About

  • Rebooting NoC 2023!

    Rebooting NoC 2023!

    Rebooting process 2023

  • Global Perspectives and Local Realities: Essay Series Exploring Stories of COVID-19

    Global Perspectives and Local Realities: Essay Series Exploring Stories of COVID-19

    Exploring stories about COVID-19 in real time, creating a snapshot focused on the narratives emerging from local communities in order to paint a global picture. » more

  • Takeaways from a special discussion with Yves Dacccord, former Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross

    Takeaways from a special discussion with Yves Dacccord, former Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross

    On March 19, the NoC convened a special virtual session with Yves Dacccord to discuss the intersection of the Internet and society field with the crisis surrounding the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. » more

About

About the Network of Centers (NoC)

The NoC a collaborative initiative among academic institutions with a focus on interdisciplinary research on the development, social impact, policy implications, and legal issues concerning the Internet. This collective aims to increase interoperability between participating centers in order to stimulate the creation of new cross-national, cross-disciplinary conversation, debate, teaching, learning, and engagement regarding the most pressing questions around new technologies, social change, and related policy and regulatory developments.

Why the NoC was Created

A growing number of academic research institutions are focused on exploring a wide range of important issues concerning the future of the Internet and related technologies. Representing diverse disciplines, methodologies, and viewpoints, these institutions have sought to analyze and understand the growing impact of digital technologies on society and share those findings in such ways that serve the public interest. In the process, they grapple with a complex set of topics and issues of national, regional, and global importance, including policy, regulation and governance, human behavior and social impact, new markets and business models, intellectual property, privacy, and security, and many other issues. Acknowledging a lack of internationally coordinated research and engagement activities in the areas mentioned above, a group of academic centers launched the NoC in 2012, within an international Symposium on Internet-Driven Developments: Structural Changes and Tipping Points (SCTP), hosted by the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.

The NoC Secretariat

As a decentralized initiative, the NoC’s coordination periodically alternates among member Centers in the network and has included:

Guiding Principles

Upon joining the Network, participants commit to a set of Guiding Principles, including a set of core values such as openness, collaboration, and diversity. The Network operates independent from governments, political parties and economic interests and does not take formal positions on policy issues.

Roadmaps

There are three main focus areas for 2020. We seek to (1) increase the analytical capabilities of the network through its individual nodes as well as cross-network collaboration, i.e. continue to build NoC as a “sensory” system for Internet & society issues across the globe; (2) augment educational capacity across Centers and continents, drawing from the model of  summer schools, fellows programs, and other educational activities across the NoC; and (3) offer practical guidance to policymakers through toolkits, playbooks, and other materials where NoC Centers work closely with governmental, private sector, and civil society stakeholders on problems they face translating values or principles into implementation, drawing inspiration from a new AI Policy Practice program launched by the Berkman Klein Center. 

The 2017-2018 roadmap addresses the challenges of a growing global network of academic institutions. In a highly connected world in which public and private choices are shaping every sphere of individual activity, researchers of Internet and society issues are becoming increasingly important to translate and map ahead the changes. One specific challenge addressed in the roadmap is to reflect on how academia can interact with other stakeholders. What are the objectives, the parameters and the expected outcomes of such interactions? In proposing a framework to deal with this question, the roadmap also indicates focus areas for cross-disciplinary research, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and internet blocking.

The 2015-2016 Roadmap outlines the strategy towards enabling actual exchange between Internet & Society researchers across the globe. In fact, in order to serve the public interest, studying Internet & Society topics calls for a deep analysis of ongoing trends of national, regional, and global importance, including policy, regulation and governance. Cross-disciplinary dialogues and, more in general, an advanced coordination of worldwide research endeavors on Internet & Society can help to neutrally inform global debates, so to achieve a clearer understanding of complex and distributed phenomena that pertain to the Internet, its impact, and its evolution.

The 2014 Roadmap outlines proposed next steps regarding the second phase of collaboration among the participants in the Network. It builds upon the first Symposium on “Internet­ Driven Developments: Structural Changes and Tipping Points” that took place at Harvard University from December 6­-8, 2012 and has been further developed in the subsequent regional Network conversations and meetings that took place in 2013. These include meetings hosted by ICT Law Institute at Bilgi University, Istanbul, by the Center for Technology & Society at FGV School of Law, Rio de Janeiro, and by the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), Berlin. The Network’s activities in 2014 will scale accordingly with the no ­longer nascent Network, ramping up to include hard research outputs and significant contributions in key policy debates.

The initial year and first phase of development was guided by the NoC's 2013 Roadmap, which outlined a range of enablers such as events, learning calls, or researcher exchanges within the Network. Again, this roadmap fed from the valuable feedback that came out of the Symposium on "Internet-Driven Developments: Structural Changes and Tipping Points" that took place at Harvard University on December 6-8, 2012.

 

GET INVOLVED

Are you part of a Center interested in joining the NoC?

The NoC is an informal network of peers based on actual collaboration. The network is currently coordinated by the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. The NoC encompasses two types of participants:

  • “Participating Centers”, i.e., academic research centers whose agenda is primarily focused on Internet & Society topics;
  • “Affiliated Participants”, i.e., other types of institutions, still with Internet & Society-related open threads, carried out, e.g., as non-academic research centers, policy-support entities, or think tanks.

For more information on how to join the NoC with your center, please reach out to contact@networkofcenters.net. Applications are periodically reviewed by the NoC Steering Committee.

 

There are many other ways to get involved with the NoC: research opportunities, courses, events, physical and virtual conversations, fellowships and internships, and more. We look forward to learning new ways in which we can together advance our studies and impact.

