June 2017 archive

Building Our New Website: Announcing our public “Beta” launch – view the new site today

Today I'm excited to give you a glimpse into our future! As James Wood recently wrote, we have been working on a new website that makes it tremendously easier to find information and take action on issues important to you. I also shared the vision we have for this new site.

The big news is this: we have now released an "early beta" version of the new site that shows the overall design direction and look-and-feel. It is important to note: Most of the site is INCOMPLETE. Most links will not work and many pages are missing.

Dan York

Building Our New Website: Announcing our public “Beta” launch – view the new site today

Today I’m excited to give you a glimpse into our future! As James Wood recently wrote, we have been working on a new website that makes it tremendously easier to find information and take action on issues important to you. I also shared the vision we have for this new site.

The big news is this: we have now released an “early beta” version of the new site that shows the overall design direction and look-and-feel. It is important to note: Most of the site is INCOMPLETE. Most links will not work and many pages are missing.

The feedback we seek right now includes the questions:

  • Does the overall design work for you in your region?
  • Do you have any comments about what you see so far?

Many technical aspects of the site will be changing as will much of the content. With that in mind, here it is:

https://beta.internetsociety.org/

You can view the site on either your desktop/laptop or on mobile devices.

As you can see, the new site is very different from today’s site. Our goal is to make it simpler, easier-to-use and more action-oriented. Beyond the home page, here are a few other pages to explore to get a sense of where we are going:

  • the news page – and the various articles. I’ll write more in a future post about where we are going with “news” in the new site.
  • the Asia Pacific Regional page. This was an example of a “region” that we built. We still need to work with our Asia Pacific Regional Bureau to update the content… so ignore the specific content and look more at how it is organized.
  • the “About the Internet” page. This is an example of the type of “special” page that will be possible in the new site.
  • the “About the Internet Society” page. This is where many of the pieces of information that were previously found in some of the menus will now be found. You get to this page from a link in the footer.

There are a few other pages on the beta site right now that you can find through your exploration. We will be developing “in the open” from this point forward, and will be updating this beta site periodically with both new designs and content.

Providing Your Feedback

With this beta launch, we are also providing a public mechanism for you to leave your comments. We have opened up a Github repository where we are asking people to use the “issue tracker” to leave comments:

https://github.com/InternetSociety/beta-site-feedback

This provides a public, transparent mechanism where anyone can leave comments, respond to other comments – and see how we are responding to various comments.

We welcome you to leave your feedback there. It does require that you have a Github account (you can create a free account), but the advantage is that it is an easy-to-use issue tracker on a site where many people already have accounts. I and another colleague will be the primary ones responding to feedback, but our development team will also be able to easily read the feedback. If you do not wish to create a Github account, you can also send me email, but I would prefer comments be left in the issue tracker.

Known Issues

As noted above, this is an “early beta” of the site. In fact, you might say it is a “very early beta” or even an “alpha” version. There are many known issues, including:

  • Most links do not work.
  • Many more pages need to be added.
  • The URL structure will change.
  • The items in the menus will change slightly as we adjust them.
  • Images have not yet been optimized for low-bandwidth connections.
  • The mobile interfaces need further development.
  • Accessibility testing has not yet been performed.
  • Social media sharing icons do not yet appear on the left side of pages.
  • The filtering function on the news page is not yet implemented.
  • The search function is not yet implemented.

Our main goal right now is to give you an initial view of where we are going with the site and to get any initial feedback.

Future Beta Periods

Over the next weeks and months we will be creating the new content and migrating content from the existing Internet Society website. There will be additional points at which we will be seeking feedback, including:

  • ACCESSIBILITY TESTING – our site is planned to meet WCAG 2.0 AA accessibility guidelines. When ready, we will be seeking testing/feedback on the work we have done.
  • BANDWIDTH TESTING – we are targeting the site to work over mobile devices on 3G connections. At a point in the development we will be seeking people to help us test how well it works on lower-bandwidth connections.
  • MULTILINGUAL TESTING – later in July or August we will be bringing on the French and Spanish versions of the site. We will be seeking feedback from the community about how well those versions work in their regions.

