Technological understanding: LUMS project studies internet’s impact
Initiative on Internet and Society officially launched in August.
LAHORE:
In the wake of a YouTube ban in Pakistan over an anti-Islam film, the Lahore University of Management Sciences’ Initiative on Internet and Society (IIS) is offering a platform to understand the internet and its impacts on the society.
The IIS started in July but was officially launched in August. It will study internet impacts in three areas law, media and technology.
“There has been no academic research on what the internet is doing in Pakistan,” says Kiran Nazish, a LUMS fellow, while speaking to The Express Tribune.
She claims that the IIS project was not only the first of its type in Pakistan but also in South Asia. “It’s not an invention but the idea is relatively new, especially in this part of the world,” she says. She says the IIS aims at sharing the conclusions with public. “People interested in internet need a platform to discuss and understand its potential. That’s what we hope to offer,” says Nazish.
The IIS has so far had four roundtables and a lecture. A panel discussion is scheduled for next month. The discussion platforms have so far included officials from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, journalists, internet activists and Azhar Sidique, a lawyer who had petitioned for banning the Facebook.
Nazish said there was room to explore internet regulation in the country.
On September 17, the Ministry of Information and Technology banned access to YouTube in Pakistan in the course of one of the IIS roundtables. Nazish said interactions with the PTA had been of interest, especially with respect to understanding the administrative limitations. “That is what we want getting to know the other side of the picture,” she said.
“We were interested in understanding how the phenomenon of the internet has changed the fabric of the Pakistani society,” says Vice Chancellor Adil Najam who is heading the IIS. He believes that the internet has impacted the society by affecting the lives of ordinary people. He says with most people interested in using the internet, the IIS was focusing on understanding the internet as an entity. “These things are having a serious impact now. It just cannot go ignored,” he says. Hoping that more universities follow suit and offer an academic platform for such initiatives, Najam says universities should help people understand the changes the societies go through because of technology.
Senior Policy Analyst in Google’s Public Policy and Government Affairs team in Asia Pacific, William Fitzgerald, delivered a lecture. Wajahat S Khan is scheduled to deliver one in October. An Internet People Roundtable is planned for late October.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2012.
In the wake of a YouTube ban in Pakistan over an anti-Islam film, the Lahore University of Management Sciences’ Initiative on Internet and Society (IIS) is offering a platform to understand the internet and its impacts on the society.
The IIS started in July but was officially launched in August. It will study internet impacts in three areas law, media and technology.
“There has been no academic research on what the internet is doing in Pakistan,” says Kiran Nazish, a LUMS fellow, while speaking to The Express Tribune.
She claims that the IIS project was not only the first of its type in Pakistan but also in South Asia. “It’s not an invention but the idea is relatively new, especially in this part of the world,” she says. She says the IIS aims at sharing the conclusions with public. “People interested in internet need a platform to discuss and understand its potential. That’s what we hope to offer,” says Nazish.
The IIS has so far had four roundtables and a lecture. A panel discussion is scheduled for next month. The discussion platforms have so far included officials from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, journalists, internet activists and Azhar Sidique, a lawyer who had petitioned for banning the Facebook.
Nazish said there was room to explore internet regulation in the country.
On September 17, the Ministry of Information and Technology banned access to YouTube in Pakistan in the course of one of the IIS roundtables. Nazish said interactions with the PTA had been of interest, especially with respect to understanding the administrative limitations. “That is what we want getting to know the other side of the picture,” she said.
“We were interested in understanding how the phenomenon of the internet has changed the fabric of the Pakistani society,” says Vice Chancellor Adil Najam who is heading the IIS. He believes that the internet has impacted the society by affecting the lives of ordinary people. He says with most people interested in using the internet, the IIS was focusing on understanding the internet as an entity. “These things are having a serious impact now. It just cannot go ignored,” he says. Hoping that more universities follow suit and offer an academic platform for such initiatives, Najam says universities should help people understand the changes the societies go through because of technology.
Senior Policy Analyst in Google’s Public Policy and Government Affairs team in Asia Pacific, William Fitzgerald, delivered a lecture. Wajahat S Khan is scheduled to deliver one in October. An Internet People Roundtable is planned for late October.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2012.