WHO WE ARE

Introduction

The Internet is a fundamental component of economic, social, and political life around the world. It currently connects more than three billion people, and it is estimated that 50 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2020. The stable and flexible functioning of the Internet is becoming increasingly important for developed, emerging, and developing countries and their citizens.

The governance of internet ecosystem has long been the concern of a selected group of stakeholders. But the number of interested parties, both state and non-state stakeholders, is increasing as global connectivity spreads.

Internet Governance is a contested topic, where the Pakistan School on Internet Governance (pkSIG) will try to offer understanding, framing, and outlining actions to be taken in the current Internet governance environment. It will offer potential governance scenarios and analyse its international, regional, and national political, economic, and technical implications.

The target audience comprises of students, practitioners, researchers and professionals from Academia and Research, Civil Society, NGOs, Public Sector, Technical Community, Private Sector, Business and Students. Interest and basic understanding of the Internet is the only requirement to attend the school.

History

Pakistan School on Internet Governance (pkSIG) was established to educate and encourage scholars, IT specialists, and professionals from different walks of life to discuss the complex nature of Internet governance (IG), legal and regulatory challenges, IG capacity building, infrastructure development and Internet public policy making. 

pkSIG has conducted 7 editions at Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi, Quetta and Virtually from 2015 to 2021.  More than ~600 students have been trained and more than ~25 fellowships awarded. More than 30 international and national speakers are part of pkSIG.

Objective.

The pkSIG aims to help individuals from Pakistan to better understand the global and regional Internet Governance issues, settings, and processes, while gaining access to comprehensive and structured knowledge on various aspects of Internet Governance, and the actors, issues and settings surrounding it. Internet has become the nucleus of global digital transformation and accordingly, Pakistan has seen tremendous spike in Internet usage in the last five years or so. It is imperative that our youth learns about Internet policy and operations so that they may contribute to Internet development in future. Therefore, some of the broader objectives of this school are:
  • Be the pioneer school on IG education and awareness
  • Provide updated, relevant and specific knowledge on IG trends.
  • Inspire the students, particularly youth, to participate in the Internet Policy and technical standards development process.
  • Develop the next generation of Internet Leaders in Pakistan.
  • Provide an interactive platform to the Internet enthusiasts to share ideas and seek guidance from experts
  • Create an active alumni network
  • Take the school to every provincial capital in the country & beyond