<aside>
Welcome! This website is about the Internet Infrastructure Climate Resilience (IICR) research project which is based in Aotearoa New Zealand. We’ve launched two reports on Internet Resilience in May 2026. Check out the project updates page for more.
</aside>
Internet access is a critical part of our everyday lives and a lifeline for responders and communities during emergencies. However, extreme weather events and longer-term climate impacts are increasingly testing the resilience of Aotearoa New Zealand's Internet infrastructure.
Through mid-2026, the team at Brainbox Institute are leading research on Internet infrastructure resilience in the context of climate change, with a focus on what is needed to support community resilience. This project is based in Aotearoa New Zealand and looks at the local context, while recognising that the issues being discussed have global interdependencies.
The purpose of this work is to focus on actions, solutions and recommendations: it is participatory action research.
At the heart of the project is the Internet Infrastructure Climate Resilience (IICR) Network, a group of people with experience and expertise in a range of areas — from data scientists to community leaders — who come together around different topics related to Internet and community resilience, with support from the research team.
The project is made possible with funding from the Internet Society Foundation.
Project outputs include:
Towards a Shared Understanding of Internet Resilience: focuses on sharing the vision for Internet resilience and 5Rs framework for Internet infrastructure resilience that were developed with the IICR Network, as tools for building shared understanding and supporting collaborative action around Internet resilience.
Report: Towards a Shared Understanding of Internet Resilience.pdf
Actions to Support Internet Infrastructure Climate Resilience: provides recommendations from the IICR research team around six interconnected themes for action in support of Internet infrastructure climate resilience being built and maintained in the long-term.
IICR Report: Actions to Support Internet Infrastructure Climate Resilience.pdf
Backgrounder on Internet Infrastructure and Climate Resilience: The IICR backgrounder document, which explores issues of resilience, internet infrastructure and climate impacts to form a foundation for the research to expand from.
Submission to National Climate Change Risk Assessment: A submission made to the National Climate Change Risk Assessment 2026 input process.
IICR Network Hub: Detailed information about the research phases and activities, including some interim outputs, published at the IICR Network Hub.
Key activities in the research project have included: