[Air-L] CfP GIG-ARTS 2025: The Rise of Digital Sovereignty: Ambiguities and Challenges, 26-27 May 2025, Salerno

[Mauro SANTANIELLO]

Dear colleagues,

We are glad to announce that The Ninth GIG-ARTS Conference will be held at
the University of Salerno on 26-27 May 2025
*.*
Please find hereafter the *Call for Papers the GIG-ARTS 2025 Conference.*
Feel free to disseminate this call. Submissions are already open, we are
looking forward to receiving your abstracts describing your latest research
work and we very much hope to see you in Salerno!

Best regards,
GIG-ARTS 2025 Organizing Committee
=====

*9**th** GIG-ARTS Conference | **26-27 May 2025 Salerno*

*The Rise of Digital Sovereignty: Ambiguities and Challenges*

*Deadline for abstract submissions: 31 January 2025*


The European Multidisciplinary Conference on Global Internet Governance
Actors, Regulations, Transactions and Strategies (GIG-ARTS) gathers
scholars and practitioners in an annual conference to debate the latest
research on governing the global internet. Each conference highlights a
main theme while also welcoming contributions on other aspects of global
internet governance.

Earlier GIG-ARTS meetings have addressed themes such as “Global Internet
Governance as a Diplomacy Issue” (Paris, 2017), “Overcoming Inequalities in
Internet Governance” (Cardiff, 2018), “Europe as a Global Player in
Internet Governance” (Salerno, 2019), “Online Information Governance”
(Vienna, 2021), “Global Internet Governance and International Human Rights”
(Nicosia, 2022), and “The Governance of Cybersecurity: Resilience, Human
Rights and Democracy” (Padua, 2023), “Thirty Years of Multistakeholderism
in Internet Governance: Assessments and Prospects” (The Hague 2024).


*GIG-ARTS 2025*

The Ninth GIG-ARTS Conference, to be held at the University of Salerno on
26-27 May 2025, takes as its main theme “The Rise of Digital Sovereignty:
Ambiguities and Challenges.”

The concept of digital sovereignty has gained increasing attention and
importance in recent years, driven by a complex array of political and
economic motivations, geopolitical tensions, and technological
developments. The idea of state sovereignty, once largely limited to
territorial boundaries, is now being reimagined and redefined within the
context of the digital age. National governments and non-state actors alike
are struggling with the need to exert control over data, digital
infrastructures, and technological ecosystems, while simultaneously
navigating the challenges posed by the global nature of the internet and
the influence of digital corporations.

The increasing centrality of digital infrastructure in economic
development, national security, and societal well-being has led many
governments to reassess their role in regulating and controlling digital
networks. This reassessment has been especially prominent in the face of
growing reliance on foreign technology providers, concerns over data
privacy, and disruptions of global supply chains. Nations like China,
Russia, and the European Union have developed policies aimed at asserting
their digital sovereignty, each motivated by distinct yet interrelated
factors, including national security, economic protectionism, and the
safeguarding of fundamental rights. Digital sovereignty is thus positioned
as both a response to external vulnerabilities and an assertion of
strategic autonomy in an increasingly digital world. Also in the United
States of America, the traditional model of internet governance based on
private sector leadership, business self-regulation, and global economic
competition has been called into question by recent policy initiatives,
such as the Huawei ban, restrictions on Chinese apps,  the CLOUD Act, and
the Chips and Science Act.

Furthermore, many digital sovereignty conceptualizations go beyond a
state-centric framework. One prominent perspective focuses on digital
sovereignty from a grassroots point of view, which emphasizes the capacity
of local communities, indigenous groups,  civil society, and individuals to
control their digital futures. These perspectives advocate for
decentralized and community-driven approaches to digital governance,
challenging both state and corporate dominance. Additionally, there are
emerging discussions around corporate digital sovereignty as the tech
giants' ability to become autonomous in their productive cycle (managing
their own cables, data servers, storage farms etc.), or more broadly their
ability to operate across borders, shaping global digital ecosystems and
influencing governance decisions in ways that rival or even surpass state
authorities. Finally, there are interpretations of digital sovereignty in
terms of the sovereignty of cyberspace in itself, meant as self-governance
by native digital institutions representing the so-called Internet
Community.

The pursuit of digital sovereignty generates significant tensions,
particularly between the desire for national control and the need for
international and multistakeholder cooperation, and despite its growing
prominence, digital sovereignty remains a deeply contested concept.

As a result, digital sovereignty is marked by several ambiguities and
contradictions, which reflect the complexity of regulating the digital
world. One prominent contradiction lies in the interplay between national
autonomy and the extraterritorial projection of power. While governments
seek to assert control over their digital landscapes, they also engage in
actions that extend their influence beyond national borders, such as
imposing data localization rules that have far-reaching implications for
international businesses, or enacting digital policies that affect global
internet governance. Additionally, digital sovereignty presents a paradox
between constitutionalism and authoritarianism. On the one hand, some
countries advocate for digital sovereignty as a necessary condition to
constitutionalize the digital realm, ensuring that fundamental rights such
as privacy and freedom of expression are upheld. On the other hand, the
same concept can be used to justify authoritarian practices, such as state
censorship, surveillance, and the restriction of access to information.

