Geneva Internet Platform, Internet Society launch Digital Watch, an online resource for critical IG issues

[Geneva, 28 September 2015] The Geneva Internet Platform (GIP) and the Internet Society (ISOC) today announced the launch of the Digital Watch, a new online tool to empower diplomats and other Internet policy participants by providing a concise overview of Internet policy issues, participants and ongoing developments. 

The tool can be accessed at https://dig.watch

Participating in Internet governance can be a daunting experience, due to its decentralised nature, diverse participants and parallel processes. The challenge is to provide a global space where people with limited resources can seek such information and become informed stakeholders on issues they care about.

Addressing this challenge, the GIP Digital Watch will provide a neutral one-stop-shop for an overview of Internet related issues, featuring both explanatory texts and live updates.

The Head of the GIP, Dr Jovan Kurbalija, said that ‘the need for having a navigation mechanism for digital policy is clear and urgent. The GIP Digital Watch addresses this need. It is broad enough to provide comprehensive coverage yet specific enough to supply detailed summaries on digital policy issues.’

This new platform aims to draw from the strengths of its partners’ assets: the resources DiploFoundation has developed over the last 15 years, GIP’s international reach and the Internet Society’s network of Chapters that will help shape localised content.

Internet Society’s CEO Kathryn Brown stressed in her opening remarks: ‘With the accelerating pace of Internet governance discussions, our community has expressed a clear call for the Internet Society to step up in developing tools to better address issues and navigate Internet governance processes. This partnership with the GIP Digital Watch allows us to respond to this need and also to involve our local Internet Society Chapters, who will over time enrich the platform with their knowledge of local issues, processes and participants.’

The GIP Digital Watch combines traditional analytical research and modern data analysis.   

At launch, the GIP Digital Watch features:

• 42 issues
• 158 organisations and entities
• 335 policy instruments such as treaties and documents
• 291 events
• 1638 cross links among issues/actors/instruments/events
• 28862 articles and documents gathered for data analysis

The GIP Digital Watch also offers:

• Monthly briefings on Internet governance in Geneva/online – held every last Tuesday of the month. 
• Geneva Digital Watch – a monthly newsletter with a focus on Geneva digital policy developments.

According to the Swiss Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Alexandre Fasel, ‘Digital Watch will provide a unique contribution to global digital policy by facilitating a smart interplay between traditional knowledge analysis, tested by centuries of human learning, and new forms of research based on cognitive science and big data. Ultimately, more evidence should help shape more informed policy.’

The event recording will be available on 29 September at www.giplatform.org. A photo gallery of the launch is available.