NEXA Center for Internet and Society

NEXA Center for Internet & Society
Motto Studying the Internet, exploring its potential & experimenting new ideas
Formation 26 November 2006
Type Technology research center
Location
Website nexa.polito.it

The NEXA Center for Internet & Society is a research center founded at the Department of Control and Computer Engineering[1] of Polytechnic University of Turin. It is an academic research center which studies the Internet with a multidisciplinary approach: technical, legal and economic.

History, mission and projects

The Nexa Center for Internet & Society was founded on 26 November 2006 by professors Juan Carlos De Martin[2] and Marco Ricolfi. Based in Turin (Italy), it coordinated, among other projects, COMMUNIA, the European Thematic Network on the digital public domain (2007-2011), LAPSI,[3] the European Thematic Network on legal aspects of public sector information (2010-2012) and represents Creative Commons in Italy. The Nexa Center also coordinates SeLiLi (Servizio Licenze Libere), a service offering advice on free licenses.[4] A notable software project of the Center is Neubot (the network neutrality bot): a free software Internet botthat gathers network performance data useful to investigatenetwork neutrality.[5]

In April 2012, the Nexa Center has launched the “Digital Revolution” undergraduate course at the Politecnico di Torino, the first full-scale teaching activity entirely planned by a member of the Nexa Center (Nexa co-director Juan Carlos De Martin), focused on Internet & Society, and involving several members of the staff of the Center, as well as prestigious guest lecturers.[6]

The Nexa Center is part of a global network of Internet and Society centers with the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet & Society, the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, the Centre for Internet and Society Bangalore, the Center for Technology & Society at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) Law School, the Internet and Society Laboratory at KEIO University SFC, the MIT Media Lab and The MIT Center for Civic Media.[7] In 2013 the Nexa Center has become part of the Global Network Initiative (GNI), a multi-stakeholder international group devoted to protect and advance freedom of expression and privacy in the ICT sector.[8] In October 2014, the Nexa Center took the role of coordinator of the Global Network of Internet & Society Research Centers.[9] From November 2015, the Nexa Center for Internet & Society is a partner of Lumen, the project of the Berkman Center at Harvard on network transparency.[10]

The Nexa Center works with the European Commission, national and local governments, companies and other institutions. The aim of the center is to broaden the understanding of the main factors characterizing the Internet, their dynamics and their impact on society.

Members

The Nexa Center is run by two co-directors, a board of trustees,[11] staff members and several fellows. Professor Charles Nesson is a member of the NEXA Board of Trustees together with another Berkman Center for Internet and Society co-director, Prof. Yochai Benkler, and also with other well known Italian and foreign personalities as Professors Stefano Rodotà, Raffaele Meo and Michelangelo Pistoletto.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Department of Control and Computer Engineering (Polytechnic University of Turin)
  2. ↑ Donadio, Rachel (24 February 2010). "Larger Threat Is Seen in Google Case". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
  3. ↑ LAPSI
  4. ↑ SeLiLi
  5. ↑ Neubot web site
  6. ↑ About page of the Digital Revolution course website
  7. ↑ Symposium on Internet-Driven Developments: Structural Changes and Tipping Points, Berkman Cernter for Internet and Society, Harvard University, 11 January 2013
  8. ↑ The Nexa Center for Internet & Society Joins the Global Network Initiative, The Global Network Initiative, 22 March 2013
  9. ↑ List of the centers participating in the network, Global Network of Internet & Society Research Centers, October 2014
  10. ↑ Harvard's Groundbreaking Project Documenting Online Content Removals Changes Name to Lumen, Reflecting Expanded Mission and International Scope, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, November 2, 2015
  11. ↑ Board of Trustees of the Nexa Center

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