PROGRESS AND PRINCIPLES

The 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US and the recent withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan has understandably prompted a global reflection on “progress”. The IIC is a neutral platform across and through which debates freely flow, yet TMT markets, innovation, policy and regulation are, of course, shaped by political forces or “unexpected events”. Stakeholders of all persuasions – public, commercial, not for profit; independent or otherwise – need to be attuned to this reality. And when reality show up, it inevitably sharpens and refines, as well as blunts or distorts, arguments or momentum in the name of progress, and indeed progress itself. The only thing that stands the test of time is a design of a principles and evidence-based approach, led by experts, with method and consensus, that can work around and through the dynamics of ideology, reality, uncertainty and constant change – and this is the IIC’s raison d’être: to provide that platform and contribute to that design in the consequential TMT sector. In this issue of Intermedia, Patrick Barwise examines the question of privatisating British public service broadcaster Channel 4; Dorian Burkhalter’s overview of how 9/11 shaped internet governance is set against calls from Fabrizio Cugia di Sant’Orsola and Silvia Giampaolo for a holistic consideration of the regulation of big data; and Terry Flew considers the “people power” dimension in the first of a two-part essay on the willingness to pay for media, starting with news. Chris Chapman, president, IIC