i2Coalition 2024 Member Update: Changes to Working Groups

New Working Group Structure to Address Industry Challenges

With the new year comes a new way of making the most of our time and effort in the Policy Working Group. In examining the output of the PWG, we can clearly see that it has evolved into something other than an actual working group—and that’s a positive development. There are so many threats to this industry on the policy side that we spend all of our monthly time in the PWG simply staying abreast of them. Basically, the Policy Working Group doesn’t have enough time to actually do work.

Within this problem lies an opportunity to address these issues more effectively in a way that isn’t overwhelming. The Policy Working Group will continue on its new track and will now be known as the Tech Policy Briefing. Over the past year, this expert-led meeting has become the industry standard for staying abreast of the myriad threats facing the Internet’s infrastructure from U.S. and internationally-based legislation. This is now the premier place for Internet infrastructure professionals to gather when they want to understand what challenges are facing their businesses. 

Together we’ve created the gold standard for surfacing and contextualizing individual legislative issues as well as larger trends that the i2Coalition membership can address. Our working groups let us gather member feedback on how we can use that knowledge effectively. Building upon the information surfaced in the monthly Tech Policy Briefings, we are mobilizing two new working groups, which will meet quarterly.

The Cybersecurity and Privacy Working Group kicks off in January 2024. This will cover the complex world of cyber threats, online privacy, and proposed legislation that aims to tackle them—as well as what Internet infrastructure providers can do to protect their industry and the Internet itself.

Also, the Technology and Trade Working Group will start in March 2024. This working group will handle the telco and content issues that affect this industry. This includes intermediary liability, net neutrality, and international trade policy.

By keeping these new working groups tightly focused, we can now afford to take deep dives into the wide range of issues that were formerly gathered under the larger umbrella of “policy.” Should these new groups become popular, we can move to monthly scheduling, but we will keep them quarterly for the time being. 

Should you wish to join one of these new quarterly working groups, please use this form to share the times that work best for you. The deadline for responses is Friday, December 15. Meanwhile, the DNS Issues and VPN Trust Initiative working groups will carry on in their current forms.

If you are not yet a member and you would like to take part in the Tech Policy Briefing as well as our Working Groups, please contact us about joining the i2Coalition.