Introduction
In the course of time, there has been a substantive increase in the number of people using the internet globally. The internet serves as a platform that facilitates the realization of a wide range of objectives. There are countries that appreciate the essence of the internet thus they have included the access to the internet as part of their constitutional rights. Nations that are characterized by a relatively high level of internet penetration record higher levels of growth than countries that are embodied by comparatively low levels of internet penetration. This serves as an indicator of the rate of internet penetration can be a major source of a country’s competitive advantage. Nations, human beings, as well as commercial entities stand to realize numerous benefits through the rise in the prevailing levels of internet access. Therefore, it is imperative for the ruling institutions to formulate as well as implement mechanisms that will facilitate an increase in the prevailing levels of internet penetration.
Theories on Internet Governance
Matli and Woods Theory
The theory by Matli and Woods seeks to demystify some of the important aspects of internet governance. In the wake of the digital age, the internet forms an integral part of the modern day human society. The internet net facilitates human beings and corporations to carry out a wide range of activities. Since the introduction of the internet, the general public has come to appreciate that the internet has far more merits than demerits. It is a tool that has inherently and progressively revolutionised the lives of human beings in virtually all aspects. As a result, the internet has gradually transformed from a want to a need. This is because human beings have become dependent on the internet for the purposes of carrying out various activities. The graduation of the internet from want to a need necessitated the formulation and implementation of suitable internet regulations. Legislators from across the universe need to put their heads together in order to formulate these form of regulations. Presently, the internet is assumed to be highly unregulated. However, there are some parties who are informally regulating access and usage of the internet in certain geopolitical locations. Malti and Woods Theory proposes the formulation of internet regulations that are broad in terms of demand, and extensive in terms of institutional supply. The regulations to be formulated need to support transparency as well as provide multiple access points. The regulations need to be formulated in a manner that no bureaucrats will be in a position to unlawfully solicit any form of bribes. The prevalence of loop holes that will provide bureaucrats with the opportunity to solicit bribes will have negative implications on the realisation of the primary objectives of the internet regulations.
Diplomacy at Information Age
Kurbalija argues that there is direct relationship between diplomacy and the internet. This is primarily because information and communication form the central points of international relations. Any changes that take place with regards to information and communication have direct implications on international relations. The internet severs as vital instrument of international relations. It is amongst the key factors that influence the manner in which power is distributed across various platforms. The internet facilitates the distribution of power in the society from a social economic perspective. It also facilitates the distribution of power in the society from a geographical perspective. This research substantiates that over the years, any form of technological advancement has had direct implications on the political, economic and social environment. In fact, in most cases, it has initiated the various changes that have taken place within these environments. This is an attribute that has rendered technology to become part of the international agenda. All nations across the universe are striving to keep up with the ever changing technologies. Nations that are normally able to adapt to the various technological advancements that are taking place throughout the universe tend to be more competitive than their counterpart. Technically there is no official organisation that governs the internet. However, officially, there is an organization that governs the internet. This organisation is known as Internet Companies for Assigned Numbers and Names. This organisation is based in the United States. In the recent past, there has been a significant rise in the number of companies that are querying the role of the Internet Companies for Assigned Numbers and Names. These countries include; India, China, Brazil and Russia. These countries are questioning the appropriateness of the predominant role that is being played by this organisation. These nations are advocating for the formulation of an intergovernmental organisation that mandate will be the regulation of the internet. This is concerns are valid, especially, given the rise in the population of individuals and organisations that are using the internet outside the United States.
Moreover, the internet is a tool that has been employed for the purposes of international relations. It facilitates the formulation of successful relationships between countries. The prevalence of lack of total control over the internet facilitates the effectiveness of the internet. This is because human beings from different nations across the universe are able to place a reasonable trust on the internet. The internet is one of the major achievements of the modern day civilizations. It is a medium through which people across the globe are able to communicate effectively. There are products that are found on the internet that facilitate the prevalence of successful communication between organizations, governments, as well as human beings. For instance, an electronic mail is one of the most of the popular avenues of communication. It is a product that is completely based on the internet. It facilitates the successful conveyance of messages between parties that are found within the same geographical area as well as those situated in diverse geographical regions.
WGIG Process
China is also amongst the major countries that have strict internet usage policies. The government determines the nature of websites that can be accessed in China. The government claims that it is seeking to protect the interests of its citizens through the blacklisting of certain websites in China. The internet access policy of this country led to a development of a disagreement between the Chinese government and Google, which is perceived as the largest search engine in the world. The management of Google was claiming that the internet access policy of this country was undermining the operations of this corporation. The government maintained its position of protecting the interests of the Chinese people. The prevalence of such situations begs the question whether or not it is basic for the internet to be regulated. In the event that a party wants to regulate the internet, how will they go about it? Are there any merits that are attributable to the regulation of the internet? Are there also any demerits that are attributable to the regulation of the internet? Which parties should have the absolute authority to regulate the internet?