  • Join a physical or virtual event
  • Learn about our programs (e.g., internships and fellowships)
  • Follow us on Twitter

Appel à candidatures – bourses doctorales Droit et IA & stage postdoctoral en droit et technologie

Le Laboratoire de cyberjustice et la Chaire LexUM en information juridique offre une opportunité exceptionnelle pour les étudiants de doctorat et les chercheurs postdoctoraux passionné.es par les technologies de l’information, la cyberjustice et l’intelligence artificielle. La Bourse doctorale de la Chaire LexUM en information juridique et du Laboratoire de cyberjustice est conçue pour encourager deux jeunes chercheurs à se lancer dans une thèse captivante qui explore la thématique des technologies de l’information, de la cyberjustice et de l’intelligence artificielle.

D’autre part, La Chaire LexUM en information juridique propose un stage postdoctoral d’une durée de 12 mois axé sur les enjeux sociaux et juridiques de l’informatique juridique. Cette Chaire vise à favoriser le développement de l’information juridique, l’accès à celle-ci, l’accès au droit et à la justice, ainsi que les questions liées à l’utilisation des technologies de l’information dans le domaine juridique. En collaboration avec le Laboratoire de cyberjustice, la Chaire mène le projet JusticeBot, qui explore l’utilisation du traitement du langage naturel et de l’intelligence artificielle pour améliorer l’accès au droit et la résolution en ligne des litiges. Le stage postdoctoral offre l’opportunité de contribuer à ce projet de recherche passionnant en intelligence artificielle et droit.

En intégrant la Faculté de droit l’Université de Montréal, le jeune chercheur aura accès au pôle d’excellence mondiale de l’Institut de valorisation des données (IVADO) qui rassemble HEC MontréalPolytechnique Montréal et l’Université de Montréal, ainsi qu’aux travaux pionniers en apprentissage profond (Deep Learning) de l’Institut des algorithmes d’apprentissage de Montréal (MILA) de l’Université de Montréal.

Le récipiendaire de la bourse ou du stage postdoctoral trouvera, au sein de la Chaire LexUM en informatique juridique et du Laboratoire de cyberjustice, un environnement multidisciplinaire de collaboration propice au mentorat ainsi qu’à la recherche de pointe sur les questions juridiques liées aux technologies de l’information et à l’intelligence artificielle.

2 bourses doctorales – Droit et IA (Automne 2024)

CONDITIONS

Valeur annuelle : 25 000$ (renouvelable une fois)

DATES IMPORTANTES :

Date limite de candidature : 30 avril 2024

Note : Nous acceptons les candidatures dès maintenant et informerons les candidats reçus au fur et à mesure.Les boursiers doivent impérativement débuter au plus tard leur programme de doctorat à l’Automne 2024 (rentrée août 2024) ! Nous vous encourageons donc fortement à déposer au plus tôt votre dossier de bourse !

Mode de versement : La bourse sera versée en deux fois au service des droits de scolarité : le 1er versement sera effectué au trimestre d’admission et le 2e sera effectué selon les spécificités émises dans la lettre d’attribution.

La Chaire LexUM et le Laboratoire de cyberjustice se réservent le droit de ne pas accorder de bourse en 2024 au regard des dossiers reçus.

CONDITIONS D’ADMISSIBILITÉ :

  • Être admis(e) au programme de doctorat de la Faculté de droit de l’Université de Montréal ;
  • Orienter sa thèse dans le domaine des technologies de l’information, de la cyberjustice et de l’intelligence artificielle

CRITÈRES D’ATTRIBUTION :

  • Posséder un dossier scolaire de haut niveau ;
  • Qualité et sérieux de la candidate ou du candidat ;
  • Démontrer un intérêt marqué pour les enjeux liés aux interactions entre droit et technologies de l’information et de la communication.

DOSSIER DE CANDIDATURE :

  • Une lettre de motivation rédigée à l’attention du Comité de la présente bourse et adaptée aux critères de sélection de la bourse ;
  • Une brève description de votre projet de recherche ;
  • Un échéancier de recherche et de rédaction ;
  • Une lettre d’appréciation d’un professeur ;
  • Un curriculum vitæ ;
  • Les copies de vos relevés de notes (non officiels acceptés) des 1er, 2e et/ou 3e cycles, selon votre niveau d’études ;
  • Tout autre document ou renseignement que vous jugez pertinent (état des besoins financiers, lettres de recommandation, etc.).

Envoyer à : Alexis Leblanc-Roy – alexis.leblanc-roy@umontreal.ca

En savoir plus

Stage postdoctoral en droit et technologie (2024-2025)

Conditions

Date limite de candidature : 30 avril 2024

Date de début de stage : septembre 2024

La Chaire LexUM et le Laboratoire de cyberjustice se réservent le droit de ne pas accorder de bourse en 2024 au regard des dossiers reçus.

La Chaire LexUM s’engage à offrir :

  • Jusqu’à 58 500$ annuel (montant susceptible de changer – voir la convention collective), versé sous forme de salaire;
  • L’accès à un poste de travail (si les conditions d’accès au campus le permettent) et toutes ressources offertes par l’Université de Montréal (adresse courriel, accès aux bibliothèques et ressources informatiques);
  • Un support administratif pour l’organisation d’activités scientifiques.

La ou le stagiaire s’engage à offrir :

  • S’intégrer au projet de recherche JusticeBot;
  • Participer et contribuer aux travaux de recherche de la Chaire à temps plein pendant toute la durée du stage postdoctoral;
  • Participer activement à l’avancement du projet JusticeBot;
  • Organiser une activité scientifique avant la fin du stage;
  • Participer à toutes les rencontres de travail du projet JusticeBot https://www.cyberjustice.ca/projets/justicebot/;
  • Effectuer les démarches d’admission et d’inscription auprès de la Faculté des études supérieures de l’Université de Montréal (voir les informations ici : https://esp.umontreal.ca/stagiaire-postdoctoral/).

Critères d’admissibilité :

  • Être titulaire, depuis moins de 5 ans, d’un doctorat de recherche à la date de début du stage;
  • Ne pas avoir d’autres engagements professionnels pendant toute la durée du stage;
  • Citoyenneté canadienne, résidence permanente ou permis de travail valide au moment du début du stage.

