SPI Director Dr. Scott Pace Participates in UN Working Group “Dynamic Coalition on the Interplanetary Internet”

SPI Director Dr. Scott Pace will participate in the Dynamic Coalition on the Interplanetary Internet (DC-Interplanetary), a working group which will assemble during the next UN Internet Governance Forum meeting in Saudi Arabia.

The United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) serves to bring people together from various stakeholder groups in discussions on digital public policy. While it does not produce negotiated outcomes, the IGF informs and inspires those with policy-making power in both the public and private sectors. As a year-round process, the IGF includes policy, outreach, and community and capacity-building activities, all dedicated to facilitating a common understanding of how to maximise digital opportunities and address digital risks and challenges. IGF intersessional work culminates in annual meetings, where delegates discuss current and critical issues, share good practices and exchange policy recommendations with one another. The IGF’s resulting outputs are transmitted to global and national decision-making bodies.

The Interplanetary Networking Special Interest Group (IPNSIG) envisions a common network environment even in space will empower science, exploration and commercialization activities which will all become a benefit for humanity. This suggests a need for a governance ecosystem toward the establishment, operation and use of the Interplanetary Internet. In 2023, IPNSIG released a report laying out recommendations on governance of how the Interplanetary Internet ecosystem can be realized which can be used as a basis for future discussions at the “Dynamic Coalition on the Interplanetary Internet”.

Headshot of Professor Scott Pace

SPI Alumna Dr. Jana Robinson Interviewed by The Royal United Services Institute’s War In Space Podcast

SPI alumna Dr. Jana Robinson, Managing Director of the Prague Security Studies Institute,  was interviewed by The Royal United Services Institute’s War In Space podcast about her research on the ‘ground-based space race’, where authoritarian states fund parts of the space economy in third countries to gain influence and shape their voting decisions. Their discussion explores these economic and financial threats, and how they further shape norms in space. They also discuss the soft power element of space and the future for international space cooperation in the context of the future decommissioning of the International Space Station.

The episode is available here on the podcast’s website, or in the adjacent Spotify widget.

SPI Faculty Associate Michael Keidar Featured in GW’s Research Magazine

The groundbreaking work of Dr. Michael Keidar, A. James Clark Professor of Engineering and SPI Faculty Associate was the focus of the latest feature of GW’s Research Magazine. The article zeroes in on Professor Keidar’s laboratory work on plasma and its applications in aerospace and biomedical engineering. 

You can read the full article here: Plasma Promise.

GW Team Advanced in the Manfred Lachs Space Law North American Regional Moot Court Competition

The team of Abigail Thomas & Yuqian Wang advanced to the Quarter-finals of the Manfred Lachs Space Law North American Regional Moot Court held at Georgetown Law.  The team was coached by SPI Professor Henry Hertzfeld, who noted, “[A]ll of the judges comments both right after the match and in the informal setting of the awards dinner were very complimentary about our arguments. … Abby and Yuqian did extremely well and improved with each round.”
More information on this competition can be found at:
https://www.spacecourtfoundation.org/lachsmoot/

SPI Professor Aaron Bateman Wins 2024 Amos Perlmutter Prize

SPI Professor Aaron Bateman’s article titled “Information Security in the Space Age: Britain’s Skynet Satellite Communications Program and the Evolution of Modern Command and Control Networks” has been selected for the 2024 Amos Perlmutter Prize.

The article was published in the Journal of Strategic Studies. The Amos Perlmutter Prize is awarded once a year to the top paper published in the Journal of Strategic Studies by a junior faculty member.

You can read more about the award here.

SPI Director Dr. Scott Pace Discusses International Partnerships in The Symposium on Ensuring the Safe and Sustainable Use of Outer Space

SPI Director Dr. Scott Pace was invited as a speaker on March 4th to The 9th National Space Policy Secretariat Symposium on Ensuring the Safe and Sustainable Use of Outer Space. Dr. Pace presented his expertise during the last session of the program, to discuss how can we leverage international collaboration and partnerships with industry to create a virtuous cycle.

You can follow the entire event below.

SPI Alumnus Josh Ingersoll Appointed to UN Youth Advisory Board on Technology Policy

SPI Alumnus Josh Ingersoll has been appointed to the UN’s first Youth Advisory Board on Technology Policy (Through the ITU). Twelve board members globally under 30 years old will serve a 2-year term advising ITU Sec-Gen Doreen Bogdan-Martin on a variety of Tech Policy issues including using Satellite Telecommunication to bridge the digital divide. Josh is one of two members representing the Americas.