Infrastructure and Standards for CSOs

Digital infrastructure underpins every aspect of the modern internet – from global communication and commerce to social participation and governance. Yet the systems that make connectivity possible – cables, data centres, protocols, and standards – are often governed through complex, technical, and opaque processes.

Infrastructure and Standards for CSOs equips participants with the knowledge and tools needed to engage in policy and technical debates on internet infrastructure, advocate for transparency and accountability, and connect governance issues to rights and sustainability.

The course forms part of the Technical Knowledge Track, within the CADE Capacity Development Programme for CSOs 2025–2026, which strengthens the capacity of CSOs,  especially in the Global South, to participate effectively in digital policy processes. It combines conceptual understanding with applied learning: examining how infrastructure enables connectivity; how critical internet resources are managed; how technical standards shape access and interoperability; and how sustainability and rights-based approaches can guide infrastructure governance.

Over four modules, participants explore the key dimensions of digital infrastructure governance:

• Module 1. Infrastructure, interconnection, and access
• Module 2. Critical internet resources: names, numbers, routing, and root elements
• Module 3. Technical standards and governance
• Module 4. Sustainable, rights-based infrastructure governance

Each module culminates in a short assignment that builds progressively toward a sustainable, rights-based infrastructure policy or advocacy initiative. 

Participants who successfully complete the course receive a Certificate of Completion and may continue their learning journey by advancing to the next stage of the programme: Diplomacy and Negotiations for CSOs.