What the Internet Needs to Thrive

What is this course?

The Internet was created with the ability to empower users across borders to collectively shape its evolution. A shared set of goals guide our collective journey to a better Internet. These goals tell us how we want the Internet to be, now and in the future. 

By viewing proposed changes in policies, technologies, and applications in relation to these goals, we can better understand whether we are on track for a thriving Internet or straying from our targets. In this course, we provide an overview of the shared set of goals for the Internet and how supporting characteristics, or “enablers,” help attain these goals.

What are the course objectives?

• Describe the enablers of the open, globally connected, secure, and trustworthy Internet
• Explain how the enablers can be used to simplify the task of analyzing the potential effects of proposed changes in relation to the goals
• Provide examples of various developments that have a positive or negative impact on the enablers and, consequently, on the attainability of the Internet goals.

Who should attend this course?

You should take this course if:

• You are a policymaker, technologist, or advocate working on issues related to Internet regulation.
• You have a base understanding of how the Internet works and would like to learn about the critical foundation that keeps it working for everyone.
• You want to build awareness of the importance of protecting the critical foundation of the Internet.
• You want to be able to advocate to prevent a policy, technology, or trend from harming theInternet’s foundation.
• You want to know the basic considerations to include in an Internet impact assessment.

Prerequisites:

• You need to have a good understanding of the Internet Way of Networking and its critical properties.

How do I enroll in a course?