Announcements

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Panels Announced for State of the Net 2018


In 14 years of planning the State of the Net Conference, we’ve never seen a more interesting, challenging, and complex set of policy issues on the table. We plan on tackling all of them on January 29 and we hope you join your colleagues in Washington. We’ll start announcing our speakers soon. In the meantime, here are some of the topics that you won’t want to miss at State of the Net. The issues are still evolving and we’ll put more topics on the agenda as they develop.

Internet Expression: Truth, Trust, Transparency, & Tribalism

“The intel wasn’t 100%.” In the aftermath of Pizzagate, what sources of information and which speakers can be trusted? We have had to create a new lexicon to understand the state of free expression on the Internet: Fake news, troll-farms, disinformation, nation-state sponsored advertising, post-fact society, data injection attacks, narrative-laundering, networked propaganda, to name a few. Solutions to these problems are far more complex than most are willing to believe. We have to start somewhere.

The Fragmentation of Communications Policy

The policy framework guiding communications policy has never been more fragmented and uncertain. The FCC is expected to undo its “Open Internet,” Congress recently rolled back FCC privacy rules (which some states are taking up), and the House and Senate are drafting legislation.

The Witches’ Brew of Cyber Security: Beyond Money and Mischief

During a recent Homeland Security Committee hearing Chairman Ron Johnson asked FBI Director Christopher Wray to describe the “witches’ brew” of cyber security threats. Wray painted a picture of “a blurring between different kinds of threats,” from nation-state actors working with hackers-for-hire enlisting troll farms and autonomous bots. Now some of them are using NSA-developed weapons released into the wild. Money and mischief are no longer the only motivations for these attacks.

Internet Governance: Are We In A Post Multi-Stakeholder World?

2018 may be the most significant year in terms of Internet governance since the dawn of the Internet. The Trump Administration’s preference for bilateral deals is at odds with the previous Administration’s multi-stakeholder approach. Will nation states, having just witnessed of the awesome power of the Internet in the period between Arab Spring and the 2017 elections, seek to exploit lack of consensus for greater control?

Authentication in Post-Equifax World: Blockchain Beyond Bitcoin

The massive Equifax breach demonstrated that our antediluvian Internet authentication methods should have been left back in the last century. Yet, blockchain technology has quietly been growing as a versatile ledger for all sorts of authenticated transactions beyond currency. The applications are endless. Our panel will explore how blockchain may be the answer to our public policy prayers in a post Equifax world.

Register Now

Click Here to Watch an Introduction Video to State of the Net
Congresswoman Suzan Delbene with board member Julie Samuels. Click to watch a short video about State of the Net.

Make sure you follow @SOTN and use the hashtag #SOTN2018 on Twitter for conference updates!



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State of the Net 2018 Registration Open

State of the Net 2018 has been announced. Watch the above video for highlights of the event.

On Monday, January 29, 2018 policy leaders will convene at the 14th Annual State of the Net Conference in Washington, DC, the nation’s premier technology policy conference. Early-bird rates are available for a short time.

Register here.

The upcoming State of the Net conference will cover the most important policy issues facing the Internet today. Congressional and administration leaders will engage with stakeholders on issues such as digital inclusion, freedom of expression, trust & tribalism, broadband fragmentation, innovation, and many more. As always, State of the Net will be your first look at the new players and the new issues that will take center stage in 2018. Whether it’s artificial intelligence or cyber security policies, State of the Net is the best place to debate them all. This conference is unique. It’s been consistently lauded for its balanced blend of perspectives and its provocative thinkers. In an increasingly polarized policy space, State of the Net is the most important stakeholder gathering that brings you together with key people with whom you disagree (respectfully). That’s the point. 

Past keynote speakers includes FCC Chair Tom Wheeler, UBER Founder/CEO Travis Kalanick, Dropbox Founder/CEO Drew Houston and many others. Want to know more? Find out more about our recent past speakers here.

