Kyiv Aviation Institute, Ukraine
I am a legal scholar from Ukraine specializing in innovation law, intellectual property, and Internet governance. I hold a Doctor of Laws degree and serve as an Associate Professor at the Kyiv Aviation Institute. I also direct the Technology and Innovation Support Center at the same university, where I focus on the intersection of law, technology, and digital policy. My research explores legal aspects of Internet governance, DNS policy, and digital innovation ecosystems. I am actively engaged in international Internet governance discussions and recently participated in ICANN85 as an ICANN Fellow (it was my third Fellowship).
Looking at Internet Governance Through a Wider Lens
Coming to EuroSSIG, I was not completely new to Internet Governance. As a legal scholar, I had approached this field mainly through law and cybersecurity, as well as through my involvement in the ICANN community. Still, the Summer School changed the way I see Internet Governance as a whole.
One of my main takeaways was how difficult it is to understand Internet Governance from a single discipline’s perspective. As lawyers, we naturally tend to look for legal rules, norms responsibilities and enforcement mechanisms. During EuroSSIG, however, the same issues were constantly examined from technical, political, economic, diplomatic, and societal perspectives. For me, this was particularly valuable because it placed the legal questions I work with into a much broader context.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, I was most engaged by the sessions dealing with legal aspects of Internet Governance. Tatiana Tropina’s lectures were a particular highlight for me. Our discussions about the role and limits of international law in Internet Governance were among the moments I enjoyed most during the School. Rather than simply listening to a presentation, I had an opportunity to discuss questions directly connected to my own academic interests and to confront different ways of thinking about how existing legal frameworks interact with the realities of the Internet.
At the same time, sessions on cybersecurity and cybercrime, DNS abuse and content blocking through the DNS demonstrated particularly well why legal analysis cannot be separated from an understanding of the technical infrastructure. Discussions on AI and geopolitics added yet another dimension, showing how quickly technological developments create governance questions that do not fit neatly within established legal categories.
EuroSSIG also made the multistakeholder model much more tangible for me. Before the School, I understood its principles and had already encountered it in practice. But spending a week with people from different stakeholder groups made it much easier to see why Internet Governance depends on this diversity of perspectives. The same problem may look completely different to a lawyer, an engineer, a policymaker or a civil society representative.
I am returning from Meissen with more questions than answers, which is probably one of the best outcomes a researcher can have. EuroSSIG has given me new perspectives for my research and strengthened my interest in exploring the intersection between international law, Internet infrastructure and governance. I also hope to bring more of the Internet Governance perspective into my academic work and discussions with students in Ukraine.
Finally, the value of EuroSSIG was not limited to the programme itself. Conversations with faculty and other fellows continued during coffee breaks, meals and evenings, often developing into discussions that were just as interesting as the formal sessions. I am grateful for the fellowship that made this experience possible and for the opportunity to become part of this community.