The Fundação Getulio Vargas Rio de Janeiro Law School is launching a book titled The Value of Internet Openness in Times of Crisis, organized by Luca Belli, Nikhil Pahwa (director of Medianama.com) and Osama Manzar (director of the Digital Empowerment Foundation of India). The book explores the value of an open internet in times of crisis. It is the product of the work of the Coalitions on Net Neutrality and Community Connectivity at the United Nations Internet Governance Forum, coordinated by Professor Luca Belli. It resulted from the belief that the COVID-19 pandemic strongly highlighted the fundamental importance of internet access and the total exclusion that disconnected people experience in times of crisis.

During the pandemic, connectivity emerged as the backbone of all social, political and economic interactions, as well as public services. The present crisis shows that digital infrastructure plays an essential role, shaping our development. The sustainability of this progress depends on the openness of the internet, and this book offers a wide range of perspectives, exploring why now, more than ever, it is crucial to ensure that the internet remains a common good that is open and easily accessible to any individual, business or organization.

This evolution in our lives, toward an indissoluble interconnection between the offline and online worlds, may only be viable if we have inclusive digital policies, capable of promoting universal internet access and an open, competitive and sustainable digital environment.

Thus, the book, which is one of the official products of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum, seeks to offer valuable food for thought for policymakers interested in a strategic view of connectivity.

The book includes prefaces by Vint G. Cerf, Google vice president and known as the “Father of the Internet,” and Sébastien Soriano, the president of France’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority. There is also an afterword by Anriette Esterhuysen, the president of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum’s Advisory Committee.