State of the Net attracts over 600 attendees by providing unparalleled opportunities to network and engage on key policy issues. The 2018 edition of State of the Net will take place at The Newseum’s Knight Conference Center.

Want to know more about what State of the Net does? There are video highlights of the conference to give a better sense of what the event does.

Some of our speakers for State of the Net 2018 are:

Jessica Rosenworcel SOTN
Jessica Rosenworcel Commissioner Federal Communications Commission
Representative Bob Goodlatte
Rep. Bob Goodlatte Chairman House Judiciary Committee

More speakers to be announced.

 

We hope you can join us and on-site registration will be available. Make sure you follow @SOTN and use the hashtag #SOTN2018 on Twitter for conference updates!

 

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Watch The SOTN Highlights Video

The State of the Net Conference is the premier Internet policy conference in the United States. The conference features the most important decision makers in the policy ecosystem and it sets the stage for the discussions for the coming year. Check out the highlight video for more.

State of the Net Highlights

About the conference and past speakers.
Matt Lira, Nick Sinai, Ginny Hunt
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VIDEO ICYMI: The Future of Govt Innovation Under Trump and In Congress

In case you missed it you can watch the video of our conversation with Matt Lira (Senior Advisor, Office of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy) and Nick Sinai (Venture Partner, Insight Venture Partners) at Monday’s State of the Net Conference. Led by Ginny Hunt (Director of Platforms, U.S. Digital Service), Matt and Nick forcefully supported innovative programs such as U.S. Digital Service, the Presidential Innovation Fellowships, 18F and other open data initiatives. If you missed this important discussion, we welcome to watch the video below. Here’s a recap in FedScoop.

Matt Lira, Nick Sinai, Ginny Hunt

About The Discussion:

The importance of innovation in government has become a bi-partisan consensus. Connecting government officials and their departments with top talent from the US technology sector has become paramount to keep track with the rapid pace of private sector developments. Most recently, congress sought to solidify already existing programs such as the Presidential Innovation Fellowship, with the TALENT Act of 2017 seeking to codify the provisions that established it.

But beyond solidifying the policies of previous administrations, what is the future of technological innovation in government? Will we be seeing more and deeper ties with the private sector or a more government driven approach? Join us at our Panel “Innovation.gov: The Future of Better, Faster, Cheaper Government” at State of the Net 2017

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Congress Needs to Modernize Laws to Address Digital Economy, Rising Cyber Security Risks, Americans Say in New Vrge / Internet Education Foundation Survey

54% of Americans Say “Pillars” that Support Economy Haven’t Adapted to Changes Brought on by Digital Platforms

Don’t Impose U.S. Views: 55% Said U.S. Should Not Intervene When Other Countries Impose Restrictions on Internet Access on Their Own Citizens

53% of Americans Say Existing Cyber Security Laws Aren’t Getting the Job Done
Washington, DC, Jan. 23, 2017 – As President Trump and the new Congress stake out a 2017 agenda, Americans want to see a pressing need to modernize our laws dealing with the digital economy and stepped up efforts to combat cyber crimes, according to a new survey released in conjunction with the State of the Net Conference sponsored by the Internet Education Foundation.

Fifty-four percent of Americans report that the pillars that support the economy – such as education, regulations and laws and corporate culture – haven’t been adapted enough to address the changes in the way Americans work. The survey also found that 56% believe that as the economy becomes more global, it’s important that the regulations and laws in the United States and other countries become more consistent.

Americans are also concerned about whether cyber criminals are gaining the upper hand. Only 1 in 20 Americans said that existing cyber security laws are enough to protect citizens and businesses. Fifty-four percent advocated for stronger cyber laws.

The survey was released in advance of the 2017 State of the Net Conference in Washington, a gathering of t business and policy leaders to discuss the 2017 federal and state policy agenda. “With a new President and new technologies challenging the status quo of economic laws and regulations, 2017 is shaping up as a critical policy year that will shape the future economy and issues of trade, privacy and security,” said Tim Lordan, Executive Director of the Internet Education Foundation. “The State of the Net Conference serves as a kick-off to this important discussion.”