Documents requis :

  • CV
  • Relevé de notes des études supérieures
  • Projet de recherche envisagé connexe au projet JusticeBot (maximum 3 pages)
  • Diplôme de doctorat ou preuve que la thèse a été soutenue ou est sur le point de l’être.
  • 2 lettres de recommandation

Critères d’évaluation

  • Originalité et contribution potentielle au projet de recherche;
  • Pertinence des travaux antérieurs et actuels;
  • Liens avec les intérêts scientifiques de la Chaire;
  • Qualité générale du dossier académique.

Pour toute information additionnelle, merci de communiquer avec :

Alexis Leblanc-Roy alexis.leblanc-roy@umontreal.ca

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Centre de Recherche en Droit Public
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Holly Herndon’s Infinite Art

Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
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Legal identity and data protection in modern societies

By Risa Arai and Aishwarya Giridhar In an increasingly interconnected digital age, the very essence of legal identity plays a pivotal role in how we navigate societal structures and access basic rights and services. At the heart of this lies the concept of legal identity – a recognized and validated assertion of one’s personal existence […]

Centre for Communication Governance, National Law University Delhi
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Auszeichnung für Pionierarbeit in der Nukleinsäure-Forschung

Mit dem Hansen Family Award prämiert die Bayer-Stiftung alle zwei Jahre führende Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum für wegweisende Forschung in der Medizin und verwandten Disziplinen. In diesem Jahr geht die mit 75.000 Euro dotierte Auszeichnung an Prof. Claudia Höbartner von der Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) in Würzburg. Dort arbeitet sie an der strukturellen und mechanistischen Charakterisierung und Anwendung funktionaler Nukleinsäuren, den sogenannten Desoxyribozymen für DNA beziehungsweise Ribozymen für RNA.
Forschung liefert neue Einsichten zur Funktion von Nukleinsäuren
„Lange Zeit wurden Nukleinsäuren nur als Moleküle zur Informationsspeicherung und -übertragung in lebenden Zellen angesehen“, heißt es in der Pressemeldung der Bayer-Stiftung zur Awardvergabe. „Mit ihren Forschungen konnte Claudia Höbartner zeigen, dass diese Moleküle aber auch bei zahlreichen biochemischen Reaktionen eine entscheidende Rolle spielen können, wie sie von enzymatischen Proteinen bekannt sind.“ Neben diesen neuen grundlegenden Erkenntnissen über die Struktur und Funktion von Nukleinsäuren habe ihre Forschung auch neue Anwendungen in der medizinischen Diagnostik und Therapie eröffnet.
Die nächsten Ziele in der Erforschung von Ribozymen sind hoch gesteckt. Claudia Höbartner möchte neue RNA-modifizierende Ribozyme finden, deren Strukturen und Mechanismen aufklären, und sie sieht großes Potential in deren Anwendung zur Veränderung der RNA-Landschaft in lebenden Zellen.
Claudia Höbartner ist seit 2017 Professorin am Institut für Organische Chemie der JMU. Für ihre Forschung und ihr wissenschaftliches Engagement wurde sie kürzlich ausgezeichnet mit dem Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-Preis der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft. Sie veröffentlicht ihre Arbeiten regelmäßig in renommierten Fachzeitschriften und ist Mitglied der Nationalen Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina.
Kontakt
Prof. Dr. Claudia Höbartner, Inhaberin des Lehrstuhls für Organische Chemie I, Tel: +49 931 31-89693, claudia.hoebartner@uni-wuerzburg.de

Würzburg Centre for Social and Legal Implications of Artificial Intelligence (SOCAI)
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Debriefing the 2nd round table for a Digital Public Infrastructure for Electoral Processes [North America, Europe, Bangladesh]

Digital Public Infrastructure for Electoral Processes – Round Table 2Open Knowledge Foundation announces its new project, Digital Public Infrastructure for Electoral Processes, in an online Round Table with experts, activists and academics from around the world. The objective is to share experiences and challenges around electoral processes and technologies. We believe that the technologies that support electoral processes must be open, collaborative and public.

Last Wednesday, November 8th, we had the pleasure of organising the second round table to share experiences related to the development of open digital technologies and data standards in electoral processes.

Beyond presenting our new initiative, the main objective of the event was to listen to and know the local perspectives of each participant, in the hope of identifying common points and possibilities for collaboration.

Round Table

Julia Brothers presented the Open Election Data Initiative (NDI) with a clear message: Elections belong to the people therefore election data belongs to the people. She shared her trends and lessons learned in open election data: Using social media is great but not sufficient to truly open election dada, new actors and new technologies can impact data openness, opening data builds confidence in electoral institutions, open election data is an important tool in the fight against disinformation (as we are witnessing in Argentina)

Joël Gombin working at Datactivist talked about going the last mile of open election returns in France and remarked that even when France has a first-class electoral data collection system it is still very hard to use it. It is not available in a single space nor a single format, geographical units change and there is no univocal way of describing candidates and parties. Therefore, it is a lot of work to use these data, for a one-off analysis and even more for longitudinal analysis. The message is clear: We need a modern way to publish these data.

Judit Meyer from DiEM25 walked us through the system they designed to facilitate electoral observation in the last elections in Greece. The system combined 21000 voting booths with geolocation and a database of members to organise and distribute the work of the volunteers. The platform also allowed them to centralise material like identification, rules, pre-written complaints and training. With this platform, the voter could report an issue and be sure that a volunteer would be assigned to it. The main problem was disjointed data like voting centres divorced from address data and IDs not matching with previous years.

Samuel Baltz from the MIT Election Lab gave us a perspective on the landscape of the data initiatives in the United States of America. The key takeout was the Federal Government does not have jurisdiction over electoral data, this causes huge challenges when trying to collect national data since they do not have a centralised web page. However, he highlighted the work of universities to consolidate these data. He noted how far away the US infrastructure for electoral data is from the European one. He is currently working with a group of 10 developers to collect data from all the states, and clean and sanitise them. He is also currently working on collecting audit data from elections.

