David Souter

Inside the Information Society: Growing up online
Inside the Information Society: Growing up online 06 February 2018

A third of the world’s Internet users, says UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children report, on Children in a Digital World, are younger than 18. How they use it shapes their attitudes, behaviour, opportunities, and therefore shapes their futures. That deserves more – and more sophisticated – attention from the Internet’s stakeholders than it gets.

Inside the Information Society: Social Media, saint or sinner?
Inside the Information Society: Social Media, saint or sinner? 30 October 2017 David Souter

Too much debate about the Information Society is binary. To advocates, anything digital looks good. Others are spooked by impacts that are uncontrolled and unbenign. If we’re serious, we need to be more nuanced. Some reflection on this where social media’s concerned this week; next week, the Internet’s impact on politics.

Inside the Information Society: Policies for the digital economy
Inside the Information Society: Policies for the digital economy 16 October 2017 David Souter

Last week I looked at the big picture on the digital economy, in the light of UNCTAD’s latest Information Economy Report. This week: some of the issues the digital economy raises for policymakers at a national and local level.

Inside the Information Society: Whose digital economy?
Inside the Information Society: Whose digital economy? 08 October 2017 David Souter

This week’s post is the first of two on the digital economy. UNCTAD – the UN Conference on Trade and Development – published its two-yearly Information Economy Report (IER) last week. It’s consistently one of the more interesting UN publications on the Information Society. Well worth a read.

Inside the Information Society: Do we understand the role robots play in our lives?
Inside the Information Society: Do we understand the role robots play in our lives? 04 October 2017 David Souter

Robots are talked of more and more these days. Like implants, they’ve moved from science fiction to present reality. Instead of fantasizing over them, we need to understand the role they’re playing in our lives and going to play in them in future.

Inside the Information Society: Are you ready for your implant?
Inside the Information Society: Are you ready for your implant? 25 September 2017 David Souter

This week’s blog post concerns what might happen if the Internet of Things begins to get under your skin.

Inside the Information Society: The future of cybersecurity
Inside the Information Society: The future of cybersecurity 18 September 2017 David Souter

Last week I wrote about the need to shape our thinking on the Internet around its future rather than its past. This week I’m asking what that means for how we think about security.

Inside the Information Society: How should we re-think the Information Society?
Inside the Information Society: How should we re-think the Information Society? 11 September 2017 David Souter

It’s time for ‘Inside the Information Society’ to resume after its Northern-summer/Southern-winter break. There’s no shortage of issues. I’ll start this week by asking if/how we should rethink the Information Society?

Inside the Information Society: Of politics and social media
Inside the Information Society: Of politics and social media 26 June 2017 David Souter

There’s been a lot of talk lately about politics and social media. Some have seen Facebook, Twitter and the like as champions of empowerment; others, more recently, as vehicles for hate. I’d suggest they’re both and more.

Inside the Information Society: Measuring the Internet
Inside the Information Society: Measuring the Internet 19 June 2017 David Souter

What do we mean by measuring the Internet? There are many different ways to answer.

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