The aim of this panel is to analyze European strategies, policies and projects on digital networks. Papers presented here address from different perspectives the issue of how information technologies are designed, shaped and regulated. Reinhard Kreissl's paper focuses on the security work programme under FP7.  How the money was allocated, for which topics it was spent, who was involved in deciding about the allocation of funds, the type of security “products” to be developed.  Musiani explores how decentralized and peer-to-peer architectures may be considered as a means to define and protect personal data in alternative ways, “by design” rather than by policy. She describes how decentralized architectures serve as an alternative strategy that Europe could pursue for the protection of privacy. The contribution by Santaniello investigates some recent re-engineering processes occurring on digital networks nowadays, and their impact on political key-concepts such as sovereignty, authority and rights. His paper aims to identify European key actors involved in the cyberspace regulation, to track their activity and analyze their visions, their goals and power relations. The paper by Nanette Levinson and Meryem Marzouki takes a relatively long-term view of international organizations and the European Union in the complex and uncertain internet governance ecosystem. The contribution by Padovani aims to identify the normative connections and disconnections amongst discourses and policy frames that characterize the EU Digital Agenda in relation to gender equality in media and communication. The final paper analyzes the relationship between new technologies and neoliberalism.