Polash Datta presented PolitiPro which is an initiative in Bangladesh to create Politician Profiles to bring information about the candidates to the citizens. One key element that sparked interest in the call is that they collected loan information, among assets, liabilities, cases against them and more. The project struggled with a lot of “open data” not being truly available (inaccessible websites for example). They are currently trying to start working with electoral data in conjunction with other organisations since they have an election in January 2024.

Jelena Stefanovic brought to the table experience monitoring elections. She placed in the centre of the conversation what she considers the three main pain points that require more open data as they are becoming more distant to voters: Political advertising as third-party advertising are making the process more obscure, Campaign financing: where the money is coming from is usually something voters do not know and how election results are presented is rarely done in a way that it is easily accessed and researchable. Also made a good observation while noticing that the outsourcing of the process to private companies takes the process away from the voters.

Angelo Gulina gave an overview of Indecis.it: election programs just a click away. His challenge relied on how to build a proper taxonomy for all the program data, finding this data since every party publishes it in different ways and if it would be possible to develop a standard for parties to publish it in a consolidated way. Shortcomings, it does not offer an explanation of how parties or coalitions plan to implement their proposals and it is not possible to identify inconsistencies in the program. For the future they are planning on civic monitoring and fact-checking: are parties “keeping their promises”?

Sicco van Sas, a developer at the Open State Foundation, showcased some of the work they are doing at the foundation. The main focus was the application Waar is mijn stemlokaal? (Where is my polling station?) and the process they did to consolidate all the data that cities publish to inform the polling stations into one standard. This standard was co-created with the state and helped with access to the data and reusability in other applications.

Chris Taylor is currently working at the Council of Europe in the division of Elections and Participatory Democracy. After listening to all the participants he did a review and provided some feedback. He emphasised the importance of trust in elections, that there will never be a perfect system or a perfect election so building trust in the process and the dissemination of the information is key. Social media communication is not enough since it does not cover key aspects of communication like accessibility or language barrier. He pointed to the Los Angeles County project as a good example of accessibility (13 different languages) and openness.

About the project

The Open Knowledge Foundation wants to create and enable an international alliance to advocate, design and implement building blocks for a Digital Public Infrastructure for Electoral Processes. The goal of the alliance is to create open-by-design technology that can be reused to make democratic processes more trustworthy, resilient, and transparent.

It is not about voting systems. It’s about how open source technology can support all of the stages of the electoral process. From managing the database of candidates and polling stations to the publications and archiving of results.

Democracy needs to be more participatory and only openness can create the foundations for processes where people can be integrated.

The first step in this initiative is to understand what is already available in the field of open elections. We are carrying out a collaborative mapping of local and global projects to gather critical mass and identify gaps, elements that can be reused and the most urgent needs.

Do you know of existing projects or professionals contributing to a digital public infrastructure for elections? Add them now to our Project Repository or Global Directory under the Open Elections category.

Join the coalition

You can express your interest in being part of the coalition working on this project. Fill out the form below and stay tuned for our team to get in touch with more information about the next steps.

I want to join the coalition

Open Knowledge
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Reflexions on Obstetric Violence : Insights from European and Italian Perspectives

Nous avons le plaisir de vous inviter à la conférence « Reflexions on Obstetric Violence : Insights from European and Italian Perspectives » qui se tiendra le 7 décembre, 11h30 à 13h, avec les conférencières Marilisa D’Amico et Costanza Nardocci.

Résumé

La violence obstétricale et génitale est une forme spécifique de violence perpétrée par des professionnels de la santé, principalement des médecins et des infirmières, à l’encontre de femmes enceintes en train d’accoucher. Il s’agit d’une violation des droits reproductifs et sexuels des femmes qui ne semble pas obtenir une attention adéquate. Dans le cadre de son séjour de recherche au CRDP, Audrey Ferron Parayre (Ottawa) nous convie à prendre connaissance des recherches menées à l’Université de Milan par les professeures Marilisa D’Amico et Costanza Nardocci qui présenteront lors de cette conférence comment ce type de violence est combattue dans le système juridique italien, et quel type de réponse est privilégié par les législateurs et les tribunaux européens appelés à trouver des solutions pour contrer la violence obstétricale et génitale.

Conférencières

Marilisa D’Amico

Marilisa D’Amico est professeur de droit constitutionnel à l’Université de Milan, Département de droit public italien et supranational, vice-recteur pour la légalité, la transparence et l’égalité des droits à l’Université de Milan. Elle enseigne le droit constitutionnel, la justice constitutionnelle et les droits des femmes dans l’État constitutionnel au Département de droit public italien et supranational de l’Université de Milan.

Costanza Nardocci

Costanza Nardocci est avocate, professeure adjointe au Département de droit public italien et supranational de l’Université d’État de Milan et coordinatrice pédagogique du Cours avancé « Instruments juridiques pour la prévention et la répression de la violence sexiste ». Elle enseigne « Gender Justice », le module 4EU Plus « Women in Tech : new frontiers of gender-related rights and artificial intelligence » et « Human Rights and Climate Change ». Elle est membre des principaux réseaux internationaux de défense des droits humains tels que U7+ Alliance et le Women and Gender in Global Affairs Network de l’Université de Columbia, où elle a également été chercheuse invitée. Elle travaille sur les droits des femmes, les droits des minorités et le multiculturalisme.

Une attestation de participation, représentant 1 heure et 30 minutes de formation continue, sera transmise par courriel aux avocat.e.s et aux notaires ayant complété le formulaire de présence. Pour recevoir cette attestation, il faudrait s’inscrire en cliquant ci-dessous.