We will provide updates when specific feedback is requested.

Continuing The Journey

With this beta site online, we now begin the challenging work of creating the new content, migrating content from the current site, and determining what to do with some of the content we choose not to migrate. My next few months will be spent with an enormous spreadsheet and working with our great team to make this a reality.

Being who I am, I will also be writing about this journey over the weeks and months ahead. Look for future blog posts from me explaining why we are making some of the changes; what some of the important new features are; what choice we made for our content management system (CMS) – and why; and so much more. I want to share more with you so that you can understand where we are going – and so that you can provide your feedback about what we are doing.

Watch for those blog posts – and join us in the journey to our new website!

The post Building Our New Website: Announcing our public “Beta” launch – view the new site today appeared first on Internet Society.

Building Our New Website: A vision for the new site

In the early stages of our process to build a new Internet Society website, we developed a “vision” for what we wanted the new website to be. Last year we spoke with many people throughout the larger Internet Society community. We spoke with staff, with Chapter leaders, with partner organizations, with individual members and many more.

As we launch the “beta” of the new website this week, I want to share with you the vision that emerged out of all of those aspirations:


Our website is a driving force in realizing our mission of an open Internet for everyone. It empowers all who care about a free and safe Internet and inspires action to make a positive difference.

It demonstrates our global impact, promotes our point of view, and provides definitive resources on the news, technologies, and policies that shape the Internet – today and tomorrow.

It delivers a focused and engaging experience that connects with a breadth of individuals, organizations and influencers. It extends our reach, supports our community, and grows our membership, creating a foundation for building a stronger Internet.


What do you think of that? Does that resonate with you? Does that sound like guiding principles for an Internet Society website?

The post Building Our New Website: A vision for the new site appeared first on Internet Society.

New “State of IPv6 Deployment 2017” Shows 3000% Growth over 5 Years

State of IPv6 coverIn the 5 years since World IPv6 Launch, IPv6 deployment has grown over 3,000 percent! Now there are over 37 countries with more than 5% deployment of IPv6. In the USA, where I live, IPv6 deployment is up over 30% … sometimes close to 35%.

These are all statistics out of the new “State of IPv6 Deployment 2017” report published by colleagues of mine at the Internet Society on this fifth “Launchiversary” of World IPv6 Launch back in 2012.

A key point in the document is that enterprise networks are often the ones lagging farthest behind in deployment of IPv6. Mobile networks are far ahead in many locations, and residential broadband networks are also often very far behind.

One reasons some enterprises struggle is that they have custom applications that need to be migrated to work on IPv6. That was really the reason why I originally wrote this short book back in 2011 – to help developers understand what they need to be thinking about to move their apps over to work on IPv6.

There are many more resources available in the time since I first wrote the book, including ARIN’s guide on “Preparing Applications for IPv6“. The key point coming out of this “State of IPv6 Deployment 2017” report today is that the time is now to make the move to IPv6!  Start the migration… NOW!

If you are trying to get your management or others in your organization to move ahead with IPv6, download this State of IPv6 Deployment 2017 report and send it around – or send the link around. Hopefully the information inside can help you make the case that the time to move to IPv6 is NOW.


An audio podcast on this topic is also available:

New “State of IPv6 Deployment 2017” Shows 3000% Growth over 5 Years

State of IPv6 coverIn the 5 years since World IPv6 Launch, IPv6 deployment has grown over 3,000 percent! Now there are over 37 countries with more than 5% deployment of IPv6. In the USA, where I live, IPv6 deployment is up over 30% … sometimes close to 35%.

These are all statistics out of the new “State of IPv6 Deployment 2017” report published by colleagues of mine at the Internet Society on this fifth “Launchiversary” of World IPv6 Launch back in 2012.

