Internet Governance Forum
Encyclopedia
Internet governance
Internet governance is the development and application of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programs that shape the evolution and use of the Internet...
. It brings together all stakeholders in the internet governance debate, whether they represent governments, the private sector or civil society, including the technical and academic community, on an equal basis and through an open and inclusive process.
The establishment of the IGF was formally announced by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Secretary-General in July 2006 and it was first convened in October / November 2006.
Structure and function
The formation of the Internet Governance Forum was first recommended in the report of the Working Group on Internet GovernanceWorking Group on Internet Governance
The Working Group on Internet Governance was a United Nations multistakeholder Working group initiated after the 2003 World Summit on the Information Society first phase Summit in Geneva to agree on the future of Internet governance....
following a series of open consultations. This report was one of the inputs to the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society
World Summit on the Information Society
The World Summit on the Information Society was a pair of United Nations-sponsored conferences about information, communication and, in broad terms, the information society that took place in 2003 in Geneva and in 2005 in Tunis...
in Tunis in 2005, which formally called for the creation of the IGF and set out its mandate.
Following an open consultation meeting called in February 2006, the UN Secretary-General established an Advisory Group, the MAG, and a Secretariat as the main institutional bodies of the IGF.
These organizational divisions should not be considered concrete since the organizational structures will continue to be adjusted and to be changed until they fit into the needs of the members.
Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG)
The Advisory Group, now referred to as the MAG (Multistakeholder Advisory Group), was set up by the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi AnnanKofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
on May 17, 2006. The MAG was originally made up of 46 Members from international government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
s, the commercial private sector and public civil society, including academic and technical
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
communities, and was chaired by Nitin Desai
Nitin Desai
Nitin Desai is an Indian economist. He was Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations from 1997 to 2003.-Early life and academic career:...
- the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for the World Summit on the Information Society. All stakeholders participate as equals. The purpose for which the MAG was set up was to assist the Secretary General in convening the Internet Governance Forum. On August 20, 2007, the mandate of the MAG was renewed with a new structure of 47 members, and a Co-Chairmanship by Nitin Desai, and Brazilian diplomat Hadil da Rocha Vianna. The mandate of the MAG was further extended on April 30, 2008 with a renewed one third of its members within each stakeholder group and Nitin Desai serving as the sole Chairman.
The MAG meet three times each year - in February, May and September. All three meetings take place in Geneva at the Palais des Nations and they are preceded by open consultations meeting.
The details on MAG's operating principles and selection criteria are contained in the summary report of its February meeting available at this link. http://www.intgovforum.org/AGD/MAG.Summary.28.02.2008.pdf
On August 22, 2008, the United Nations Office in Geneva renewed the membership of MAG to prepare for the Internet Governance Forum Meeting in Hyderabad, India. There were a total of 50 members, among them 17 new appointed members, which represents 1/3 of its membership. Nitin Desai continues to be the Chairman for the Advisory Group. (Source: UN Department of Public Information, United Nations Office in Genev. Accessed online at:http://www.unog.ch/unog/website/news_media.nsf/(httpNewsByYear_en)/417AFED5138FD8E5C12574AD002E6C13?OpenDocument
- Actual List of Members http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/magabout/406-mag-2010
- MAG Meetings http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/magabout/67-mag-meetings
Secretariat
The Secretariat, based in the United Nations Office in Geneva, assists and coordinates the work of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG). The Secretariat has been headed until 31 Jan 2011 by Markus Kummer as Executive Coordinator. The Executive Coordinator position is currently vacant. Chengetai Masango is Programme and Technology Manager. The Secretariat also hosts fellowships. Markus Kummer has also been involved with the WGIG as the Executive Coordinator of its secretariat. He has joined the Intenet Society as of 01 Feb 2011 as its Vice President for Public PolicyWSIS follow ups
The IGF is considered an important development of the World Summit on Information Technology (WSIS). This important outcome was reaffirmed by paragraphs 37 and 38 of the Tunis 2005 Commitment. Paragraph 37 states that “…goals can be accomplished through the involvement, cooperation and partnership of governments and other stakeholders, i.e. the private sector, civil society and international organizations, and that international cooperation and solidarity at all levels are indispensable if the fruits of the Information Society are to benefit all.” Corollary to this commitment, paragraph 38 states, too, that all efforts from here on “should not stop with the conclusion of the Summit…emergence of the global Information Society to which we all contribute provides increasing opportunities for all our peoples and for an inclusive global community…we must harness these opportunities today and support their further development and progress.”The Tunis Summit of 2005 made significant headway when the mandate of the IGF was formulated. In paragraph 72 of the Tunis Agenda, the UN Secretary-General was asked to convene a meeting with regards to the new multi-stakeholder forum, otherwise known as the IGF. In this mandate, different stakeholders are encouraged to strengthen engagement, particularly those from developing countries. In paragraph 72(h), the mandate focused on capacity-building for developing countries and the drawing out of local resources. This particular effort, for instance, has been reinforced through Diplo Foundation’s Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme (IGCBP) that allowed participants from different regions to benefit from valuable resources with the help of regional experts in IG.
The involvement of different stakeholders in the policy framework of the IGF is a re-affirmation of commitment as per paragraph 39 of the Tunis Commitment. In this particular context, there is a deep resolve to “…develop and implement an effective and sustainable response to the challenges and opportunities of building a truly global Information Society that benefits all our peoples.” During the OECD Civil Society-Organized Labour Forum held last June 16, 2008, in Seoul, Korea, Ambassador David A. Gross of the US Department of State talked about the transformation of the Internet in the social lives of people. He believed that this transformation made an impact in the free flow of information that politically drives challenges. Ambassador Gross commented on the 2005 WSIS because of the powerful language used on paragraph 4 of the Tunis agenda that reiterated on openness.