Evidently, the internet is a platform that needs some form of regulation. The nature of regulations of the internet need to be developed to facilitate the rise of internet penetration, as well as its profitability. These regulations should seek to promote liberalization of the internet. There is a broad range of ways through which the internet can be liberalized. For instance, the internet can be liberalized through the decentralization of any authority pertaining to the internet. The internet is an extremely powerful instrument. As a result, decentralization of any authority pertaining to the internet is essential. No single party should have absolute authority over the regulation of the internet. This is because such an occurrence would provide such party with room for the realization of an unfair competitive advantage. If the regulatory authority of the internet is centralized it would lead to the vesting a high degree of power over a single or certain parties. It is best for all the nations across the universe, to ensure that the key authority over the internet is not vested in one single party. The United Nations Development Program has formulated an index that seeks to appraise the prevailing levels of technological advancements. This is based on the nature of the role that technology plays in enhancing the lives of human beings.
Currently, the internet serves as a primary source of information. This is mainly because there are large volumes of information that is stored on the internet and it is readily assessable to any entity or party that is interested. The nature of information that is accessible via the internet needs to be regulated. Not each and every bit of information needs to be accessible to any individual or party that is interested. The contemporary universe is embodied by relatively high levels of competition. This nature of competition is experienced in virtually every aspect of the modern day life. The prevalence of such competition has brought about a position whereby, the bulk of the population is willing to cover the extra mile to acquire and retain a competitive advantage. The internet serves a medium through which governments, human beings, and commercial entities can be able to attain the desired levels of competitive advantage. Presently, the universe is deemed to be in the information age. This is an era whereby the prevalence of information asymmetry provides room for the development of a competitive advantage. Information serves as the primary basis upon which decisions are made. This implies that the quality of decisions made by the government, individual and or commercial entity relies heavily on information. In the case when the aforementioned entities are can obtain information that is extremely relevant to their situation, they are likely to make high quality decisions. Conversely, if the aforesaid entities are not in a position to obtain information that is relevant to their situation, they are likely to make low quality decisions. Now more than ever before, entities need to make certain that they are implementing judgments that are well informed. This is based on the competitive business environment that is prevalent throughout the global business environment. The competitiveness of an entity largely depends on the nature of the information that is employed during its decision making.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Global environment is the process through which economies, markets, and cultures are integrated. Over the years, global environment has proven to be an integral part of the contemporary universe. This is because it facilitates the enhancement of the strengths of the world as well as the minimization and the elimination of the weaknesses. Poverty is a major challenge in the modern day universe and it inhibits the adoption of technology and access to the internet significantly. Governments, as well as non government institutions, have worked hand in the development of possible solutions to this challenge. This is a challenge that has proven to be intricate thus no country has been able to tackle it on its own. This implies that global environment provides a platform of idea and resource sharing, which is essential in tackling the global challenge. Through global environment, countries usually pull resources in order to attain common agendas. An organization such as the United Nations is one that thrives on the ideas of global environment and it is comprised of different nations. These are countries that have consciously chosen to cooperate in the realization of particular objectives, which are of interest to the member countries. However, the organization has also experienced enormous challenges in the achievement of some other objectives. The core objective of the United Nations is the promotion of universal peace, which has proven to be extremely challenging to realize.
In addition, the internet is also a major factor in enhancing the quality of governance. This is evidenced by the nature of events that have rocked the Arab world during the past few months. Through the internet, residents of a particular nation are in a position of benchmarking the output of their country with other nations. The internet provides a platform upon which these residents are able to obtain information pertaining to the different governance practices that are practiced by other countries. Most of the Arab countries are characterized by dynasty politics. This is a situation that has led to the development of a high degree of resentment for the government. Consequently, it led to a situation whereby the citizens of these countries went ahead to oust the different persons who were occupying the top offices in these countries. As a means of weakening the growing opposition, the governments in these countries issued instructions requiring the shutting down of the internet. This led to an internet blackout in these countries. However, the shutdown was only temporary. This is because there are different internet activist groups that facilitated the restoration of the internet without the consent of these governments.
Currently, the world is characterized by countries that are politically unstable and the universe plays an essential role in enhancing global peace. For example, Ukraine, Somalia, Syria, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, and Libya among others, are nations that have experienced political instability. The existence of such countries is a threat to the realization of universal peace. This is because these nations serve as breeding grounds for terrorists and various other global challenges. These nations are also personified by a high degree of violation of human rights. For example, illicit killings and rape are the most common forms of violations of human rights.
Additionally, global environment has facilitated the development of a robust economy. Countries are able to trade through global environment. This has created the state of affairs whereby there are certain countries that are realizing higher economic growth rates than ever before. Global environment provides room for the expansion of commercial entities, as they seek to operate in the global marketplace due to the size of this market. There is no need for commercial entities to concentrate their efforts on the local market, whereas they can be able to realize a higher degree of profitability of operating in the global markets. Corporations as well as government stand to realize numerous benefits through global environment. For instance, commercial entities are usually able to maintain a high quality human capital because they can recruit from any country they are operating. This provides them with the opportunity of gaining access to some of the most proficient individuals in the universe. Consequently, this leads to the fruition of a comparatively high competitive advantage. Such organizations tend to operate more efficiently and successfully than their counterparts.
Conclusion
The internet has been one of the factors that have enhanced the global business environment and the current trends in the global environment. However, there has been numerous challenges in various regions across the world where some ruling regimes have restricted the access of the internet. For example, the recent Arab world springs have been characterized by increased internet restrictions because of its role in the spread from one country to the other. Other regions such as China have been characterized by internet restrictions based on the country’s policy towards the internet. Therefore, the internet plays an imperative role in enhancing global environment, although it has been characterized by myriad challenges such as poverty and policies towards adoption of the internet.
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