  • Highlights from the survey, of over 700 Americans conducted by Vrge Analytics on Jan. 18-19, 2017, include:Americans are mixed on how to approach emerging companies, such as Uber and Airbnb that challenge existing laws and regulations. Forty-four percent said that existing laws should be adapted to fit the business models of these companies, while 36 percent said those companies should have to adapt. Among Millennials, only 1 in 4 think Uber and Airbnb should have to change.
  • On cyber security, Americans don’t believe we have found the right balance between protecting privacy and ensuring security, but they are split on how to strike that balance. Only 17 percent said the right balance exists. But 27 percent said it should be more skewed towards security, while 31 percent said it should be steered more towards privacy. Republicans favor steering more toward security; Democrats want it to lean more towards privacy.
  • An emerging issue is what efforts the U.S. government should play in checking countries that limit Internet access to their citizens. For example, Russia has blocked its citizens from access to Linkedin and China demanded that Apple remove the New York Times app from the Apps Store. In the survey, 55 percent said the United States should not intervene and that countries have the right to make decisions about Internet access.
  • Of Americans with an opinion, by a 4-1 margin they believe that the U.S. policymakers should advocate for reducing barriers to digital trade. But in a sign of how trade issues are in flux, 43 percent said they are not sure.

“Americans are looking for assurances that they will be protected, whether that’s in allowing them to work in new ways or from cyber threats,” said Tom Galvin, partner at Vrge Strategies. “Clearly they are looking for leaders to take a fresh look at laws and regulations to ensure they are in step with a modern economy and society.”

For more information about the survey, please go to vrge.us.
About the Internet Education Foundation For close to 20 years the Internet Education Foundation (IEF) has been building the most prominent platforms for engagement. IEF is a small 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization supported by public interest groups, corporations, and associations representative of the diversity of the Internet community. IEF does not take any positions on legislation and strives to provide a balanced platform for debate. For more information, please visit http://www.neted.org.

About Vrge Strategies Based in Washington, DC, San Francisco, CA and Seattle, WA, Vrge helps startups and established companies – disruptors and the disrupted – navigate this uncharted territory by positioning them, identifying the audiences that matter most, and creating advocacy campaigns to advance their goals – whether they be legislative, regulatory, societal or business-to-business. For more information, go to www.vrge.us.
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Cyber Security Under Trump: Stopping the Hacks & Surveillance Reform: What’s Next for Government Powers?

The incoming Trump Administration and the 115th Congress must grapple with two of the thorniest of Internet policy issues: Cybersecurity and Surveillance. We’re pleased to announced that we’ve assembled two expert panels on those respective topics at State of the Net on Monday. There is still time to register.

Leading the conversations on Cyber Security and on Government Surveillance will be:

cyber1 cyber2 cyber3 cyber4 cyber5

ABOUT OUR PANELS

CYBERSECURITY UNDER TRUMP: STOPPING THE HACKS
From the recently announced Yahoo data breaches, the DDoS botnet attack on Dyn, the devastating Sony Picture hack in 2014 and the seemingly daily revelations of confidential Clinton Campaign staff emails, the danger and influence posed by cyber attacks has never been more disconcerting. As President Trump takes office how will his Administration, together with a Republican-controlled Congress, address the seemingly rampant hacking and intrusions that happen with unsettling regularity?

SURVEILLANCE REFORM: WHAT’S NEXT FOR GOVERNMENT POWERS?
We will look into how the new Trump Administration will work with Congress to address America’s government surveillance apparatus and its impact on security, privacy and commerce nationally and internationally. Did the Obama Administration do too much or too little in this area? How will Congress and President Trump’s Justice Department deal with the renewal or retirement of key provisions of surveillance section 702? What will happen to ECPA including cross-border data warrants for law enforcement? Should the new Congress explore establishing more comprehensive surveillance and law enforcement access framework in the years to come?

