Resources: Tools, data, conferences, reference texts…
Tools
Tor • “A network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet.” Globally, the main free tool to circumvent online censorship and surveillance. @torproject
Crowdmap by Ushahidi • Hosted deployment of the Ushahidi platform for crowdsourcing election monitoring, crisis management or mapping resources.
Indaba • Online tool for geographically distributed NGO teams to collect, edit, review and publish information such as “policy scorecards, case studies or citizen audits.” @getindaba
Akvo.org • Non-profit builds open-source web and mobile tools to improve how development aid is allocated and reported. @akvo
Envaya • “A technology platform for civil society organizations in developing countries” with a mobile component. @Envaya
CrowdFlower • “Changing the way the world works” through crowdsourcing, via a technology platform that can rapidly scale to verify, categorize and assess information.@CrowdFlower
Sahana Software Foundation • “Dedicated to the mission of saving lives by providing information management solutions that enable organizations and communities to better prepare for and respond to disasters.” @SahanaFOSS
Submarine Cable Map • Shows physical infrastructure of submarine cables. By TeleGeography telecoms market research firm.
PasteHTML • “Put a HTML file online, quickly and with no registration.”
Pastebin • “A website where you can store text for a certain period of time.”
Wikileaks • “A not-for-profit media organisation. Our goal is to bring important news and information to the public. We provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists (our electronic drop box).”
OpenLeaks • “A project that aims at making whistleblowing safer and more widespread. This will be done by providing dedicated and generally free services to whistleblowers and organizations interested in transparency.”
Data
Open Data Initiative by the World Bank • “Free and open access to a comprehensive set of data about development” to help “policymakers and advocacy groups make better-informed decisions and measure improvements more accurately.”
Global Integrity • “An innovation lab for the transparency and accountability community” providing “open-source metrics, reporting, and techniques for assessing transparent and accountable government.” @GlobalIntegrity
Herdict • A “collaborative, real-time map of Internet accessibility” by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. Based on input by users. @Herdict
OpenNet Initiative (ONI) • Aims “to investigate, expose and analyze Internet filtering and surveillance practices in a credible and non-partisan fashion.” Contains country and region profiles. A project by Citizen Lab, SecDev Group, Berkman Center for Internet & Society. @OpenNet
Measurement Lab (MLAB) • Research platform and network diagnostic tool to determine if ISPs are performing application-specific traffic shaping such as throttling email, HTTP, SSH, Flash or BitTorrent. By Open Technology Initiative (OTI), Google.
Alkasir • Internet censorship map shows which sites are blocked where, using information gathered by users of a (Windows-only) Firefox plugin that automatically switches to a proxy when a site is blocked. By Walid Al-Saqaf at Örebro University.
Technology for Transparency Network • “Documenting the use of online and mobile technology to promote transparency and accountability around the world.” By Global Voices Online. @techtransparent
New Tactics in Human Rights • Online database of innovative tactics used around the world to promote human rights. @newtactics
OpenSpending • “Our aim is to track every (public) government and corporate financial transaction across the world and present it in useful and engaging forms for everyone from a school-child to a data geek.” By Open Knowledge Foundation.
Global Digital Activism Data Set (GDADS) by the Meta-Activism Project • A database of digital activism case studies gathered from around the world, to assist research. @Mary_Joyce
Conferences
Incomplete, and a work in progress.
Personal Democracy Forum (PDF) • “An annual conference and community website about the intersection of politics and technology.”
OKCon — the Open Knowledge Conference • An annual conference “that brings together individuals and organisations from across the open knowledge spectrum.” In Berlin. By the Open Knowledge Foundation. @OKCon
Internet, Politics, Policy 2012 • 20-21 September 2012: “Academic conference organised by the journal “Policy and Internet” will subject the relationship between the Internet, Politics and Policy to multi-disciplinary scrutiny.” In Oxford.
Contact Con • “The Evolution Will Be Social.” “A working festival of innovation where the net’s leading minds and entrepreneurs can connect with the people who are building the social technologies of tomorrow.” In NYC.
EuroDIG 2012 — the Pan-European dialogue on Internet governance • In Sweden: “An open platform for informal and inclusive discussion and exchange on public policy issues related to Internet Governance between stakeholders from all over Europe.”
Free Society Conference and Nordic Summit (FSCONS) • Annual conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, billed as “the Nordic countries’ largest gathering for free culture, free software and a free society.” @fscons
Online journals, book series, essay series, manuals, reference texts
Journal of Democracy • “Analyzing democratic regimes and movements around the world.” Often covers technology. By National Endowment for Democracy.
Information Technologies & International Development • Journal which “focuses on the intersection of information and communication technologies (ICTs) with the “other four billion” – the share of the world population whose countries are not yet widely connected to the Internet nor widely considered in the design of new information technologies.”
Mapping Digital Media • “Background papers on a range of topics that are important for understanding the effects of new technology on media and journalism.” Commissioned by The Open Society Media Program.
Oxford Studies in Digital Politics • Book series on “the information and communication environments which shape — and are shaped by — politics and policy-making.”
Deep Packet Inspection • A collection of essays on DPI from industry experts. By the office of the privacy commissioner of Canada.
Leaping Over the Firewall: A Review of Censorship Circumvention Tools • By Freedom House. Published April 11, 2011. Direct download.
How To Bypass Internet Censorship • Published: March 10, 2011. Direct download.
A Practical Guide to Protecting Your Identity and Security Online and When Using Mobile Phones • Updated July 2011. “Tips and tools for reducing surveillance and monitoring, protecting privacy, and dealing with censorship.”
Access Controlled: The Shaping of Power, Rights, and Rule in Cyberspace • Published 2010. “Essential reading for anyone studying the methods governments are using globally to stifle online expression and dissent.” By the OpenNet Initiative.
Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering • Published 2008. “Documents and analyzes Internet filtering practices in over three dozen countries, offering the first rigorously conducted study of this accelerating trend.”
Freedom on the Net 2011 • Published: April 18, 2011. “Examines internet freedom in 37 countries around the globe.” By Freedom House.