted at the UN Summit of the Future in September.
I joined a letter with other internet and web architects to remind everyone how the internet is already being governed not as a power play but because multistakeholderism works.

Unrelatedly I'm headed to the UN next week for a convening on Open Source Programme Offices (OSPOs), followed by HOPE!
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The importance of technological standards development processes
My first global standards meeting was in 2014 while working as a technical specialist at the Association for Progressive Communications. Marking nearly ten years, next week I'll moderate a learning call with the APC network to discuss with dear colleagues the importance of standards for global human rights organisations. Avri Doria, Leandro Navarro, Juliana Guerra, and Carlos Rey-Moreno will be helping to identify action-oriented engagement in standards that furthers gender, climate and social justice.
The session is closed, but here's a solid reading list:
- APC. 2023. Submission to the thematic report on the relationship between technical standard-setting processes and human rights. https://www.apc.org/sites/default/files/apc_submission_tech_hr_ohchr_march_2023.pdf
- Policy Community Networks Wiki. The Role of International Organisations. https://policy.communitynetworks.group/international-organisations/start
- ARTICLE 19. 2018. Navigating the ITU. Four routes for civil society engagement. https://www.article19.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2018.01.04-Ways-to-Engage-Mini-Brief-FINAL-VERSION.pdf
- CTD and ARTICLE 19. 2023. A Guide to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for Public Interest Advocates. https://cdt.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Art19-Guide-to-the-IETF-2023-03-21.pdf
- Guerra, J., & Knodel, M. 2020. Feminism and protocols. https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-guerra-feminism/
- Derechos Digitales. 2023. The relationship between human rights and technical standard-setting processes for new and emerging digital technologies. Response to the request for inputs ahead of the Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/digitalage/cfis/tech-standards/subm-standard-setting-digital-space-new-technologies-csos-derechos-digitales-3-input.pdf
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