What's in a net? An open discussion about resilient and decentralized local alternatives to the global internet.

Meshed wireless access points throughout an informal settlement; miles of ethernet cables connecting gamers in a busy city; micro-servers running on solar power at bus stops; thumb drives filled with important news and content passed around on the streets; mobile phones that connect directly to others nearby to exchange messages during a protest…all of these work “offline”, or locally, with no access to the global internet. When elements of the above approaches are combined, it starts to paint a vastly different picture of connectivity than the 2019 Berlin IGF’s overarching theme of “One World. One Net. One Vision.”

Speakers from the “Fragile Connections” and “Offgrid and Offline” sessions will facilitate this discussion around how communities can use open hardware/firmware/software, natural resources and reused materials, and other local physical and social infrastructures to create and interconnect their own diverse worlds, nets, and visions.

Nestor Siré's participation at re:publica 23 is kindly made possible by the Robert Bosch Foundation.