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Welcome! This website is about the Internet Infrastructure Climate Resilience (IICR) research project which is based in Aotearoa New Zealand and is taking place until mid-2026.

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About the project

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 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.

Work to date

Key activities in the research project have included:

• Desk research and research team outreach to key stakeholders began in late 2024
• Phase 1 (Coming Together): Establishing the IICR Network in July 2025 and publishing a research backgrounder publication
• Phase 2 (Experiences and Visions): Holding IICR network working sessions in late 2025 to explore data best practice; mapping the landscape of initiatives underway; and building scenarios of communications and community resilience in 2050
• Co-hosted a public webinar with the Critical Signals project on Rewilding the Internet for Resilience in September 2025
• Phase 3 (Exploring options and choices for action): Convening three IICR Network working sessions in early 2026 using the outcomes of Phase 2 to create action focused recommendations to share with broader stakeholders
• Upcoming launch of two publications at the Connecting Aotearoa Summit 2026 in May in Wellington

Project outputs

Project outputs so far include:

• The IICR backgrounder document, which explores issues of resilience, internet infrastructure and climate impacts to form a foundation for the research to expand from.
• A submission made to the National Climate Change Risk Assessment 2026 input process.
• Detailed information about the research phases and activities, including some interim outputs, published at the IICR Network Hub.