Various books, papers and policy briefs related to IG and IG institutions

An introduction to internet governance, by Jovan Kurbalija, 2014 | The aim of this book, now in its fifth edition, is to provide a comprehensive overview of the main issues and actors in the field through a practical framework for analysis, discussion, and resolution of significant issues.
Between Coordination and Regulation: Conceptualizing Governance in Internet Governance, By Jeanette Hofmann, Christian Katzenbach, and Kirsten Gollatz, August 2014 | This paper contributes to the recent move towards a more systematic reflection on the conceptual foundations of Internet governance. It is led by the question of how to define (Internet) governance in a way that is theoretically grounded as well as empirically instructive. For this aim, it mobilizes literature from the broader field of governance and regulation studies as well as sociological theory and applies these concepts to issues of Internet governance.
Beyond NETmundial, edited by William J. Drake, August 2014 | Beyond NETmundial: The Roadmap for Institutional Improvements to the Global Internet Governance Ecosystem explores options for the implementation of a key section of the “NETmundial Multistakeholder Statement” that was adopted at the Global Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance (NETmundial) held on April 23rd and 24th 2014 in São Paulo, Brazil. The Roadmap section of the statement concisely sets out a series of proposed enhancements to existing mechanisms for global internet governance, as well as suggestions of possible new initiatives that the global community may wish to consider. The sixteen chapters by leading practitioners and scholars are grouped into six sections: The NETmundial Meeting; Strengthening the Internet Governance Forum; Filling the Gaps; Improving ICANN; Broader Analytical Perspectives; and Moving Forward.
Global Information Society Watch reports
Internet Architecture Board: Privacy considerations for internet protocols, Cooper et al., July 2013 | This document offers guidance for developing privacy considerations for inclusion in protocol specifications. It aims to make designers, implementers, and users of Internet protocols aware of privacy-related design choices. It suggests that whether any individual RFC warrants a specific privacy considerations section will depend on the document’s content.
Oxford Handbook of Internet Studies edited by William H. Dutton, 2013 | The Oxford Handbook of Internet Studies has been designed to provide a resource in this area, bringing together scholarly perspectives on how the Internet has been studied and how the research agenda should be pursued in the future. The book aims to focus on Internet studies as an emerging field, each chapter seeking to provide a synthesis and critical assessment of the research in a particular area.
The Role of Governments in Internet Governance by Jeremy Malcolm, May 2013 | Presentation which analyzes the role of governments in internet governance.
The Duality of Information Policy Debates: The Case of the Internet Governance Forum, by Dmitry Epstein, January 2012 | This project focuses on the dynamics of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) as a non-binding multistakeholder debate about information policymaking. Using the theory of structuration and critical discourse analysis, Epstein explores how the nation-state-centric and the internet-community centric perceptions of authority and approaches to decision-making manifest themselves in the forum and what political and cultural norms they reify.
Human rights and Internet protocols: comparing processes and principles, by Avri Doria and Joy Liddicoat, December 2012 | The Internet is a network that empowers at the edges, rather that the centre, rendering it a profoundly democratic and rights-fostering platform. Human rights are principles that seek to empower those at the margins rather than at the centre of power, rendering them a fundamentally empowering framework for individuals. This paper explores human rights and Internet protocols by comparing the processes for their making and the principles by which they operate.
A Long Way to Go: Civil Society Participation in Internet Governance in MIND Collaboratory discussion paper series No. 1, by Anriette Esterhuysen, September 2011 | The internet is not a level playing field. We need to deal with conflicts of interests, differences in accountability and in ability to participate. Multi-stakeholder participation in internet policy-making has a long way to go if it is to really deepen democracy.
The APC ICT Policy Handbook Second Edition, by APC/Ed, David Souter, November 2009 | This handbook aims to take the mystery out of ICTpolicy and make it easier to understand. In particular, it aims to build the capacity of those who want to understand more about the issues surrounding policy on ICT development and regulation, to grasp the policy process, and to become more involved as informed participants.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Affirmation of commitments, 2009| The Affirmation of Commitments signed on September 30th 2009 between ICANN and the US Department of Commerce (Affirmation) contains specific provisions for periodic review of four key ICANN objectives. These reviews provide a mechanism to assess and report on ICANN’s progress toward fundamental organizational objectives; they are: Ensuring accountability, transparency and the interests of global Internet users; Preserving security, stability and resiliency of the DNS; Promoting competition, consumer trust and consumer choice; WHOIS policy.
Frequently asked questions about multi-stakeholder partnerships in ICTs for development, by APC, September 2007 | In response to the growing demand for information on multi-stakeholder processes in ICT policy, APC produced the book “Frequently asked questions about multi-stakeholder partnerships in ICTs for development – a guide for national ICT policy animators”.
The Working Group Of Internet Governance (WGIG): Background Report, Chateau de Bossey 2005 | The Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) was set up by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in accordance with the mandate given to him during the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held in Geneva, on 10-12 December 2003. The WGIG comprised 40 members from Governments, private sector and civil society, who all participated on an equal footing and in their personal capacity. The background report includes much of the work produced in the course of the WGIG process.
New challenges to governance theory by Renate Mayntz, 1998 | The subject of this paper is the development, and the successive modifications, governance theory, a theory that began by being concerned with the steering actions of political authorities as they deliberately attempt to shape socio-economic structures and processes.
South Africa is caught in the global hype of the fourth industrial revolution by Alison Gillwald, 2019 | The article discusses how the trend of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has distracted South Africa a country in the southern region of Africa from addressing more pertinent issues in it’s country; redressing inequality and creating the preconditions for an inclusive digital economy and society.