Open Technology Institute

Archives: Open Technology Institute Policy Papers

Mobile Leapfrogging and Digital Divide Policy

  • By
  • Philip Napoli,
  • Jonathan Obar,
  • New America Foundation
April 1, 2013

This paper examines the emerging global phenomenon of mobile leapfrogging in Internet access. Leapfrogging refers to the process in which new Internet users are obtaining access by mobile devices and are skipping the traditional means of access: personal computers. This leapfrogging of PC-based Internet access has been hailed in many quarters as an important means of rapidly and inexpensively reducing the gap in Internet access between developed and developing nations, thereby reducing the need for policy interventions to address this persistent digital divide.

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How Do They Know?

  • By
  • Lorelei Kelly,
  • New America Foundation
March 26, 2013

Here in the United States and around the world, elected leaders seem paralyzed by information overload. Despite a wealth of information at our fingertips, high- quality, unbiased facts have become increasingly hidden in our noisy, saturated world. Worse, much of the public discourse has become routinely gridlocked, as proponents on each side of a debate regularly come to the table armed with their own “facts.” Faced with this deluge of information, the role of congressional staffers is increasingly one of fact-checking rather than fact-finding.

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Capped Internet: No Bargain for the American Public

  • By
  • Hibah Hussain,
  • Danielle Kehl,
  • Benjamin Lennett,
  • Patrick Lucey,
  • New America Foundation
February 20, 2013

Below you will find the full text of "Capped Internet: No Bargain for the American Public," a policy brief by the Open Technology Institute. Download a PDF version here.

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Capping the Nation’s Broadband Future?

  • By
  • Hibah Hussain,
  • Danielle Kehl,
  • Benjamin Lennett,
  • Patrick Lucey,
  • New America Foundation
December 17, 2012

Below, you will find the full text of the Open Technology Institute's paper, "Capping the Nation's Broadband Future?" To download a PDF of the report, click here. You can also find a two-page fact sheet on data caps here.

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What's at Stake at WCIT?

  • By
  • Tim Maurer,
  • New America Foundation
December 5, 2012

The latest battle over who governs the Internet is taking place in Dubai this week. As the world’s governments meet at the World Conference on International Telecommunication (WCIT), hosted by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), it is already clear that the Internet governance system is under pressure. The legitimacy of this governance system and the Internet’s future success will be affected by these debates.

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Congress' Wicked Problem

  • By
  • Lorelei Kelly,
  • New America Foundation
December 4, 2012

The lack of shared expert knowledge capacity in the U.S. Congress has created a critical weakness in our democratic process.Along with bipartisan cooperation, many contemporary and urgent questions before our legislators require nuance, genuine deliberation and expert judgment. Congress, however, is missing adequate means for this purpose and depends on outdated and in some cases antiquated systems of information referral, sorting, communicating, and convening.

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The Cost of Connectivity

  • By
  • Hibah Hussain,
  • Danielle Kehl,
  • Benjamin Lennett,
  • Chiehyu Li,
  • Patrick Lucey,
  • New America Foundation
July 19, 2012

Below, you will find the full text of the Open Technology Institute's report, "The Cost of Connectivity," which compares the prices of high-speed internet in 22 cities worldwide. To download a PDF of the report and its appendices, click here.

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Digital Freedom of Expression in Uzbekistan

  • By Sarah Kendzior, PhD
July 18, 2012

The 2011 uprisings in the Middle East have prompted speculation about whether digital technology can and will be used to foment similar uprisings in former Soviet authoritarian states. This paper examines the relationship between political activism and internet freedom in Uzbekistan.  It argues that while the internet is a critical tool for political expression, its utility as a tool for activism is challenged both by threats from the government and by fear and apathy among Uzbek internet users.

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Public Media Policy, Spectrum Policy, and Rethinking Public Interest Obligations for the 21st Century

  • By
  • Benjamin Lennett,
  • Tom Glaisyer,
  • Sascha Meinrath,
  • New America Foundation
June 21, 2012

In this paper we consider reforms and innovations in spectrum policy that would enable and sustain an expanded public media to better support quality news, journalism, education, arts, and civic information in the 21st century. The Internet has remade the landscape of free expression, access to news and information, and media production. Thus, we are well past the moment when spectrum allocated to broadcasting could be considered as distinct from that allocated to wireless broadband networks.

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Universities as Hubs for Next-Generation Networks

  • By
  • Benjamin Lennett,
  • Sarah Morris,
  • Greta Byrum,
  • New America Foundation
April 23, 2012

Based on a request for information (RFI) submitted to The University Community Next Generation Innovation Project (Gig.U), the paper describes a model for universities to develop next generation  broadband infrastructure in their communities. In our view universities can play a critical role in spurring next generation networks into their communities through use of their physical infrastructure to extend high-speed Internet access and sharing their expertise and resources to support engagement and participation by community members, businesses, and institutions. 

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