Title: Focus on Standards Adoption

Abstract: The Internet was built on standards developed and deployed
in a decentralized yet cooperative fashion, giving rise to a
Decentralized Internet that provided a means to connect to a large
number of users. This inspired more deployment and collaboration on
new standards. But as the Internet grew, so did the number and
complexity of standards on which it was built. New standards lacked
corresponding efforts to promote adoption and use. Proprietary
overlays that were easy to use became very attractive, with large
conferences, dedicated support staff, and user forums promoting their
adoption and leading to a centralization of the Internet.

A Decentralized Internet requires more focus on adoption of Internet
standards. This is arguably more important than developing new
standards. One small example is the Hackathon@AIS, sponsored by the
African Internet Society, which featured multiple tracks aimed at
exposing engineers from African to Internet standards development and
use. Everyone involved was eager to learn, share, and work together to
apply new concepts. More events like this are needed throughout the
world to empower more people to use existing and evolving standards
that promote a Decentralized Internet.