NetGain: Working Together for a Stronger Digital Society

Join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #NetGain. This was published by the Ford Foundation.

We need everyone’s help to identify the biggest challenges that lie ahead of us. How do we balance security and privacy? How will we connect the entire world’s population? How will we archive all information and make this knowledge accessible? How can technology make democracies more participatory and responsive? Think big, and take the Netgain Challenge: Submit your ideas and help us focus on the most significant challenges at the intersection of the Internet and philanthropy.

Event Information

The Internet has transformed how we work, learn, and express ourselves. It has connected us with each other and sparked bold thinking about how to create a more fair and just world. Building that better world—and living in it—depends on an open, secure, and equitable Internet.

What is philanthropy’s role in addressing the challenges and potential of our digital society? Can we collaborate, as we have in the past on other crucial issues, to bend the arc of progress and ensure that everyone shares in the tremendous opportunity the Internet offers? Have we thought big—really big—about what the digital revolution can mean for the common good?

On Feb. 11, the presidents of the Knight, Open Society, Mozilla, and Ford Foundations—along with a special surprise guest—will come together with leading figures from government, philanthropy, business, and the tech world to launch a major new partnership, explore shared principles, and get ambitious about the next generation of innovation for social change and progress.

Read the press release.

8:45 – 9:30 am
Registration and Breakfast

9:30 – 9:45 am
Welcome
Darren Walker President, Ford Foundation

9:45 – 10:00 am
Keynote Address: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio

10:00 – 10:45 am
The Internet, Philanthropy, and Progress: Principles for Future Work
Read the principles 139 KB

Introduction by Jenny Toomey Director, Internet Rights, Ford Foundation
Mitchell Baker Executive Chairwoman, Mozilla Foundation
Chris Stone President, Open Society Foundations
Darren Walker President, Ford Foundation
Moderator Gwen Ifill Managing Editor, “Washington Week”

10:45 – 11:00 am
Break

11:00 am – 12:20 pm
NetGain Challenges
Hosted by:
John Palfrey Head of School, Phillips Academy
Ethan Zuckerman Director, MIT Center for Civic Media

Presenters:
Ethan Zuckerman Director, MIT Center for Civic Media
Emily Bell Director, Tow Center for Digital Journalism, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Alicia Garza Co-Founder, #BlackLivesMatter; Special Projects Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance
Sunil Abraham Executive Director, Centre for Internet & Society
Chip Pickering CEO, Comptel
Laura Poitras Filmmaker, “Citizenfour”
Chris Soghoian Principal Technologist, Speech, Privacy, & Technology Project, ACLU
Brewster Kahle Digital Librarian and Founder, Internet Archive
Joi Ito Director, MIT Media Lab

12:20 – 12:45 pm
Break

12:45 – 1:30 pm
Lunch Discussion: Celebrating 25 Years of the World Wide Web
Introduction by Alberto Ibargüen President and CEO, Knight Foundation
Tim Berners-Lee Inventor, World Wide Web
Susan Crawford Co-Director, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University

1:30 – 2:00 pm
Break

2:00 – 4:30 pm
Citizenfour Screening and Discussion
Introduction by Eric Sears Program Officer, Human Rights, MacArthur Foundation
Laura Poitras Filmmaker, “Citizenfour”
Ben Wizner Director, Speech, Privacy & Technology Project, ACLU
Moderator Brian Lehrer Host, “The Brian Lehrer Show,” WNYC