EuroSSIG Internet Governance Summer School: A Faculty Member's Impressions

The RIPE NCC has contributed to the EuroSSIG project ever since its inception shortly after the conclusion of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2005 in Tunis. Although the summer school would have never happened without financial contributions from a large number of organisations from within the technical community and private sector, including the RIPE NCC, I think the most important contribution we can make is to share our experience and knowledge. RIPE NCC Managing Director Axel Pawlik was on the EuroSSIG faculty for the 1st edition back in 2007, and the RIPE NCC has sent a staff member to participate and teach at the summer school every year since.

The Internet itself and the governance landscape surrounding it have seen many changes since the start of EuroSSIG. Together, the faculty has continuously incorporated these changes and included current topics into the curriculum, which has matured over the years. In fact, some of the topics that are discussed right now in global forums such as the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) may have partially emerged from discussions during pleasant summer evenings spent on the terrace of the Evangelische Akademie in Meissen, where EuroSSIG is held each year.

This is probably the most valuable part for the faculty members: we not only join in to teach, we come to learn as well. Being able to spend a week with colleagues from different sectors and with different backgrounds is a great way to achieve new insights into current topics, share experiences and discuss common concerns. And of course it is not only the faculty who help make this happen - having a few dozen fellows around who are relatively new to the governance scene and eager to learn is a great way to get some fresh thinking minds involved.

It is very rewarding to share my own experience and knowledge, built up over many years, with such a great group of students. Even more rewarding to see is fellows from these 10 years actively applying that knowledge and participating in Internet governance debates and, sometimes, even teaching related topics themselves.