We invite you join our panels of experts at the 13th Annual State of the Net Internet Policy Conference on January 23, 2017 at our panels for a closer look at these crucial issues.

View the Full Agenda

More Speakers May Be Add
Digital Citizenship
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Strategies For Encouraging Ethical Digital Citizenship: Can It Be Taught?

The topic of online behavior has seldom been more timely or more relevant. One wonders where America’s youth, who have literally grown up online, learn online social and ethics values. While there is widespread agreement over the need for robust rules of the road, the pipeline for that type of education remains elusive. How does our society guide youth to appropriate online behaviors? We’ve assembled an amazing panel of experts at State of the Net to grapple with this thorny topic on our panel “Strategies For Encouraging Ethical Digital Citizenship: Can It Be Taught?” A full description is below.

Leading the conversation will be:

Speakers

ABOUT OUR PANEL

Today’s youth – tomorrow’s voters, workers, and leaders – have never known a world without consistent Internet access. The creators and creatives of today need the skills to discern and critically consider sources of information online and how their usage thereof informs their behavior.

But how does this generation learn the skills and rules of the road it needs to navigate cyberspace in a safe, responsible, and informed manner: From the digital immigrants that have come before them or from the digital natives that surround them? Are current efforts in teaching enough, or do we need to create new, comprehensive approaches to digital citizenship and media literacy?

We invite you join our panel of experts at the 13th Annual State of the Net Internet Policy Conference on January 23, 2017 at our panel, “Strategies For Encouraging Ethical Digital Citizenship: Can It Be Taught?” for a closer look at this crucial issue.

REGISTER NOW
Suzan Delbene
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Congresswoman Suzan DelBene State of the Net 2017

We are excited to announce that Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA), will participate in a keynote conversation with Tech:NYC’s Executive Director Julie Samuels at State of the Net on January 23 during our morning keynote session.

The keynote conversation will cover a variety challenges we currently face, both nationally and globally, in the areas of STEM education, encryption, surveillance and privacy among others.

Rep Suzane DelBene

About Representative DelBene:

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene represents Washington’s 1st Congressional District.

In 2017 DelBene joined the House Ways and Means Committee, which will be at the forefront of debate on taxes, healthcare and retirement security in the new Congress.
In the House Judiciary Committee, DelBene serves on the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet, which handles the administration of the U.S. courts, as well as oversight over information technology and copyright, patent and trademark law. Her second Judiciary assignment is the Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law, which tackles bankruptcy law, state taxation affecting interstate commerce and antitrust matters.

Through her role on the House Judiciary Committee, DelBene is at the forefront of issues relating to technology and privacy, and has become a leading voice in the House calling for greater transparency and oversight of the NSA to restore American’s privacy rights, which passed.

In addition she also serves as co-chair of the New Democrat Coalition’s 21st Century Job Skills Working Group, and co-chair of the Women’s High Tech Caucus, Internet of Things Caucus, and Trademark Caucus.

Finally, DelBene hosted the Congressional App Challenge, a competition aimed at encouraging U.S. high school students to learn how to code by creating their own applications. The Challenge is intended to highlight the value of computer science and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education and encourage students to engage in these fields. The winning app in her district (WA-1) was Code Carbon.

FCC
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Comms Policy @SOTN | Sens Thune & Schatz & Mark Jamison & Gigi Sohn To Speak

Expectations are that the incoming Trump Administration and Congress will work together to realign regulatory authority in the area of communications policy. After this realignment the communications policy roles for the FCC, the FTC, counties, cities, and states may be quite different from recent memory.

At State of the Net 2017 we will be closely examining what the future of communications policy in the US will be with the help of our Keynote Speakers and through our panel discussion later in the day.

