A Portal on Digitalization

Interest Groups & Think Tanks

01.11.1998 · Research Group on the Global Future

Center for Democracy and Technology
http://www.cdt.org

The Center For Democracy and Technology is a non-profit public interest organization based in Washington, DC (USA). It works for public policies that advance civil liberties and democratic values in computer and communications technologies. The Center engages in a range of activities that affect the future of free expression and privacy on global communications networks. Backed by staff expertise in relevant law and technology, CDT seeks practical solutions to problems and is dedicated to building broad consensus among all parties interested in the future of the Internet and other new communications media. Their links offer first of all a useful Internet-Glossary and also interesting links to the US Government.

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
http://www.cpsr.org

CPSR is a US public-interest alliance of computer scientists and others interested in the impact of computer technology on society. As technical experts, CPSR members provide the public and policymakers with realistic assessments of the power, promise, and limitations of computer technology. As citizens, CPSR's members direct public attention to critical choices concerning the applications of computing and how those choices affect society. CPSR started as a small discussion group formed over a Palo Alto computer mail network in 1981. It has grown into a national organization with 21 chapters throughout the United States. Membership is open.

Digital Future Coalition
http://www.ari.net/dfc

The Digital Future Coalition (DFC) is committed to preserving the balance between the rights of owners of intellectual property and the traditional use privileges of the public. Created in 1995, the DFC is a collaboration of many of the leading non-profit educational, scholarly, library and consumer groups in the US, together with major commercial trade associations representing leaders in the consumer electronics, telecommunications, computer and network access industries. DFC membership represents both the owners and users of intellectual property.

EFF - The Electronic Frontier Foundation
http://www.eff.org

EFF, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, is a non-profit, non-partisan organization working in the public interest to protect fundamental civil liberties, including privacy and freedom of expression, in the arena of computers and the Internet in a new age of communications. EFF was founded in 1990, and is based in San Francisco, California, with offices in Washington, DC, and New York City. For members EFF publishes among other items an electronic bulletin, the EFFector Online. Read also the texts of John Perry Barlow who is a leading cyber-thinker.

European Multimedia Forum
http://www.emf.be

The European Multimedia Forum (EMF) is a private industry organization centred around multimedia, bringing together the content creation, distribution and processing industries. The priorities of the Brussels based Forum are 'Networking' (providing a platform for contacts and exchanges between all European parties interested in multimedia; 'Partnership with Government' (working with governmental institutions in order to develop a global regulatory framework conducive to growth, business development and job creation and 'Window on the World' (enhancing the European presence in global multimedia markets). The EMF is also involved in EU funding activities, and tries to encourage the implementation of multimedia tools in the everyday business process.

Global Business Dialogue
http://www.gbd.org

Conflicting policies, rules and regional patchwork regulations are obstacles to the emerging online economy. The Global Business Dialogue on Electronic Commerce (GBDe) is a company-led response to the need for strengthened international coordination. The dialogue was initiated in close cooperation with the European Commission.

Global Business Network
http://www.gbn.org

Global Business Network is a membership organization focused on the future comprising executives from many of the world's leading companies alongside individual members from the digerati world, business, science, the arts, and academia. Scenario-building is one of the main tasks of the GBN. Members of GBN have launched several important discussions about the developments in the cyberspace through their books and contributions in various media.

Netcoalition
http://www.netcoalition.com

NetCoalition.com is the first public policy organization comprised of members whose primary business is purely Internet-based. Founding members of NetCoalition.com are Amazon.com, America Online, DoubleClick, eBay, Excite@Home, Inktomi, Lycos, theglobe.com and Yahoo! Ninety percent of the world's Internet users ­- more than 72 million in the U.S. alone -- visit one or more of the members' sites every month. With seven of the top ten Internet sites, NetCoalition.com represents leaders in e-commerce and interactive services, advertising and infrastructure, auctions, and search and navigation systems.

Online Privacy Alliance
http://www.privacyalliance.org

The alliance's mission is to lead and support self-regulatory initiatives on the privacy issue.

Progress & Freedom Foundation
http://www.pff.org

The Progress & Freedom Foundation was founded to study the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. The Foundation's public policy work focuses on communications, computing and telecommunications. It has funded research, published papers and held conferences and seminars on issues such as content regulation, encryption, local telephone competition and universal service. It publishes an annual report on The Digital State, a survey showing the extent to which state governments are utilizing digital technologies to streamline their operations. The Foundation's annual 'Aspen Summit' conference focuses on 'the big picture' regarding these issues, and regularly attracts leading commentators, policy experts and policymakers.Through a series of monographs, the Foundation seeks to educate opinion leaders on the nature of the digital revolution (e.g. Creating a New Civilization: The Politics of the Third Wave, by Alvin and Heidi Toffler). Although the site's content tends toward the conservative wing of the American spectrum, the foundation also includes other views.

Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD)
http://www.tabd.com

Together the US and the EU form a critical mass in world economy. Therefore the Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) aims to facilitate closer economic relations between the EU and the US on the business level. It highlights industry's priorities for the elimination of barriers to transatlantic trade and investment which currently impede competitiveness on both sides of the Atlantic. The goal of the TABD is to focus governments' attention on issues where consensus exists within the transatlantic business community and identify specific actions required from government to achieve these aims. IT and telecommunications are major concerns and the TABD often plays a key role in this negotiation field.