MEDIAMANA – “[This article is a part of an online symposium on the value of Internet Openness at the time of COVID19. The symposium is a joint outcome of the Internet Governance Forum coalition on Net Neutrality and Community Connectivity. Read all the articles in the symposium here.] The novel SARS-COV-2 virus that leads to COVID-19 disease is teaching us a great many lessons about infrastructure writ large. We are discovering weaknesses in socio-economic safety nets, in our healthcare systems, public transportation system, our education systems and many others. Societies around the world are organized around a presumption that people can work, play and interact with each other in close proximity. Our dependence on this assumption has been upended by a virus that propagates through proximity and through the air and on commonly touched surfaces. Among the responses, social distancing has become a strong recommendation around the globe. But our physical infrastructure is operationally dependent on people being able to work together in proximity. That includes traveling together. One has only to look at the airline industry to see how quickly that mode of travel has evaporated. Schools have been closed in favor of remote education and “work from home” has become a guideline for those whose jobs permit it. For many, of course, work requires proximity, from haircuts to grocery stores, people need to be present. If that isn’t safe, many people cannot work and the economic impact is catastrophic. To the degree that working and living can be done in some remote way, the Internet has become an important component of COVID-19 response. It permits remote interaction with customers and even patients. It allows people to order goods and services online for delivery to doorsteps. It provides researchers with access to global sources of information and to computing power in unprecedented quantities. The openness, interoperability and distributed nature of the Internet has contributed to its utility. Its scalability in many dimensions has allowed it to expand to accommodate new demands. Remarkably, the capacity to support streaming video is now also supporting real-time videoconferencing as a substitute for in-person meetings…”