The Backbone of Digital Life

The dominance of submarine cables
99% of international data are transported via undersea internet cables. From emails and social media to financial transactions and streaming services, these cables ensure seamless global connectivity.

In our datafied lives, where almost every aspect of our daily activities is digitized and shared online, the importance of these cables is immense. Despite their significance, the physical infrastructure of communication, such as submarine cables, has not obtained much focus within communication studies. Understanding their significance is essential not only for understanding the complexity of global communication networks but also for addressing issues related to political economy, ownership and control of important resources and geopolitical dynamics.

Programme

10 min Stine Lomborg, Professor and head of Center for Tracking and Society (University of Copenhagen) Welcome
1 hour Professor Dwayne Winseck (Carleton University) The Global Political Economy of Internet Infrastructure
Professor Dwayne Winseck (Carleton University) Keynote
15 min Break
30 min Kristian Sick, research assistant, Department of Communication (University of Copenhagen) Concentration of Ownership of Submarine Cable
30 min Sofie Flensburg and Signe Sophus Lai, both tenure track assistant professors, Department of Communication (University of Copenhagen) What Ghost Cables Tell Us about the Change in Power Dynamics
15 min Break
30 min Tobias Liebetrau, researcher, Department of Political Science (University of Copenhagen) Submarine Cables as Security Politics
30 min Signe Ravn-Højgaard, postdoc, Department of Communication (University of Copenhagen) When there is no business case for cables. The case of submarine cables in the North Atlantic Arctic

Sign up

Please sign up for the event

Funded by Independent Research Fund Denmark grant 0132-00080B Datafied Living.