A key point in the document is that enterprise networks are often the ones lagging farthest behind in deployment of IPv6. Mobile networks are far ahead in many locations, and residential broadband networks are also often very far behind.

One reasons some enterprises struggle is that they have custom applications that need to be migrated to work on IPv6. That was really the reason why I originally wrote this very short book back in 2011 – to help developers understand what they need to be thinking about to move their apps over to work on IPv6.

There are many more resources available in the time since I first wrote the book, including ARIN’s guide on “Preparing Applications for IPv6“. The key point coming out of this “State of IPv6 Deployment 2017” report today is that the time is now to make the move to IPv6!  Start the migration… NOW!

If you are trying to get your management or others in your organization to move ahead with IPv6, download this State of IPv6 Deployment 2017 report and send it around – or send the link around. Hopefully the information inside can help you make the case that the time to move to IPv6 is NOW.


An audio podcast on this topic is also available:

TDYR 330 – State of IPv6 Deployment 2017

What is the state of IPv6 deployment? Today on the 5th "Launchiversary" of World IPv6 Launch, the Internet Society published a new report, the "State of IPv6 Deployment 2017". I talk about the report and some of the information you can find inside - and encourage listeners to read the report - and deploy IPv6! More info: https://www.internetsociety.org/blog/tech-matters/2017/06/landmark-ipv6-report-published-state-deployment-2017-5 The report: https://www.internetsociety.org/doc/state-ipv6-deployment-2017

June 8 Deadline for Survey on Recommendations for Future of the Internet (Featured Blog)

What do you think must be done to ensure the development of an open, trusted, accessible, and global Internet in the future? As part of the Internet Society's "Internet Futures" project, we'd like your input on recommendations for Internet leaders and policy makers. For more background, please read "Help Shape the Future of the Internet" by my colleague Constance Bommelaer, or browse through the Internet Futures pages. More...

TDYR 329 – Crazy Roads in Nairobi – a brief update from Kenya

Just a brief update as I prepare to leave Kenya..

EuroDIG 2017: ISOC Speaks on Cybersecurity, Blockchain, Human Rights, IoT, Internet Shutdowns and more

How do we create a more secure and trusted Internet within the multistakeholder model of Internet governance? That will be among the many questions addressed this week at the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) in Tallinn, Estonia. From June 5-7, we will have an Internet Society team on site participating in many sessions. Our EuroDIG 2017 page has all the details - including links to live video streams - but at a high level here are some of the workshops we are participating in:

Dan York

EuroDIG 2017: ISOC Speaks on Cybersecurity, Blockchain, Human Rights, IoT, Internet Shutdowns and more

How do we create a more secure and trusted Internet within the multistakeholder model of Internet governance? That will be among the many questions addressed this week at the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) in Tallinn, Estonia. From June 5-7, we will have an Internet Society team on site participating in many sessions. Our EuroDIG 2017 page has all the details – including links to live video streams – but at a high level here are some of the workshops we are participating in:

  • Plenary panel on cybersecurity
  • New business models and the Internet
  • Blockchain technology and internet governance
  • Community connectivity: empowering the unconnected
  • Criminal justice on the Internet – identifying common solutions
  • Workshop on human rights and IoT
  • Internet content blocking: from collateral damages to better solutions
  • Stress testing the multistakeholder model in cybersecurity
  • Drowning in data – digital pollution, green IT, and sustainable access
  • Forced data localization and barriers to cross-border data flows: toward a multistakeholder approach

Again, view our EuroDIG 2017 event page to see exact times and live stream links.

To stay up on our activities, you can follow us on social media – and follow the hashtags #eurodig17 and #eurodig on Twitter.

Please do say hello to our staff in the sessions – and tell us how you think we need to work together to build a stronger Internet and #ShapeTomorrow.

The post EuroDIG 2017: ISOC Speaks on Cybersecurity, Blockchain, Human Rights, IoT, Internet Shutdowns and more appeared first on Internet Society.