There are numerous challenges and opportunities facing RIPE community from many directions.
The Internet itself has challenges such as excessive data collection, industry consolidation, content moderation, security challenges, etc.
We’re still in the pandemic and the Internet plays an even more important part in everyone’s life, from kids to adults.
Yet the Internet continues to be run with enough capacity, in a robust and secure way.
Nowadays, more than in the past, many legislations have extraterritorial impact, like privacy laws in Europe that affect Internet globally.
Huge number of governmental legislations/regulations introduced and proposed by the EU will control what some RIPE community members do,
e.g. in terms of intermediary liabilities as part of Digital Services Act, Data Governance Act, NIS directive revision, etc.
One challenge involving work with some international organisations is that the RIPE community is not an entity per se.
But all challenges call for many discussions, deeper collaboration and finding consensus.
I also see the following opportunities:
- Better connecting of stakeholders;
- Finding an opportunity to respond to consultations;
- Finding ways that community opinion can be turned into meaningful consensus positions that can be offered where necessary;
- Discuss how global IGF opinions might influence what/how RIPE does. The Future of IGF vs RIPE’s role in that;
- Extend the communities own reach to fully become and remain multi-stakeholder and across 76 economies and states;
It would be a great if in 2021, we turn some of the many challenges into opportunities, and I would be willing to contribute my time towards that.
Desiree
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