Connectivity infrastructure is constantly expanding, increasing internet access across countries, regions and socio-political contexts. Given the fast changing geography of the internet, there is a growing demand to strengthen cyber capacity beyond national frameworks, in order to develop a transnationally coherent and coordinated governance approach to cybersecurity. In this context, cyber capacity building initiatives are increasingly central in international debates, with the ambition to support countries in the global south in fostering their cybersecurity strategy from technical and policy perspectives. This article discusses the key factors explaining states' efforts to enhance their cyber capacity. Based on a cross-national quantitative research approach, the findings contradict IR derived approaches to cybersecurity, which assume that countries develop their cyber capacity according to external security threats, domestic politics, or norms. In line with existing research on the role that science play in policymaking processes more broadly, our results suggest instead that a country's science and technical knowledge is the most robust explanation for states' cyber capacity levels. These findings emphasise the need for policymakers to support countries in the global south in developing their cyber capacity beyond national security paradigms by further strengthen education and technical skills in contexts lacking in this resource.
Myanmar is undergoing profound socio-political transitions, including rapid developments of its telecommunication infrastructures and related policy frameworks that involves both infrastructural and governance challenges. By focusing on the various stages of the connectivity building plan over the first 3 years since its launch in 2012, this paper explores how Myanmar is developing its internet policy capacity building, in the framework of the broader transnational internet governance debate. In particular, this paper addresses whether and how the new national telecom infrastructure and the related governance framework has been designed and implemented in respect of digital rights, notably freedom of expression and right of privacy. By process tracing the initiatives shaping the on-going connectivity building plan, the paper discusses the role of actors involved in this process, including civil society organizations, private companies, and foreign governments; whether we are witnessing any bottom up forms of internet governance practices; opportunities and eventual threats for citizens related to the implementation this connectivity plan; and finally, it tests and proposes a novel empirically driven theoretical framework aiming at expanding our understanding on the diffusion of global internet governance norms in developing connectivity in post-authoritarian contexts.
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