Admission requirements
This course is part of the ‘Cyber Security Governance Essentials’ minor.
Description
What do we mean by Internet Governance? Governance of a globally interconnected network of networks, or governance of the applications and services that run over these global networks? No surprise, Internet Governance is a contested term surrounded by various technical and political debates related to its meaning and scope. Until the mid-1990s internet governance focused mainly on technical standards setting but has developed significantly over the past two decades to encompass political, societal, economic and other dimensions. While no single organisation or international body influences, controls or governs the internet alone, issues of power and control related to internet governance are now prominent on the agendas of national governments and international organisations, private industry, academia and technical community. Internet created various private self-governing structures that both conflict and compete with traditional models of governance employed by nation states, raising the issues of legitimacy and accountability.
This course will approach internet governance from various angles: from governance of the technical layer of the internet via multistakeholder bodies such as ICANN, which have developed their own complex global governance structures and processes, to the broader spectrum of processes pertaining to societal and economic dimensions of the internet. Starting with reflection on the debates surrounding the definition of internet governance, we will dive deeply into the evolution of internet governance, issues of power and control over critical internet resources, and decision-making processes. We will discuss different approaches to governance, such as multistakeholder and multilateral governance models, the way they manifest themselves in practice, and issues of transparency, accountability, and legitimacy of both models. The course will also explore the current challenges related to internet governance and debates around cybersecurity, human rights, and internet fragmentation.
Course objectives
By the end of this course:
Students will be able to conceptualise the definition of internet governance, understand its narrow and broad meanings, reflect on the debates around this term, and understand the differences between terms “governments”, “governance”, and “regulation” in relation to internet governance.
Students will gain insights in the evolution of internet governance and political, economic, and societal factors influencing it.
Students will be able to reflect on debates surrounding multistakeholder and multilateral Internet governance models, the conflicts between the two models and issues related to the functioning of the models, such as legitimacy, inclusiveness, enforcement, and others.
Students will obtain significant knowledge about the processes of standard-setting and policy-making on the technical layer of the internet governance with a particular focus on the governance of the Domain Names System (DNS), ICANN as an example of the multistakeholder model of governance, and the role of the governments in ICANN.
Students will gain knowledge on internet governance-related issues and processes from a broader societal and economic perspective.
Students will get acquainted with new challenges related to internet governance such as the changing role of the governments in internet governance, tensions between different governance models, internet fragmentation, and others.
Students will be able to participate in debates related to internet governance and evaluate policies and initiatives in this field.
Timetable
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of instruction
7 lectures of 3 hours.
Participation is mandatory.
Assessment method
Individual assignment
30 % of final grade
*Grade must be compensated
*resit not possible
Final written assignment
70 % of final grade
*Grade must be 5.50 or higher to pass the course
*Resit of a fail is possible.
*Resit will take the same form
The calculated final grade must be at least 5.50 to pass the course.
Reading list
A selection of books and articles, to be announced on Brightspace.
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
For minor students: For application EduXchange is used, application will start on Wednesday 15th of May 2024 at 13:00h.
Application period:
TU Delft, Erasmus and LDE students: 15 May 2024 (at 13.00h) - 31 May 2024
Leiden University students: 15 May 2024 (at 13.00h) - 4 July 2024
More information about the application procedure can be found on this website:
For Computer Science and Economy students: you can enroll from the 10th of July until 15 August.
Contact
Dr. Tatiana Tropina (t.tropina@fgga.leidenuniv.nl)
Remarks
This course takes place in The Hague.
All sessions will be in English.
All assignments and exams need to be written in English.
When you register for a certain course, you automatically receive access to the environment of this course via Brightspace.
For more information about Brightspace, click on this link to view the university manuals. If you have any other questions or problems, you can contact the helpdesk of Leiden University.
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.