Launch event

You can find the schedule here
You can register here

Executive summary / TL;DR

• The critical infrastructure lab launches on April 13-14, 2023 at the University of Amsterdam
• Send in your session proposals for interactive workshops on April 13th (the lab day)
• Send in your extended abstracts (academics) or position statements (practitioners) for the panel sessions on April 14th (the research day)
• Send submissions to submission@criticalinfralab.net by March 1st (750-1000 words)

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“Infrastructure makes worlds” — Ned Rossiter
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Dear colleague, friend, comrade,

Communications infrastructures constitute the invisible scaffolding of social life. Largely concealed to their end-users, they are becoming the main stage where local and global economic, social, environmental, and geopolitical conflicts are played out. Once established, infrastructures shape societies for decades to come.

On the 13th and 14th of April we will launch the critical infrastructure lab to discuss and develop visions of how communication infrastructures can serve the public interest — and we want to do that with you!

Work in the critical infrastructure lab will focus on the development of new infrastructural futures that center people and planet over profit and capital. Hosted at the University of Amsterdam and led by Fieke Jansen, Niels ten Oever, and Maxigas, the lab will bring together activists, advocates, scholars, policymakers, and industry actors. Three analytical lenses of standards, geopolitics and environment will be applied to built an evidence base, investigate and develop infrastructural imaginaries, and create actionable research for infrastructures that serve the public interest.

About the launch event
The two-day event at the University of Amsterdam will take place on the 13th and 14th of April. It will be a mix of keynote speakers, hands-on workshops, infrastructure walks, and panel discussions. Both days will be in person, but day 1 will be streamed. For both days, we invite session proposals from activists, advocates, scholars, policymakers, and industry.

Day zero, 13th of April, will be a hands-on lab day. It will offer space for interactive sessions on geopolitics, environment, and standards. We invite proposals for sessions of 2.5 hours. For instance, workshops, infrastructure walks, policy challenges, simulations, etc. Pretty much everything that is not a panel or paper presentation.

Day one, 14th of April, will have a more academic structure. It will kick off with three keynote presentations followed by panel sessions. The keynote speakers – Ksennia Ermoshina, Svitlana Matviyenko, and Yu Hong – will inspire and challenge us. The keynotes are followed by Corinne Cath, who will present her research on exclusionary cultures of internet governance.

The afternoon will be dedicated to simultaneous panel sessions in the areas of infrastructure and geopolitics, infrastructure and environment, and infrastructure and standards. Academics can submit an extended abstract (research question, theory/literature, method, data, preliminary findings) and practitioners can submit a position statement. These contributions should be between 750 and 1000 words.

Want to submit
Do you have an idea you want to workshop, a discussion you want to host, or some research that you want to present?

State clearly in an email:

• your name and affiliation,
• whether you are submitting for day zero or day one,
• the research area (infrastructure and geopolitics, infrastructure and environment, or infrastructure and standards)
• include an abstract, position statement or a blurb for an interactive session!

Send your submission to submission@criticalinfralab.net by March 1st.

The lab and its research is supported by the Ford Foundation, the Internet Society Foundation, and Omidyar Network.