The Pragmatic School of Thought in Open Science Practice: A Case Study of Multi-stakeholder Participation in Shaping the Future of Internet Governance

The internet is a disruptive technology that continues to
define our modern world. However, numerous ethical
challenges remain for internet governance going
forward, e.g. surveillance capitalism, terrorism and
radicalisation. The ‘pragmatic’ school of thought in
open science advocates for collaboration between
diverse stakeholder groups (e.g. citizens, academics,
practitioners, policymakers) to ensure an informed, and
positive imprint for change. However, our
understanding of how open science can be used for
assimilating knowledge on complex socio-political
issues remains nascent. To address this gap, we present
findings from ‘We, the Internet’, a global consultation
project which utilised open science practices such as
stakeholder-led evaluations and open access
publications to engage stakeholders in dialogue around
the future of internet governance. Our findings discuss
emergent themes on the future of internet governance,
and highlight the potential of open science to mobilise
groups and combat public scepticism in policy-making.