[governance] Describe the Emperor's clothes.

[Deirdre Williams]

A challenge for the New Year, and very best wishes to everyone for 2012
Deirdre

Since before Christmas I have been considering a question, and persuading
myself that it would be naïve to ask it. It’s an ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’
http://www.rickwalton.com/folktale/yellow04.htm type question. But the
recent discussions of the article by Vint Cerf in the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/opinion/internet-access-is-not-a-human-right.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212,
coupled with the document I have just been reading ‘UNITED NATIONS

COMMISSION ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT

Third Meeting of the Working Group on improvements to the Internet
Governance

Forum (IGF) Geneva, Switzerland 31 October- 2 November 2011Chairman’s
summary of the meeting (amended version on 7 December 2011’, which is
available at
http://www.unctad.org/sections/un_cstd/docs/UN_WGIGF2011d14_summary_en.pdf,
suggest that the question needs to be asked.



The discussion on the Cerf article made it clear that even when discussing
things with one another we have serious semantic difficulties. In fact we
seem to step into a Looking Glass world.

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in a rather a scornful tone, "it
means just what I choose it to mean --- neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many
different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master--- that's
all."

*Through the Looking Glass* - Lewis Carroll



We, within the charmed circle, all take the great good of the Internet for
granted. We seem to have left ‘what?’, ‘how?’ and ‘why?’ far behind us. We
tunnel happily along under the ground and no one on the surface is
listening, unless something to do with one of the tunnels collapses and a
real person, looking into the real hole that has been created, realises
that for example their real credit card has been used without their
permission and there is a question of real funds that have gone really
missing. We need to reconnect with the surface.



The Internet is supposed to break down ‘silos’, but those of us discussing
the Internet have created a huge silo – and we’re inside it. We need to
break out. We need to stop taking things for granted. If we want to be
inclusive, if we want to encourage participation, then we need to be able
to say why so that other people can understand clearly what we are talking
about.



My question, my challenge if you like, is for the human benefits from the
Internet to be described clearly, in accessible language, WITHOUT USING
ACRONYMS AND JARGON. My personal preference would be to add a similarly
accessible list of all the disadvantages as well to allow people to create
their own informed opinions.

-- 
“The fundamental cure for poverty is not money but knowledge" Sir William
Arthur Lewis, Nobel Prize Economics, 1979
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