Leading the conversation will be:

Keynote Speakers
Senators Thune and Schatz
Gigi Sohn, Markham Erickson, Larry Downes, Mark Jamison

ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Senator John Thune (R-SD) is the Senior US Senator for South Dakota and is currently the senior most Senator and Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. For the 115th Congress, Senator Thune also serves on the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee and the Finance Committee. Thune also served in Republican leadership as Chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee from 2009 – 2011 and now serves as the Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, the number three position in Senate Republican leadership.

Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) is the Senior US Senator for Hawaii and is currently the Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet. He also serves on three additional Senate Committees: Appropriations, Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Indian Affairs. Senator Schatz is also one of just three Democrats on the Select Committee on Ethics.

PANELISTS
Larry Downes is is author of the New York Times and Business Week business blockbuster, “Unleashing the Killer App: Digital Strategies for Market Dominance” (Harvard Business School Press, 1998). His new book, now a best-seller, is “Big Bang Disruption.” He serves as Project Director at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy’s Evolution of Regulation and Innovation project, and as Research Fellow with the Accenture Institute for High Performance.

Markham Erickson is a Partner at Steptoe & Johnson LLC, regularly representing clients in regulatory complaints, investigations, rulemakings, and proposed mergers before the Federal Communication Commission and the Department of Justice. He also represents clients before the United States Copyright Office and the Patent and Trademark Office. He has challenged and defended regulatory actions before federal courts.He has been appointed by the White House to represent the United States before the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development on Internet speech and regulatory matters. He also is co-chair of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Committee and a member of its Technology Committee.

Gigi Sohn is currently the Leadership in Government Fellow at the Open Society Foundations. From 2015 to 2016 she served as Counselor to the Chairman at the FCC. Ms. Sohn served from 2001-2013 as the President and CEO of Public Knowledge and, from 2011-2013 as the Co-Chair of the board of directors of the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG).

Dr. Mark Jamison is the director and Gunter Professor of the Public Utility Research Center (PURC) at the University of Florida and also serves as its director of Telecommunications Studies. He provides international training and research on business and government policy, focusing primarily on utilities and network industries. He directs the PURC/World Bank International Training Program on Utility Regulation and Strategy.

We invite you join our Keynote Speakers and Panelists at the 13th Annual State of the Net Internet Policy Conference on January 23, 2017 for a closer look at the Future of Communications Policy.

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Cybereason CEO Lior Div Talks Cybersecurity With Congressman Bob Goodlatte At State of the Net

We are excited to announce that the CEO of Cybereason, Lior Div, will participate in a keynote conversation with Chairman Bob Goodlatte of the House Judiciary Committee at State of the Net on January 23 at 9:00 AM. Cybereason is a pioneering cybersecurity company developing cutting edge software platforms that leverage big data, behavioral analytics, and machine learning, in order to monitor complex advanced threats that evade traditional defenses.

The keynote conversation with Chairman Bob Goodlatte will cover a variety of cybersecurity challenges we currently face, both nationally and globally. With the growing attention cybersecurity has attracted in the headlines, this will be a timely discussion and we encourage you to attend.

Lior Div photo, Bob Goodlatte photo

About Lior Div: Lior Div, CEO and Co-Founder of Cybereason, is an expert in the fields of hacking operations, forensics, reverse engineering, malware analysis, cryptography & evasion. Previously, Lior served in unit 8200 of the Israeli Intelligence Corps as a commander of a cyber security team, where he received a medal of honor for his excellent achievements. Prior to co-founding Cybereason, Lior founded a cyber security services company that provided services to Israeli government agencies.

About Representative Bob Goodlatte: Representative Bob Goodlatte proudly represents the Sixth Congressional District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives. In the 113th Congress, Rep. Goodlatte was elected to serve as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, where he continues to serve as Chairman today. For many years Rep. Goodlatte has served as one of the four co-chairs of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional Internet Caucus, one of the most prestigious and active Caucuses on Capitol Hill.

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