Skip to content
Internet Society Foundation
  • About
    • Board of Trustees
    • Our Projects
    • Our Team
    • 2024 Impact Report
    • 2025 Action Plan
    • Press Center
  • Funding Areas
    • Beyond the Net
    • BOLT
    • Chapter Admin Funding
    • Connecting the Unconnected
    • Encryption Day
    • Internet Governance Forum Events
    • Research
    • Resiliency
    • SCILLS
    • Sustainable Peering Infrastructure Funding Program
    • Sustainable Technical Communities
  • Resources
    • Grantee Eligibility & Compliance Guidance
    • Application Review Process
    • Alignment Requirements
    • Grant Management & Reporting Expectations
    • Grant Application and Project Implementation Guidance
    • Grant Partner Communications Toolkit
    • How to use Fluxx
    • Logo guidelines
  • News & Stories
    • News
    • Impact stories
    • The Bcc podcast
  • Careers
  • The Internet Society
  • Subscribe
  • Languages:ENESFR
FacebookTwitterLinkedinInstagramRssEmail
This content is available in the following languages
The Internet Society English is the current languageEspañolFrançais
  • Subscribe
    Internet Society Foundation
    • About
      • Board of Trustees
      • Our Projects
      • Our Team
      • 2024 Impact Report
      • 2025 Action Plan
      • Press Center
    • Funding Areas
      • Beyond the Net
      • BOLT
      • Chapter Admin Funding
      • Connecting the Unconnected
      • Encryption Day
      • Internet Governance Forum Events
      • Research
      • Resiliency
      • SCILLS
      • Sustainable Peering Infrastructure Funding Program
      • Sustainable Technical Communities
    • Resources
      • Grantee Eligibility & Compliance Guidance
      • Application Review Process
      • Alignment Requirements
      • Grant Management & Reporting Expectations
      • Grant Application and Project Implementation Guidance
      • Grant Partner Communications Toolkit
      • How to use Fluxx
      • Logo guidelines
    • News & Stories
      • News
      • Impact stories
      • The Bcc podcast
    • Careers
    • The Internet Society
    • Subscribe
    • Languages:ENESFR
    Research Grants

    Internet Standards Observatory: Monitoring Standards to Prevent Fragmentation

    Home / Projects / Research Grants / Internet Standards Observatory: Monitoring Standards to Prevent Fragmentation
    04-01-2024-ISTO-Carolina-Georgia-bottom-text

    Grant Program

    Research Grants

    Grantee Name

    DNS Research Federation

    Grant Start Date

    12 December 2022

    Grant End Date

    11 December 2024

    Amount Funded

    $250,000.00

    City

    Oxford

    Country

    United Kingdom

    Region

    Global

    See More Projects

    RESEARCH QUESTION 

    The project seeks to contribute to the body of research on the question of standards and fragmentation. The Project methodology research question is: How can automation contribute to the identification of standards proposals that seek to transform the Internet’s building blocks and splinter the network through standards? 

    The policy research questions are: (1) Based on the proposals identified by the tracking tool, what are the Internet’s building blocks that are coming under question, and what arguments and strategies are employed by proponents of said proposals to succeed in achieving standardization?; (2) What are effective ways for supporters of the open, global Internet to respond to potential drivers for fragmentation at the level of standards and engage with controversial proposals? 

    These questions are answered in the framework of a proposal to establish an Internet Standards Observatory to 1) generate awareness about standards proposals that seek to transform the Internet and, 2) to provide actionable tools and guidance to support standards organization participants and policymakers who are working to defend the open, global Internet. 

    WHY IS THIS RESEARCH IMPORTANT? 

     The research project is innovative in two ways. First, it seeks to deploy a novel research methodology that relies on automated means to facilitate standards tracking and apply existing text analysis technologies to the world of standards. Secondly, the Internet Standards Observatory provides open and public access to the tool to facilitate greater engagement by policymakers and enable greater scrutiny of standards by the research community. The tracking tool is expected to enable new insights into the analysis of trends and transformations in strategy, and the ability to keep tabs on what elements of the Internet infrastructure are being challenged by controversial proposals. This facilitates the development of response and containment strategies, including tailored technical arguments to defend the Internet’s current way of networking.

    The project also contributes to concrete proposals about ways in which the Internet community can develop reactive and proactive strategies to strengthen multi-stakeholder participation and engagement across multilateral standards and international organizations. 

    The impact of the research involves (a) facilitating timely access to information about relevant developments in standards settings that may impact the future of the Internet; (b) offering knowledge translation – in particular for non-technical audiences, such as policymakers, academia and civil society – about the meaning of ongoing discussions at key standards development organizations on policy issues pertaining the evolution of the Internet; and (c) enabling evidence-based conversations about strategies for supporters of the open, global Internet to respond to potential drivers for fragmentation at the level of standards.  

    METHODOLOGY  

    The research adopts different methodologies for the development of the automated tracking tool and for conducting policy research. For the automated standards tracking tool, the documents to be analyzed are the standards proposals submitted for consideration at ITU-T and IETF, and the data analysis is conducted using Doc Monitor, the text analysis tool of the DNS RF’s Data Analytics Platform. This analysis is descriptive: it outlines what controversial content is featured in proposals and scores and ranks proposals to highlight which standards contributions may require the highest level of attention from supporters of the open, global Internet. 

    On the other hand, policy research explores a broader range of questions relating to standardization and fragmentation. By using the tracking tool, the policy research maps out trends and evolving strategies in fragmentation at the level of standards. Secondly, the research also explores ways to improve response strategies among supporters of the open, global Internet, including aspects such as the development of guidelines for conducting standards assessment, the identification of technical arguments for the defense of the Internet’s way of networking, and the introduction of recommendations to broaden coalitions in standardization processes and strengthen cooperation strategies among the like-minded. Data sources are determined by the various researchers setting out to produce the studies but mainly are the data from the tracking tool, as well as desk research and primary data collected through interviews or surveys. 

    MEDIA AND PUBLICATIONS 

    See below for research publications and other articles related to the research. 

    https://dnsrf.org/research/isto/index.html

    The Internet is for Everyone

    The Internet Society Foundation supports the vision of the Internet Society and its work for an open, globally-connected, secure, and trustworthy Internet for everyone.

    isoc_foundation_logo@2x

    1551 Emancipation Highway #1506
    Fredericksburg, VA 22401

    1-703-439-2120

    [email protected]

    LinkedIn ISOC Foundation on Facebook ISOC Foundation on Instagram ISOC Foundation on YouTube ISOC Foundation on Twitter ISOC Foundation RSS feed
    Guidestar Platinum seal of transparency 2020

    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Get the latest news and announcements from our projects. Unsubscribe at any time. We won't use your details for anything else.

    Please enter your name.
    Please enter a valid email address.
    Subscribe!

    Thanks for subscribing! Please check your email for further instructions.

    Something went wrong. Please check your entries and try again.

    © 2024 Internet Society Foundation | Privacy Policy | Terms of use | Engagement Code of Conduct | Our Governance | DMCA Policy | Sitemap

    Scroll To Top