Photo by Scott Bradner

"Our Internet, Our Planet" is about stewardship.

At BigHook, the enduring theme is how to leave the best network to our grandchildren. Many of us harbor a hope that this Internet we've created is so immediate (in the end-to-end sense, i.e., no mediators) that it could provide a way to span distance and other factors that separate us so we can begin to realize our common humanity, face our common problems, and think of ourselves as one species living in a common, shared habitat. Central to this hope is the belief that we can use the Internet to consider our options and coordinate our actions to enable us to act wisely and cooperatively, end greed, war and racism, and optimize the benefits of life on Earth for all.

Of course, there are other much less cyber-utopian outcomes. There's strong evidence that our grandchildren face huge dangers. Global climate disruption, nuclear war and other dangers could, under a set of eminently plausible scenarios, render Earth uninhabitable. Not just less pleasant. Not just more dangerous. Uninhabitable. Such crises could occur so suddenly that humanity won't have a viable escape and there won't be time to implement Plan B. The Internet-as-effective-remedy scenario might be trivially weak, or even moot.

So should we reach for what might be effective and start to do it?

If you're still skeptical (and why shoudn't you be?), watch this one too.

You could decide that the threat isn't real and the costs of acting are too high. And that the Internet is simply another corporate profit-extraction tool like agri-business or bulk chemical production. But you didn't. You're a BigHook participant.

So the question is how do we, Internet experts all in one way or another, and stewards of our grandchildren's network, and our grandchildren's planet, using the tools and methods we created and are skilled at using, act? For example:

• How do we make the Internet itself a greener place? The information technology sector is responsible for an estimated two percent of greenhouse gas emissions, about the same as air travel. Can we reduce this?
• Are there ways to use the Internet to ameliorate climate change, to prepare for its consequences, to address the threat of nuclear war, and to counteract other dangers?
• Are there entrepreneurial opportunities for innovators, engineers and investors in addressing these crises?
• How do we tell this story on the other side of the Isthmus of Juniper?

Along the way, what other ideas do we discover?

A few suggested readings:

Can the Internet Save the Planet? (InfoWeek, Jan08)

The Internet's role in today's energy crises (Andrew Odlyzko)

The Internet and ICT: Cutting CO2 Emissions (Bill St. Arnaud)

The Greening of Academic Internet R&D (Bill St. Arnaud)

Data centers: Green because you have to (Scott Bradner, Network World)

Trading Communications Networks for Generating Capacity (Billy Ray, Glasgow KY Electric Power Board)

Broadband communication enables sustainable energy services (Dennis & Jones, Telecom J of Australia)

Broadband Services: Economic & Environmental Benefits (Fuhr & Pociask, American Consumer Institute) [Incredibly naïve! -- David I]

[Still under construction, to be continued . . . ]

Wednesday, 9/3

Noon to 1:30 PM: Check in, lunch, swimming, meet fellow participants
1:30 to 3:30 PM: Session 1a: Introductions
3:30 to 4:00 PM: break
4:00 to 5:30 PM, Session 1b: Intros, cont'd, then
Does our Planet Need to be Saved? From What?
also, Does the Internet have a Legitimate Role here?
5:30 to 8:00 PM: Dinner, fishing
8:00 to 9:00 PM, Session 2: The Three Legs: Science, Economics, Civil Society
9:00 to whenever -- Five-minute talks on whatever people want to talk about . . .

Thursday, 9/4

7:00 to 8:30 AM: Breakfast, fishing
8:30 to 10:00 AM, Session 3a: Cleaning up our own back yard, making IT greener (Bill St. Arnaud, discussion starter)
10:00 to 10:30: break
10:30 AM to Noon, Session 3b: What can the Internet do in the real world? (Andrew Odlyzko, discussion starter)
Noon to 2:00 PM: Lunch, swimming
2:00 to 3:30 PM, Session 4a: Opportunities while Saving the World (Pip Coburn, discussion starter)
3:30 to 4:00 PM: break
4:00 to 5:30, Session 4b: (We'll think of something for this slot)
5:30 to 8:00 PM: Dinner, fishing
8:00 to 9:30 PM, Session 5: Spectacular Musical Event
plus A Completely Different Angle on Stewardship, with John Abrams [link, link]
9:30PM to whenever: BOF Sessions

Friday, 9/5

7:00 to 8:30 AM: Breakfast, fishing
8:30 to 10:00 AM, Session 6a: Telling the Story
10:00 to 10:30 AM: break
10:30 AM to Noon, Session 6b:
Noon to 2:00 PM: Lunch, swimming
2:00 PM: Adjourn