Where is the Internet taking us, and how do we keep it secure? There’s no shortage of people ready to offer up opinions on such questions, but few who are truly qualified to answer them. Fortunately we asked someone who is—Fadi Chehadé, CEO of ICANN, the public-benefit corporation tasked with keeping the Internet stable. Chehadé calls the Internet a “platform for human solidarity” that enables us to form networks with “people we’ve never met” to share ideas, concepts, and resources—and ultimately build consensus. But the Internet doesn’t just help us build solidarity; it facilitates global economic progress, says, Chehadé. “We don’t know where it takes us,” he concedes, but “what we need to do on the way there ... is to build frameworks that ensure the harm that could come with such massive, infinite connectivity is also managed.” Chehadé believes that all stakeholders—citizens, netizens, nations, and regulatory bodies—must collaborate to stabilize this resource “that is changing how we work and how we live.” But, he adds, “we don’t want to over-manage the Internet.” To preserve the integrity of the Internet, Chehadé prescribes a “loosely coupled, trust-based mechanism with verification that allows us to all participate in the beauty of this resource.”
