On the national level there is a cybersecurity strategy. The e-Diplomacy unit of the US State Department manages its Digital Diplomacy (use of the Internet in diplomatic activities) and runs, for example, a virtual embassy to Iran. In the USA one can identify a wide range of prefixes. One would have expected digital diplomacy to be a more appropriate name for a foreign affairs representation of the EU Digital Agenda. For example, although the EU has the Digital Agenda as its core Internet-related document, the EU Council introduced the concept of cyber-diplomacy. However, there is a potential risk if the entire Internet policy field comes to be framed through one lens, such as security. Each policy field tends to develop its own vocabulary, and to frame discussion in certain ways. For example, the study shows a clear trend for the use of ‘cyber’ in discussion on security-related issues.
These trends are confirmed by a recent DiploFoundation study analysing nine years of Internet Governance Forum (IGF) transcripts. ‘E-’ is used typically for commerce, ‘cyber’ for security and crime, and ‘digital’ for development divides, to name a few. WHY DO PREFIXES MATTER, IF THEY CAN BE USED INTERCHANGEABLY?įirst, subtle trends in the use and implications of prefixes have started to emerge. They address all or some of 40+ issues that can be classified in seven baskets, as illustrated in Diplo’s ‘IG Building Under Construction’. Although these events have different prefixes, they deal with the same set of issues defined by the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development as ‘ international public policy issues pertaining to the Internet’. The Hague conference could have been called the Digital Space Conference NETmundial could easily be CYBERmundial. In the Internet field, prefix-switching (e-/net/cyber/digital) does not usually change the meaning of the word or phrase. In early May, the Freedom Online Conference will take place in Ulan Bator (for dates and a list of events see the 2015 timeline). The NETmundial Initiative had a meeting in Stanford recently. In March, UNESCO hosted a conference on CONNECTing the Dots in Digital Space. This week, the Global Cyberspace Conference takes place in The Hague.
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