Centre de Recherche en Droit Public
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Publication à venir (15 novembre 2023) – Les intelligences artificielles au prisme de la justice sociale – Considering Artificial Intelligence Through the Lens of Social Justice

Le livre « Les intelligences artificielles au prisme de la justice sociale – Considering Artificial Intelligence Through the Lens of Social Justice » sous la direction de Pre Karine Gentelet sera publiée le 15 novembre 2023 par PUL (Presses de l’Université Laval). Cet ouvrage vient clôturer deux années de réflexion intensive sur les enjeux à l’intersection entre la justice sociale et les technologies d’IA. Une compréhension de ces impacts sociétaux dépasse alors l’aspect technique pour se concentrer principalement sur le fait social.

Description:

Cet ouvrage collectif s’inscrit dans le cadre des travaux de la Chaire justice sociale et intelligence artificielle Abeona-ENS-OBVIA. Il propose une réflexion multidisciplinaire sur les enjeux des usages de l’intelligence artificielle, mais surtout à partir d’une perspective de justice sociale.

Le concept de justice sociale permet d’inclure des dimensions, principalement saisies par les sciences sociales et humaines, et qui ne sont pas traditionnellement associées aux technologies d’intelligence artificielle. Cela permet alors d’appréhender des dimensions telles que la justice et l’équité, mais aussi la solidarité ou encore la dignité ; ces dimensions constituent de puissants outils de changement social lorsqu’ils sont mobilisés par différents acteurs.

Les contributions de cet ouvrage mettent en évidence des réflexions quant à la mise en place de conditions sociétales et de pistes d’action pour un déploiement des technologies d’intelligence artificielle en respect des sociétés humaines.

Centre de Recherche en Droit Public
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Pre Karine Gentelet nommée à la direction scientifique de la collaboration avec la société civile pour l’OBVIA

Le Centre de recherche en droit public est fier d’annoncer que la Professeure Karine Gentelet de l’Université du Québec en Outaouais et chercheuse au sein du CRDP a été nommée à la direction scientifique de la collaboration avec la société civile au sein de l’OBVIA.

Cette nomination fait suite à l’obtention d’une nouvelle subvention des Fonds de recherche du Québec pour la période 2023-2028, d’un montant total de 15 millions de dollars, qui a été attribuée à l’OBVIA (Observatoire international sur les impacts sociétaux de l’intelligence artificielle et du numérique).

Cliquer ici pour plus de détails

Centre de Recherche en Droit Public
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Vidéo – Conférence « Le cerveau humain, un nouveau champ de bataille géopolitique » de Pr Thomas Flichy de la Neuville

Vous trouverez ci-dessus la conférence « Le cerveau humain, un nouveau champ de bataille géopolitique » du Pr Thomas Flichy de la Neuville (Institut d’histoire du droit de Poitiers) dans le cadre du cycle de conférences annuelle de la Chaire Lexum « Cycle annuel 2023-2024 de conférences Chaire LexUM : La géopolitique de la régulation du numérique – Enjeux normatifs et stratégiques. »

Conférencier:

Ancien élève en persan de l’Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Thomas Flichy de La Neuville est agrégé d’histoire et docteur en droit. Ses travaux de recherche portent sur le monde iranien et sa connexion avec les aires culturelles russe et chinoise. Il a enseigné successivement à l’Institut d’Études Politiques de Bordeaux, à l’École Navale, à l’École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr puis à Rennes School of Business où il a été nommé titulaire de la chaire de géopolitique. Habilité à diriger des recherches, il est membre de l’Institut d’histoire du droit de l’Université de Poitiers. Il intervient régulièrement à l’étranger, notamment à l’Université d’Oxford et à la Landesverteidigungsakademie (Vienne).

Résumé:

N’en déplaise aux amateurs de révélations spectaculaires, le magnétisme exercé par internet sur nos cerveaux ne relève en rien du prétendu génie technique des informaticiens californiens. En réalité, la puissance d’aimantation des écrans sur notre esprit est due à l’exploitation rationnelle et systématique des découvertes opérées sur le conditionnement animal et humain depuis le deuxième tiers du XIXe siècle. C’est en effet l’exploitation intelligente des classiques qui a permis à l’ingénierie sociale de divertir radicalement notre attention de ce pour quoi elle était initialement programmée : repérer les dangers imminents afin de protéger le groupe ou la tribu, se concentrer de manière durable sur un objet afin de le plier par son art à un emploi utile, entrer en communication avec autrui en se mettant à l’écoute des multiples langages du corps, et surtout scruter les mystères de l’Au-delà, par-delà l’écoulement rapide de la vie terrestre. C’est ainsi qu’en l’espace de deux décennies, la technologie informatique est devenue un écran entre l’homme et l’Éternité. Que nous le désirions ou non, l’internet global prospère sur la reductio ad bestiam de l’espèce humaine. Aussi serons-nous traités avec autant d’égards que le chien de Pavlov, le rat de John Watson ou le pigeon de Frédéric Skinner. Toutefois, une immense amélioration a été apportée depuis l’entre-deux-guerres : internet étant alimenté en permanence par nos goûts personnels, ses ingénieurs sociaux pourront nous orienter avec bonheur sur les sites et espaces virtuels révélant notre part d’animalité.

Centre de Recherche en Droit Public
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Palestine unplugged: how Israel disrupts Gaza’s internet

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

  • Introduction
  • Layered internet shutdowns in Gaza
  • Internet traffic in Gaza by ISP
    • Summary of key findings
  • Internet traffic in Gaza by location
  • History of disruptions to telecommunications in Gaza
  • Recommendations for action
  • Glossary

Content note: The following post contains references to violence and war.

Since October 9, the 2.3 million residents of Gaza have been experiencing a devastating near-complete communications blackout, exacerbating their suffering as they endure heavy bombardment by Israeli forces and remain under complete siege with almost no water, food, fuel, or medicine. Fluctuating internet access and connectivity is contributing to uncertainty and fear, as people in Gaza are left without the ability to stay informed, keep connected with loved ones, access life-saving information, or document the human rights violations and atrocities occurring on the ground.

