About
SplinterCon events and resources address the accelerating fragmentation of the once-unified global internet into smaller, parallel, and walled-off networks controlled by national governments or corporate ecosystems.
The Internet’s inherent open architecture is increasingly weaponized as a tool for surveillance capitalism, democratic as well as autocratic ambitions for digital sovereignty, censorship and communication blackouts.
Since 2023, we’ve been building a global community of expertise to better understand and, when necessary, to challenge the trend of splinternetization. This mission is supported by an open call for presentations, conference travel funds to support attendees, Breakout program grants, Blockathon gamified shutdown simulator and the excellent program committee. Every conference produces a report collating presentations, state-of-the-art technology solutions and analysis on the state of the splinternet. These resources combined provide our community with a platform for:
- Evaluating existing and future tech solutions for communication with and within sovereign networks;
- Analyzing the practices and impacts of network isolation and shutdowns;
- Investing in practical and user-oriented solutions for connectivity and content distribution across digital barriers.
Participation
SplinterCon invites participants from academia, industry, government and civil society organizations working on issues around wireless communications, network measurement, decentralized protocols and services, censorship circumvention and internet freedom advocacy, among others. Travel grants are available for presenters coming from the ‘other side’ of the digital divide. Note that all events are held under Chatham House rule.
For speakers
Participate as speaker by submitting a paper, skill share or technology demonstration to the CFP. Our advisory council will invite applicants to present this work. Travel grants are available for presenters coming from the ‘other side’ of the digital divide.
For attendees
Participate as a guest by registering below. Due to limited space and ambitions to keep the meeting focused and productive, we ask you to provide information on how your background is relevant to the event. We review and confirm every registration manually, and with all due respect.
For partners
Help us spread the word about SplinterCon by promoting event on your website, mailing lists, and social media platforms. Share information and encourage your audience to attend, contributing to the SplinterCon’s visibility and reach.
Program Selection Committee
All submitted papers and participation requests are carefully reviewed by the advisory council. Learn more about the team behind the selection process:
Organizers
SplinterCon is an eQualitie initiative. Individual events are created together with partners and the advisory council.
eQualitie develops digital connectivity solutions towards a more equal and equitable internet. Our interest in the splinternet stems from programmatic work in restrictive networks and follows on from the “Internet Without Borders” conference series. The outcomes of SplinterCon drive our and our partners’ programmatic agendas.
