Using Complex Adaptive Systems Theory for Developing an Internet Governance Model for India

Abstract

New paradigms of Internet Governance (IG) recognize the contribution and role of governments, private organizations, civil society and other communities. The borderless and distributed architecture of the Internet substantially differentiates IG from traditional governance, challenging the established dominant role of nation-states in policy-making. IG presents a mode of governance where nation-states, private organizations, civil society, academia, technical community and inter-governmental organizations all participate from a multi stakeholder perspective. Most of the institutions and organizations in the IG space do not derive their authority from being sovereign states. Neither do they have legitimate authority as given to international governance organizations that have been created with the consent of sovereign states. Therefore, IG organizations need to explicitly establish legitimacy to be effective. In many countries, especially emerging economies like India, there is no coherent mechanism to deal with the multitude of organisations and the flux in IG. India’s response to the changing IG structures, like that of many other emerging economies, had been largely ad-hoc and has varied over time. India does not have a national strategic plan for including its concerns in various IG processes and has been largely limited to dealing with cyber-security. Although this is a critical aspect, this approach has been at the expense of economic and social goals and institutions that would help Internet to grow domestically. Hence, there is a need for India to focus on IG and adopt a wider perspective. Many developed countries and, increasingly, developing countries like India now recommend a multi-stakeholder approach where nation-states are one of the many stakeholders that include private sector and other communities. Under appropriate conditions of governance, multi-stakeholder approach provides greater legitimacy to decision making. The approach to deal with emergent issues in IG requires flexibility and ability to incorporate new technologies and international developments. Studies of IG have not systematically addressed the issue of design of responsive organizations or national systems for effective governance in this context.This paper contributes to addressing this lacuna by:i) Developing a conceptual model for IG based on, both, the underlying architecture of the Internet and a proposed model for evaluating the perceived legitimacy of suggested institutionsii) Combining the two models, we develop the Multi-Tier Open Participation (M-TOP) framework for its application to India. Based on the above we developed a policy and organizational blueprint for strengthening IG in India. Not only did this approach coherently address the role of academia, government and the private sector but also delineated the role and scope of different government agencies. Further, the proposed framework draws upon initiatives in fields such as climate control, electronic financial transactions etc, where there are similar governance challenges. It also draws upon the experience from other countries.The study was conducted at the request of Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), India to help them develop a framework for IG.Methodology:The primary research was done through i) semi-structured and in-depth interviews with 19 respondents from various civil society groups, top level government and International organization functionaries and ii) active participation in, and interviews with several key attendees of Internet Governance Forum, Istanbul, 2014 and the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum, India, 2014. Focus group discussions were also conducted to obtain perspectives on relevant issues. Secondary data was obtained through examination of existing literature. Subsequent to the development of preliminary proposed framework, feedback was collected from key decision-makers in DeitY, the industry and civil society through roundtables and workshops to check the consistency of the framework and feasibility of its adoption.Approach:To develop the conceptual model for IG, we analysed the architecture of Internet from a functional and governance perspective. Based on this, we proposed a tiered architecture broadly scoped below. It is premised on the fact that since the functions, actors, processes and institutions at each of the tiers of Internet architecture are different, the scope public policy issues at each of the tiers will vary, highlighting the need for governance mechanisms specific to each of the tiers. • Infrastructure Tier: This comprises of the physical infrastructure required for access to the Internet. Examples of the dominant policy issues in this layer are licensing and spectrum management, interconnection, access, and standards.• Critical Internet Resources Tier: This comprises allocation of IP/AS numbers, management of the domain name system including root name servers, and development of protocols and standards and the related governance issues. • Service Tier: This tier focuses on policy issues pertaining to security, spam and malware.• Content and Application Tier: This tier comprises of policy issues arising from content and applications such as privacy, intermediary liability, copyright etc.• End User Layer: This tier comprises of policy issues dealing with the end user including capacity building, awareness programs, affirmative action, and regulating end user behaviour.The paper elaborates on the above model by identifying key issues, lead and other actors, and geographic scope of decision-making across the tiers.On another dimension, based on the prior work on legitimacy (Bernstein and Cashore, 2007; Buchanan and Keohane, 2006; Kummer, 2012; Scharpf, 1999; Skogstad, 2011B; Underhill and Zhang, 2008), we identified the legitimacy parameters and attributes associated with decision-making processes for governance. Subsequently, we designed a framework for IG in India that integrates the above two models as a Multi- Tiered Open Participation (M-TOP) approach. Based on the M-TOP approach, we developed a national policy and organizational blueprint that takes into account that IG principles for India should be in consonance with its democratic ethos and dovetail with the inherent characteristics of the Internet, namely, openness, dynamism, and innovation. This framework also takes cognizance of the need for flexibility for new technologies and international developments.The recommendations of the study were adopted by DeitY and was one of the key instruments that led to a shift from India’s multi-lateral approach to a multi-stake holder one.