As of October 31, 15 of the 19 providers operating in Gaza were facing a complete shutdown of their mobile and broadband services, and the remaining four were each experiencing significant but varying levels of disruption, impacting millions of people. Complete shutdowns have directly affected an estimated 411,000 people using these providers in Gaza, as well as an additional 34,000 people in the West Bank. 

The internet traffic across Gaza decreased by over 80% throughout October 2023. Outages across Gaza resulted from a combination of direct attacks on civilian telecommunications infrastructure, restrictions on access to electricity, and technical disruptions to telecommunications services.

This report provides a mapping of the main internet service providers (ISPs) in Gaza, with a case-by-case analysis of connectivity and changes in internet traffic for each ISP between October 4 and 31, 2023. Looking at the layered causes for internet shutdowns taking place – including ongoing partial disruptions resulting from infrastructure damage and more targeted intermittent disruptions appearing to have been deployed on a technical level – this analysis illustrates the extent to which people in Gaza are being forced offline.

LAYERED INTERNET SHUTDOWNS IN GAZA

Since October 9, connectivity throughout the Gaza Strip has been severely disrupted through a combination of shutdowns affecting many small and large ISPs. As we note above, overall internet traffic across Gaza decreased by over 80% in October. Entire governorates were offline between October 27 and 29, affecting networks previously spared from shutdowns, with immediate and devastating impacts. As of November 5, large-scale shutdowns continue to be imposed across Gaza.

Beginning on October 9, Israel’s bombing campaign targeted network installations and disabled two of the three primary mobile communication lines that connect Gaza to the outside world. Reports also suggested that the targeted airstrikes on telecommunications offices and infrastructure occurred the same day, effectively taking many ISPs offline.

Evidence indicates that the outages across Gaza resulted from a combination of direct attacks on civilian telecommunications infrastructure (including cell towers, fiber optic cables, and ISP offices), restrictions on access to electricity (through infrastructure attacks, denial of service, and blockading of fuel required to run generators), and technical disruptions to telecommunications services.

On October 27, as Israel prepared to launch a ground invasion into the Gaza Strip, unprecedented heavy bombardment severed the last remaining, already limited and intermittent, lines of communication, cutting the people of Gaza off from each other, emergency assistance, and the rest of the world. Palestinian telecommunications companies Jawwal and Paltel announced a complete shutdown of their internet and telecommunications services due to the destruction of their infrastructure.

The complete internet shutdown — which was gradually lifted after 36 hours — was premeditated. On October 23, the Israeli Ministry of Communications updated a press release acknowledging that plans were in motion for the “shutting down of cellular communications and internet services to Gaza,” and outlining extensive steps to ensure stable telecommunications in Israel, especially for settlements close to the border with Gaza. Following international pushback, Israeli authorities reverted to regional and partial shutdowns, especially in the northern part of Gaza, as the ground invasion began. On October 30, PalTel announced that its services were disrupted in the north due to heavy bombardment.

To determine the extent of the shutdowns that occurred from October 4-31 specifically, we conducted an in-depth analysis of internet traffic data for 19 of the largest ISPs operating in the Gaza Strip. It is important to note that while this report focuses on the period of October 4-31, disruptions to internet access and connectivity are still ongoing. On November 1, there was another complete internet and telecommunications shutdown, as Israeli authorities cut off internet and telecommunications services for around 8-9 hours overnight. Around 12:30 PM local time, PalTel reported that the internet was gradually restored, only for it to go down again an hour later. Similarly, on the night of November 5, Gaza experienced another internet disruption, beginning at 6:15 PM local time and lasting for over 15 hours. Internet service started to return on November 6 around 9:18 AM local time.

INTERNET TRAFFIC IN GAZA BY ISP

To fully document the extent of these internet shutdowns and their impact, we conducted an in-depth analysis of internet traffic data between October 4-31 for 19 ISPs that  deliver the majority of mobile, landline, and wireless connections in the Gaza Strip. We identify each provider using their autonomous system number (ASN), and analyze data from multiple independent sources. Specifically, we draw from IODA, Cloudflare Radar, and RIPEstat, each of which has a unique set of data that come together to form a more full picture of each provider’s connectivity during the researched period. All resources are outlined in the methodology section below.

Among the 19 ISPs covered in this report, six ISPs (PalTel, DCC, SpeedClick, Mada, Fusion, and AjyalFi) each rely on a unique combination of Israeli and other foreign upstream providers to access the internet, as further detailed below. The remaining 13 ISPs are downstream customers of PalTel, DCC, and SpeedClick. The following illustration maps the up- and downstream relationships among these 19 ISPs operating in Gaza:

Note: A glossary of terms is provided at the end of the report. This glossary offers an explanation of technical terms and key terminology used throughout this report for our analysis of the outages in Gaza. If you can’t see the infographics below, please check your privacy-enhancing browser extensions. Open in desktop view for the best experience.

Map of ISPs included in this report (October 4-31, 2023):

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Summary of key findings:

