A Portal on Digitalization

Governments & Governance

01.11.1998 · Research Group on the Global Future

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
http://www.crtc.gc.ca

The CRTC's role - as a federal agency - is to supervise and regulate Canada's broadcasting and telecommunications systems, balancing the interests of consumers, the creative community and distribution industries in implementing the public policy objectives established by Parliament. For its work and as a model the CRTC was awarded with the Bertelsmann Prize by the Bertelsmann Foundation in 1998.

ICANN
http://www.icann.org/

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) - successor of the IANA - is the new non-profit corporation that was formed to take over responsibility for the IP address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment, domain name system management, and root server system management functions now performed under U.S. Government contract by IANA and other entities.

Internet Society (ISOC)
http://www.isoc.org

ISOC is one of the most important bodies shaping the Internet. It provides leadership in addressing issues that confront the future of the Internet, and is the organizational home for the groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards. It is a non-profit professional membership clearing-house with more than 100 organizational and 6,000 individual members in over 100 countries. They comprise the companies, government agencies, and foundations that have created the Internet and its technologies as well as innovative new entrepreneurial organizations contributing to maintain that dynamic. Thus it represents the history and the future of the Internet while offering new models of international cooperation.

Ireland: Advisory Committee on Telecommunications of the Minister for Public Enterprise
http://act.iol.ie/

Ireland is digital hot spot. Host to many European headquarters of the leading American computer and software companies a recent report suggests that the country could become a key global centre in advanced telecommunications, the Internet and electronic commerce. The web site provides a good example how a government can manage the transition towards the information society.

EU - Information Society
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/index_en.htm

Since December 1994, the European Commission enforces a European information society. The site is a very good starting point for getting information on the many and often complicated funding programs and on the related policies of the EU.

ITU - International Telecommunication Union
http://www.itu.int

The ITU is the international intergovernmental body within which governments and the private sector coordinate global telecom networks and services. The ITU is also a leading publisher of telecommunication technology, regulatory and standards information. Most of the documents here are of a technical nature but check out What's New in the ITU Document Store to find bits which also address the general public.

National Science Foundation
http://www.nsf.gov

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the US Government which promotes the progress of science. In order to achieve this goal the NSF initiates and supports, through grants, fellwships and contracts, scientific and engineering research and programs. It especially supports the development and use of computers for research and education in the sciences. The NSF provides a central clearinghouse for the collection, interpretation, and analysis of data on scientific and technical resources in the United States.

Next Generation Internet Initiative
http://www.ngi.gov

"We should enable all the world's people to explore the far reaches of cyberspace...", those were President Clinton's words in his 1998 State-of-the-Union address. The NGI was founded to provide a high-speed backbone for the expanding needs of the multimedia age. The initiative fosters partnerships among academia, industry and government to keep the U.S. at the cutting-edge of information and communications technologies. A main goal is to connect U.S. universities and national labs with high-speed networks that are 100 - 1000 times faster than today's Internet. Networks like SUPERNET and Internet2 came online in early spring of 1999.

OECD - Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
http://www.oecd.org

The OECD is a Paris-based intergovernmental organization whose purpose is to provide its member countries with an economic forum in which governments can compare their experiences, discuss the problems they share and seek solutions which can then be applied within their own national contexts. Member countries are committed to the principles of the market economy and pluralistic democracy. In the field of IT, the OECD regularly provides analysis and advice through its policy briefs, an updated calendar of events and valuable research reports.

UNESCO
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/

UNESOC concentrates on the "content" aspects of the information society, including information access, training and ethical issues. It also observes national information policies and standard procedures.

World Intellectual Property Organization
http://www.wipo.org/

WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization, gather opinions from around the world on how to resolve the question of copyright and intellectual property issues in the wired world. In addition, WIPO seeks to create formulas for resolving disputes, which can be adapted to the enormous technological progress in the digital age in flexible way.

World Trade Organization
http://www.wto.org

The WTO, located in Geneva, Switzerland, is the only international body dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, the legal ground-rules for international commerce and for trade policy. The agreements have three main objectives: to help trade flow as freely as possible, to achieve further liberalization gradually through negotiation, and to set up an impartial means of settling disputes. Substantial progress in the IT and telecommunications sector has been made recently.

W3C - The World Wide Web Consortium
http://w3c.org

The W3C was founded in October 1994 to lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability. It is an international industry consortium, jointly hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT/LCS) in the United States; the Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (INRIA) in Europe; and the Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus in Japan. Services provided by the Consortium include: a repository of information about the World Wide Web for developers and users; reference code implementations to embody and promote standards; and various prototype and sample applications to demonstrate use of new technology. Initially, the W3C was established in collaboration with CERN, where the Web originated, with support from DARPA and the European Commission. The Consortium is led by Tim Berners-Lee, Director and creator of the World Wide Web, and Jean-François Abramatic, Chairman.