[governance] Evidence-based policy-making and impact assessments for Internet-related policies

[Andrea Glorioso]

Dear all,

during the discussions concerning a possible statement by the IGC on the
"nature of the Internet" someone - I think it was Milton - underlined the
need to have a clear "problem definition" and to assess the impact of
different policy options. I also noted that others - I think it was Mawaki
- pointed out that this is rather high bar for an "advocacy" statement.

I take absolutely no position on the need for analysis / assessment before
the IGC makes a statement on this, or other topics. The decision to issue a
statement as the IGC is of course fully the responsibility of IGC members,
which I'm not.

However, this particular exchange led me to a broader consideration. As you
might know, the European Commission (similarly to other governments /
public authorities) has a formal obligation to conduct an "impact
assessment" before proposing new initiatives. In reality, there are some
subtleties - not all "initiatives" require it - but the key concept remains.

You can find further information on the European Commission's approach to
impact assessments at http://ec.europa.eu/governance/impact/index_en.htm.
If you are interesed and have plenty of time at your disposal, you might
also be interested in two recent papers analysing how well (or not :) the
EC has performed in this particular area (G. Lucchetta, "Impact Assessment
and the Policy Cycle in the EU", 2013,
http://www.ceps.eu/book/impact-assessment-and-policy-cycle-eu;  O. Fritsch,
C. Radaelli, L. Schrefler, A. Renda, "Regulatory Quality in the European
Commission and the UK: Old questions and new findings", 2012,
http://www.ceps.eu/book/regulatory-quality-european-commission-and-uk-old-questions-and-new-findings).


When conducting impact assessments, there are certain agreed procedures
which are rather generic or "horizontal", i.e. applying to different policy
areas; but there are also add-on procedures and methodologies that are used
when tackling more specific policy areas / impacts. To continue with the
example of the European Commission Impact Assessment procedures, which are
the ones I know best, specific guidelines / methodologies to assess the
impact on SMEs, administrative simplification and fundamental rights have
been introduced throughout the years.

I wonder whether there is a need to introduce specific guidelines /
methodologies to assess the impact of Internet-related policies (which I
define on the fly as "policies (including regulation, soft law, research
activities) which either impact on, or are impacted by, the Internet).
Questions that come to my mind:

- is the Internet an important enough phenomenon / infrastructure to
justify having specific methodologies to assess the impact of policies on
it, and its impact on policies?
- are existing methodologies (e.g. concerning the impact on ICT or
telecommunication networks generically) enough to cover this need?
- which kind of basic questions should one ask when assessing the impact of
Internet-related policies?
- which kind of methodological tools (and from which disciplines) should
one consider when performing such impact assessment?

Food for thought. I'd appreciate all your comments / reactions, either on
the list or also privately.

Ciao,

Andrea

--
I speak only for myself. Sometimes I do not even agree with myself. Keep it
in mind.
Twitter: @andreaglorioso
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrea.glorioso
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=1749288&trk=tab_pro
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