This conference aims to foster a critical dialogue on the rise of digital
sovereignty, addressing its motivations, ambiguities, and contradictions.
We invite papers that provide both theoretical insights and empirical
analyses, drawing from a wide range of disciplines, including political
science, law, economics, communication, science and technology studies.
Participants will have the opportunity to engage in discussions that
explore the future of digital sovereignty and its role in shaping the
global digital order.

Therefore, the Ninth GIG-ARTS Conference especially welcomes papers that
address the sorts of questions listed below. We aim to compile a selection
of contributions in a journal special issue and/or an edited volume.

   - Defining digital sovereignty: Conceptual frameworks and theories
   - Comparative perspectives on digital sovereignty
   - The economy of digital sovereignty: Protectionism vs. global digital
   integration
   - The geopolitics of digital sovereignty
   - Digital sovereignty and digital constitutionalism
   - Digital sovereignty and national security
   - Motivations and implications of data localization, network
   territorialization, and platform regulation
   - Digital sovereignty and digital colonialism, authoritarianism, and
   imperialism
   - The role of international organizations (WTO, ITU, etc.) in digital
   sovereignty
   - Tech standardization and sovereignty: Competing global norms
   - Global digital supply chains and strategic autonomy
   - Cybersecurity, weaponization, and digital sovereignty
   - Digital sovereignty and emerging technologies
   - Digital sovereignty and environmental issues
   - Digital sovereignty and Internet fragmentation

As always, alongside the main theme, the GIG-ARTS conference also welcomes
papers on other aspects of internet governance.


*Submission information*

Authors are invited to submit their extended abstracts (no longer than 500
words), describing their research question(s), theoretical framework,
approach and methodology, expected findings or empirical outcome. Submitted
abstracts will be evaluated through a peer-review process. Abstracts and
authors’ information should be submitted through
https://conftool2025.gig-arts.eu/

*Key dates*

   - Deadline for abstract submissions: 31 January 2025
   - Notification to authors: 1 April 2025
   - Deadline for author registration (at least one author must register
   for a selected presentation to appear on the programme): 14 April 2025
   - Programme publication: 20 April 2025
   - Registration deadline: 15 May 2025
   - Conference dates: 26-27 May 2025

*Co-Sponsors*

Internet & Communication Policy Center (ICPC)
https://www.internetpolicyresearch.eu/

Salerno Winter School on Internet Governance (SWING)
https://www.internetpolicyresearch.eu/swing-2025

Digital Constitutionalism Network (DCN) https://digitalconstitutionalism.org

Italian Ministry of University and Research
Grant PRIN 2022KTTSBC - CUP Master D53D23007300006
Digital Sovereignty in Comparative Perspective: State Authority, Corporate
Power and Fundamental Rights in Cyberspace


*Programme Committee*

Carolina Aguerre, Berna Akcali Gur, Francesco Amoretti, Luca Belli, Dennis
Broeders, Stanislav Budnitsky, Andrea Calderaro, Olga Cavalli, Eduardo
Celeste, Jean-Marie Chenou, Laura DeNardis, Dmitry Epstein, Marianne
Franklin, Iginio Gagliardone, Orsolya Gulyas, Blayne Haggart, Sophie
Hoogenboom, Min Jiang, Rikke Frank Joergensen, Hortense Jongen, Matthias
C.Kettemann, Nanette Levinson, Robin Mansell, Meryem Marzouki, Francesca
Musiani, Ricardo Nanni, Claudia Padovani, Clément Perarnaud, Julia Pohle,
Dennis Redeker, Michele Rioux, Jamal Shahin, Mauro Santaniello, Katharine
Sarikakis, Yves Schemeil, Jan Aart Scholte, Niels ten Oever, Nadia Tjahja,
Natasha Tusikov.


*Organizing Committee*

Chairs: Francesco Amoretti, Nicola Palladino, Mauro Santaniello

Local Team: Carlos Andrés Fonseca Diaz, Nascia Tatiana Fera, Armando
Antonio Ferrara, Gerardo Ferrentino, Serena Fraiese, Chiara Spiniello,
Grace X. Yang.

*Venue*

GIG-ARTS 2025 will be held at the University of Salerno, Campus of Fisciano.

*Conference Registration and Fees*

Registration fees for the Ninth GIG-ARTS Conference are 120€ for regular
participants and 60€ for students showing proof of status. Conference fees
(non-refundable) cover a participant kit as well as coffee breaks, lunches,
and reception. Registration deadline is 15 May 2025.


*Communication Channels*

- Website: www.gig-arts.eu

- Email for information: events at gig-arts.eu

- Submissions: https://conftool2025.gig-arts.eu/

- X/Twitter: @GigArtsEU - Hashtag: #GIGARTS25

- Mailing list for updates:
https://gig-arts.eu/mailman/listinfo/mailinglist_gig-arts.eu

Prof. Mauro Santaniello (PhD)
Associate Professor in Political Science
ICPC <https://www.internetpolicyresearch.eu/> Director| GIG-ARTS
<https://gig-arts.eu/> Coordinator| SWING
<https://www.internetpolicyresearch.eu/swing-2025> Scientific Coordinator
UNU-CRIS <https://cris.unu.edu/people> Associate Research Fellow | PRIN on
Digital Sovereignty
<https://www.internetpolicyresearch.eu/internet-and-communication-policy-center-research-areas/digital-sovereignty-in-comparative-perspective-state-authority-corporate-power-and-fundamental-rights-in-cyberspace>
Principal
Investigator
Latest publications <https://docenti.unisa.it/023694/ricerca/pubblicazioni>