Olaf Kolkman is the Principal of Internet Technology, Policy, and Advocacy at the Internet Society, referred to as ISOC.
Before his current role, he was ISOC’s Chief Internet Technology Officer. He is also a participant in the Internet Engineering Taskforce (IETF), board member of the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE), and member of the Strategic Advisory Board of the Global Cyber Alliance. We spoke with Olaf at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Kyoto, Japan in October 2023. Read our conversation below.
1. What is your background and how did you get into the internet governance sector?
My background is really in technology. I've been involved in the IETF since the late 90s. My first IETF meeting was in 1997 doing test traffic measurements for a project that has developed into the RIPE Atlas, a network of probes all over the world that measure Internet connectivity and reachability. That was my first job in the industry.
In 2000, I started to do Domain Name System Security Extension (DNSSEC) deployment. We discovered DNSSEC was basically broken, so we went back to the drawing board in the IETF and I did a lot of work in the DNSSEC standardisation process.
Eventually, I became chair of the Internet Architecture Board, and there, I got more involved in Internet governance. What I do is make that translation between Internet technical and governance matters.
2. How important is it for people with the technical background to be involved in Internet governance conversations?
The question is, what does it mean to bring technical expertise into the policy debate? That’s the role of the technical community in policymaking – to bring operational experience, expertise, and knowledge to discussions so that those discussions can be informed and policy choices are well informed.
The role is to have enough technical expertise and the ability to talk to the people who have the deep expertise and connect them to bridge the gap.
For example, I'm not a specialist on encryption, but I can talk about it, and I know what the key issues are. If you start to ask really difficult questions about cryptographic algorithms and elliptic curve cryptography, well, at some point, I’ll need to refer you to the experts.
3. You’ve been involved in the Internet sector since the 90s. What do you think the most profound innovation in the Internet has been in that time?
The Internet. Just the Internet. I first used the internet when I was at university. I was an astronomy student and first we had access to the DECnet. Then suddenly we got workstations with internet protocol and that basically changed the world for me.
We had huge amounts of data we needed to analyse. So much data that we needed to reduce it into palatable bits. We were working with computers that were doing data reductions. To do that, I needed specific software. The software was open source, so I could download it from the Internet, install it myself. That’s how I got involved in open source and Internet.
Once I was in the web space, I was hooked. Everything I learned about the Internet, I learned from the Internet and what happened on the Internet. I think that's the most profound and amazing experience is that you see that symbiotic relationship between network and application. Whereby an idea for an innovative application happens, and at the same time the capacity of the network that is needed for that innovation to actually work grows as well.
The Internet has changed how we navigate the world. For instance, the first time I was in Japan was in 2003. I couldn't find my way. It wasn’t affordable to use international roaming on a mobile phone, I needed a physical map to get around, I couldn’t translate anything. Now I point my phone and it does all these things seamlessly. I can interact and make a joke with an old man selling Japanese kitchen knives, it doesn’t matter that we don’t speak the same language.
Often everyone is caught up in the challenges – misinformation, terrorist content, and yes, we need to address those challenges, but the fact that we actually connect – that I can connect with the old man in the Japanese knife shop – that’s really something.
4. Speaking of challenges, what do you think is the biggest challenge the Internet sector is facing?
The trustworthiness and security of the internet is challenged. There are growing inequalities between the global south and global north when it comes to internet access and capabilities, and keeping the network secure.
When we work on trust, we have to think globally. For instance, we’re seeing democracies seeking technical regulatory fixes for particular societal issues – but Internet technology is not the problem. One example is encryption policies in one country that affect people elsewhere in thew world. There are valid concerns for which policy makers are seeking to regulate encryption. However, their regulatory proposals, such as client-side scanning can have the opposite effect and make people less safe by exposing people’s communications to X or Y individuals or entities. In other words, the client-side scanning technology proposed in the UK must also be safe for people living elsewhere on the planet, under the most atrocious rule. That technology simply doesn’t exist.
On the other hand, I believe that the Internet is a technology of hope, this is why I'm with ISOC. I believe that digital technologies, specifically when they're open source, open architecture, open standards, open security, with distributed networks – those are the classic internet values – if we retain those, we can do great things.
5. ISOC is a global charitable organisation that promotes the development of the internet as a force for good in society. Can you tell us about ISOC and its mission?
ISOC is a mission-based organisation that cares about an open, secure, trustworthy, global internet for everyone, working in three key areas.
Strengthening the internet: a strong internet is one that has strong security, but it is also one where the core principles of the Internet, those that have made it successful, are protected. In that way, our work spans promoting end-to-end encryption, to protecting against fragmentation of the internet.
Growing the internet: we’re working to achieve universal connectivity. The internet offers great possibility to those with access, but almost three billion people worldwide are unconnected. One of the things we do is deploy Internet Exchange Points, which is infrastructure that makes the Internet faster and more affordable.
Empowering people to take action: the collaboration model is important for the internet. ISOC builds communities to help support an open, globally connected, secure, and trustworthy internet. We have a network of people who are experts, from an advocacy perspective as well from a technical perspective, and we bring those people together to collaborate and advocate for the Internet.
6. What are you most optimistic about or think are the biggest opportunities in the next couple of years for the internet?
I the think internet is a tool of hope and I sincerely think that new innovations and new ideas can solve societal problems. The internet enables opportunities for everyone, everywhere - as long as we can keep it decentralised and open.
Learn more about the Internet Society.
This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
The views expressed are the interviewee’s own.