  • As of October 31, 15 of the 19 analyzed providers were facing an ongoing complete shutdown of their mobile and broadband services, while the remaining four have all faced varied and fluctuating levels of disruption. As previously noted, complete shutdowns have directly affected an estimated 411,000 people using these providers in Gaza, as well as an additional 34,000 people in the West Bank.
  • PalTel and its downstream providers, Hadara, Jawwal, and NetStream, account for at least 62.8% of the total market share across Palestine. Each of these four providers has coverage across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Following electricity cuts, lack of fuel, and bombings of ISP infrastructure, PalTel, Hadara, and Jawwal all experienced a series of disruptions and sustained drops of internet traffic in Gaza. In addition, as of October 31, NetStream was also experiencing a set of ongoing shutdowns.
  • Mada, the second-largest telecommunications service provider in Palestine with an estimated 12.22% market share, was facing a series of intermittent and ongoing signal drops as of October 31.
  • SpeedClick and its three downstream ISPs, JetNet, AlfaNet, and TechHub-HiNet, experienced an identical drop in traffic at 3:00 PM UTC on October 9. This shutdown was ongoing as of October 31.
  • DCC and its two downstream ISPs, PalWiFi and CityNet, experienced a corresponding drop in traffic on October 9, at approximately the same time as SpeedClick, following the airstrikes on their facilities. This shutdown was ongoing as of October 31.
  • Three other downstream providers of DCC, DCC Khan Younis, DCC North, and DCC Rafah, all experienced shutdowns beginning on October 8 or 9. These shutdowns were ongoing as of October 31.
  • Fusion, which has two Israeli upstream providers, Cellcom and Coolnet, experienced a full shutdown from 1:00 PM UTC on October 12 that was ongoing as of October 31, affecting more than 96,000 people alone.
  • AjyalFi, which has a main upstream provider from Israel, Bezeq, faced consecutive, large-scale traffic drops and as of October 31 had virtually no connectivity. 

Following is documentation of the changes we observed in internet traffic across each of the 19 ISPs under study.

Overview

ASNNameUpstream providers *Area of service **Shutdown levelShutdown durationAS12975PalTelLevel 3 (American), Orange (French), Euroweb Romania (Romanian), Voxility (British) Moderate disruptionStarting from October 7, ongoing as of October 31.AS15975HadaraPalTelModerate disruptionStarting October 7, ongoing as of October 31.AS29310JawwalPalTelGaza StripMild disruptionStarting from October 8, 11:00 AM UTC, ongoing as of October 31.AS56995NetStreamPalTelFull shutdownBetween October 12-13, and starting again from October 26, 8:30 PM UTC. Ongoing as of October 31.AS44213NewStarMaxPalTel (previously***: DCC, SpeedClick, AjyalFi)Full shutdownBetween October 9, 3:00 PM UTC and October 19, 11:30 AM UTC. Then again between October 27-28 and October 30. Extremely limited connectivity as of October 31.AS203479Al-AqsaPalTelGazaFull shutdownIntermittent between Oct 14 and 31, ongoing as of October 31.AS51407MadaLevel 3, Cogent (American), Tata (American), GTT (American), PCCW Global (American), Voxility (British), F5 Networks (French)Moderate disruptionStarting from October 7 with intermittent disruptions, ongoing as of October 31.AS42314FusionCoolnet (Israeli), Cellcom (Israeli)Khan Yunis, Gaza, Beit Lahia, Deir El BalahFull shutdownBetween October 7, 11:00 AM UTC, and October 8, 3:00 PM UTC. Then again from October 9, 1:00 PM UTC, ongoing as of October 31.AS210974AjyalFiBezeq (Israeli), (previously also: DCC)Khan Yunis, GazaFull shutdownService was cut from October 7, 8:30 PM UTC and briefly restored. Full shutdown starting October 9, 2:00 PM UTC, with intermittent connectivity returning October 20. Other than a shutdown October 27-29, connectivity has returned in a limited capacity as of October 31. AS57704SpeedClickCellcom, ITC NG (Israeli), Hot-Net (Israeli), PalTel (previously also: Bezeq, Lowhosting – Italian) Khan Yunis, Gaza CityFull shutdownStarting from October 9, 3:00 PM UTC. Ongoing as of October 31.AS199046JetNetSpeedClickKhan Yunis, Gaza City, Bayt LāhyāFull shutdownStarting from October 9, 3:00 PM UTC, ongoing as of October 31.AS210116AlfaNetSpeedClickKhan YunisFull shutdownService was cut from 7:30 AM UTC on October 7 and briefly restored. Full shutdown starting October 9, 3:00 PM UTC, ongoing as of October 31.AS213207TechHub-HiNetSpeedClick (previously also: AjyalFi)RafahFull shutdownStarting from October 9, 3:00 PM UTC, ongoing as of October 31.AS60268DCCBezeq (Israeli) (previously also: Cellcom)Gaza, Khan YunisFull shutdownStarting from October 9, 4:30 PM, UTC, ongoing as of October 31.AS62027DCC Khan YounisDCCKhan YunisFull shutdownStarting from October 9, 4:00 PM UTC, ongoing as of October 31.AS203905DCC NorthDCCFull shutdownStarting from October 8, 12:00 AM UTC, ongoing as of October 31.AS60353DCC RafahDCCRafahFull shutdownStarting from October 9, 6:00 PM UTC, ongoing as of October 31.AS44075PalWiFiDCCGaza, Khan YunisFull shutdownStarting from October 9, 3:00 PM UTC, ongoing as of October 31.AS56787CityNetDCC (previously also: Cellcom)Gaza, Khan YunisFull shutdownStarting from October 9, 3:00 PM UTC, ongoing as of October 31.* Source: ​​https://asrank.caida.org, https://apps.db.ripe.net/db-web-ui/query, and https://bgp.he.net** The area of service is approximate based on the IP geo-location.*** Within the studied duration (Oct 4-31), some ISPs relied on different upstream providers to route their traffic. The data is cross-referenced across three separate sources in the methodology section. “Previously” refers to upstream providers that appeared in the data sources historically.

PalTel

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Hadara 

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Jawwal 

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NetStream 

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NewStarMax 

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Al-Aqsa 

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Mada 

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Fusion 

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AjyalFi 

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SpeedClick

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JetNet

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AlfaNet

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TechHub-HiNet

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DCC

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DCC Khan Younis 

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DCC North

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DCC Rafah

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PalWiFi

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CityNet 

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https://infogram.com/citynet-1h7v4pwz19o3j6k?live

Data sources and methodology

  • We examined internet traffic between October 4 to 31 using data from #KeepItOn coalition partners IODA and Cloudflare Radar. Information on how the traffic data is collected can be found here for IODA and here for Cloudflare.
  • Additional data is extracted from RIPEstat. The data used for the AS Prefix Count is published in an 8-hour interval, at midnight UTC, 8:00 AM UTC, and 4:00 PM UTC.
  • All times are listed in UTC+0 throughout the report. Local time in the Gaza Strip is UTC+3 until October 27. The observance of the Daylight Saving Time ended on October 28 at 2:00 AM local time, with local time then becoming UTC+2.
  • Data on Palestinian ISPs and their market share and distribution between the Gaza Strip and West Bank was retrieved from Internet Society Pulse Internet Resilience Index and Country Reports.
  • Data from APNIC Labs was used for population estimates for each ISP at the time of writing.
  • Data on ASN relationships (provider/upstream and customer/downstream) in the Graph are retrieved from cross-referencing ASRank, RIPE Database, and Hurricane’s BGP Toolkit.
  • Previous work by SMEX was also critical for this analysis.

INTERNET TRAFFIC IN GAZA BY LOCATION

The situation on the ground in the Gaza Strip is evolving quickly, with military movements correlating closely with increased disruptions to telecommunications. In one important snapshot, Cloudflare provided an analysis of drops in internet traffic by governorate according to data from Cloudflare Radar, comparing levels from October 15 to levels on October 1, prior to the escalation of the conflict beginning on October 7. Moving from north to south, Cloudflare found that, as of October 15:

  • Gaza Governorate (the most populated area, in the north of the Strip, located just above Wadi Gaza river) was seeing around 60% less internet traffic. Daily traffic was down 56%.
  • Deir al-Balah Governorate (located in the center of Gaza strip, below Wadi Gaza River) had around 80% less internet traffic. Daily traffic was down 70%.
  • Khan Yunis Governorate had been impacted less, with less than 20% decrease in internet traffic.
  • Rafah Governorate (near the Egypt border) was seeing 65% less internet traffic. Daily traffic was down 48%.

HISTORY OF DISRUPTIONS TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN GAZA

The current attacks on infrastructure in Gaza follow patterns from 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2021, during which the Israeli military repeatedly targeted vital civilian internet infrastructure or cut electricity and fuel supplies, leading to internet shutdowns and telecommunications disruptions. For instance, on May 12, 2021, Israeli military forces bombed the Al-Jawhara tower, impacting the telecommunications infrastructure housed in the building. Three days later, it toppled the Al-Jalaa tower, which houses the offices of some telecommunications providers and media organizations, including the Associated Press and Al Jazeera. The bombings taking place during the current conflict have damaged telecommunications infrastructure, causing full and partial shutdowns in the Gaza Strip. They have also led to electricity outages that further compromised connectivity.

The impact of the destruction or damage to telecommunications and internet infrastructure is exacerbated by the fact that Palestinians do not run their own independent ICT infrastructure. Under the Oslo Accords, Palestinians are granted “the right to build and operate separate and independent communication systems and infrastructures including telecommunication networks, a television network and a radio network.” However, no independent Palestinian ICT infrastructure has been allowed to develop since the agreement was signed in 1995.

Gaza’s only fiber optic cable that connects it to the global internet runs through Israel, making it infrastructurally dependent on Israel. Israeli authorities control the electromagnetic sphere and restrict Palestinian operators’ use of frequencies. They also maintain total control over importing essential equipment and technologies in the West Bank and Gaza. Due to the Israeli military blockade on Gaza since 2007, only material for civil use are allowed in, and any entry of equipment and construction materials must be approved by Israel’s Ministry of Defence. As a result, some necessary equipment has been denied entry under the allegation of “dual use” issues, and ISPs operating in Gaza cannot upgrade their services. To date, people in Gaza are still using 2G mobile networks. In the West Bank, 3G mobile networks were allowed for Palestinian companies in 2018, after 12 years of negotiations with Israel.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION

Access Now, along with more than 140 civil society organizations and human rights experts, are calling for an immediate physical and digital ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, urging an immediate end to attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure and the full restoration of telecommunications services in Gaza.

In particular, governments and internet service providers outside of Gaza, including in Egypt, should take urgent action to ensure connectivity is restored in Gaza, including by offering access to international e-SIM cards and facilitating reliable access to internet and telecommunications services.

Stakeholders across the international community should work together to put an end to internet shutdowns and telecommunications disruptions in Gaza, which violate international human rights law, including by enabling Palestinians to build, develop, and run their independent telecommunications infrastructure as stipulated under the Oslo Accords.

GLOSSARY

Following are brief definitions of the terms we use in this report that are relevant for understanding our technical analysis of the data on internet disruptions in Gaza:

  • Our definitions for “full shutdown” versus “disruptions” based on percentage of traffic loss:
    • None: 0% (No disruption)
    • Mild: 1% – 20% (Minor disruptions affecting a small number of users or services)
    • Moderate: 21% – 60% (Moderate disruptions affecting a moderate number of users or services)
    • Severe: 61% – 85% (Major disruptions nearing a complete outage)
    • Full shutdown: 85% – 100% (Complete outage affecting almost all users or services)
  • Electromagnetic sphere: Sets of frequency bands used for cellular communications technology (3G, 4G, 5G).
  • Upstream provider: An ISP with a larger network that contracts to provide access to the internet for downstream providers.
  • BGP metric: The protocol networks use to communicate how to reach different IP address ranges. If a network stops announcing its prefixes, it might signal an outage or shutdown.
  • Active probing metric: Involves sending “ping” requests to various networks. A lack of response from multiple networks within a region could indicate an outage or shutdown.
  • Prefixes (public IPs ranges/blocks): Sequences of internet addresses allocated to a service provider for routing traffic online. Each prefix is a block of IP addresses under the entity’s management.

AS Prefix Count metric: A count of the IP address blocks that an Autonomous System reports. An AS comprises IP address ranges managed by a single entity, often an ISP. A drop in this count can imply potential accessibility issues within that AS’s portion of the internet.
The post Palestine unplugged: how Israel disrupts Gaza’s internet appeared first on SMEX.

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