Formation of the IGF
A multi-stakeholder's approach was reiterated in the coordination of international activities for the IGF. This adaptation was set from paragraphs 29 to 35 of the Tunis agenda. These stakeholders were defined as coming from governments, the private technical and economic sector, civil society, intergovernmental organizations, and international organizations. In paragraph 32, the UN Secretary-General was commended for his efforts in establishing the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG).The suggested need of an organization like the IGF was first pointed out in the WGIG Report. After reaching a clear consensus among its members the WGIG proposed in paragraph 40 of the Report that :
"(t)he WGIG identified a vacuum within the context of existing structures, since there is no global multi-stakeholder forum to address Internet-related public policy issues. It came to the conclusion that there would be merit in creating such a space for dialogue among all stakeholders. This space could address these issues, as well as emerging issues, that are cross-cutting and multidimensional and that either affect more than one institution, are not dealt with by any institution or are not addressed in a coordinated manner”.
The IGF was one of four proposals made in the report.
The idea of the Forum was also proposed by Argentina, as stated in its proposal made during the last Prepcom 3 in Tunis:
"(t)In order to strengthen the global multistakeholder interaction and cooperation on public policy issues and developmental aspects relating to Internet governance we propose a forum. This forum should not replace existing mechanisms or institutions but should build on the existing structures on Internet governance, should contribute to the sustainability, stability and robustness of the Internet by addressing appropriately public policy issues that are not otherwise being adequately addressed excluding any involvement in the day to day operation of the Internet. It should be constituted as a neutral, non-duplicative and non-binding process to facilitate the exchange of information and best practices and to identify issues and make known its findings, to enhance awareness and build consensus and engagement. Recognizing the rapid development of technology and institutions, we propose that the forum mechanism periodically be reviewed to determine the need for its continuation.”
The convening of the IGF was announced on 18 July 2006, with the inaugural meeting of the Forum being held in Athens, Greece from 30 October to 2 November 2006.
IGF Consultations and Meetings
There were two rounds of consultations with regards to the convening of the first IGF:[1] 16 – 17 of February 2006 – The first round of consultations was held in Geneva. The transcripts of the two-day consultations are available in the IGF site.
[2] 19 May 2006 – The second round of consultations was open to all stakeholders and was coordinated for the preparations of the inaugural IGF meeting. The meeting chairman was Nitin Desai who is the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Adviser for Internet Governance.
The Second Meeting of the IGF
Consultations held in Geneva last May 23, 2007 were open to all stakeholders. This consultation was part of a cluster of related events of the WSIS that took place last 15-25 of May 2007. An advisory group was also facilitated for the IGF meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The IGF open Consultations held last 3 September 2007 was held in Geneva.
For further information, a summary of the IGF consultations and meetings can be found below:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 16–18 November 2005 | Second Phase of the WSIS World Summit on the Information Society The World Summit on the Information Society was a pair of United Nations-sponsored conferences about information, communication and, in broad terms, the information society that took place in 2003 in Geneva and in 2005 in Tunis... in Tunis Tunis Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants.... |
| 16 – 17 February 2006 | First Round of Consultations |
| 2 March 2006 | Establishment of the IGF Secretariat |
| 19 May 2006 | Second Round of Consultations |
| 22 – 23 May 2006 | Establishment and First Meeting of the IGF Advisory Group |
| 18 July 2006 | Convening of the IGF |
| 7 – 8 September 2006 | Second Meeting of the IGF Advisory Group |
| 30 October – 2 November 2006 | Inaugural Meeting of the IGF in Athens Athens Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state... |
| 12–15 November 2007 | Second Meeting of the IGF in Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th... , Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... |
| 13 May 2008 | Open Consultations |
| 14–15 May 2008 | Meeting of the IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group(MAG) |
| 3–6 December 2008 | Third meeting of the IGF in Hyderabad, India India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... |
| 15–18 November 2009 | Fourth Meeting of the IGF in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Egypt Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world... |
| 14–17 September 2010 | Fifth Meeting of the IGF in Vilnius Vilnius Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County... , Lithuania Lithuania Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark... |
| 23–24 February 2011 | Open Consultations and MAG Meeting at the United Nations United Nations The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace... in Geneva Geneva Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland... , Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |
2011 Open Consultations and MAG Meeting
The next Open Consultations will be held on 23 February, to be followed by a MAG meeting on 24 February which will be open to observers. Both will be held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.
Online registration for the meetings is now open and will close on 18 February 2011.
2005 mandate
The mandate for the IGF comes from the 2005 WSIS Tunis Agenda. The IGF was mandated to be principally a discussion forum for facilitating dialogue between the Forum's participants. The IGF may "identify emerging issues, bring them to the attention of the relevant bodies and the general public, and, where appropriate, make recommendations," but does not have any direct decision-making authority.The United Nations published its endorsement of a five-year mandate for the IGF in April 2006..
Renewal of mandate in 2011 and improvements process
In the lead-up to the completion of the first five-year mandate of the IGF in 2010, the UN initiated a process of evaluating the continuation of the IGF, resulting in a United Nations General AssemblyUnited Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
resolution to continue the IGF for a further five years (2011-2015).
In addition to the renewed mandate, another UN body, the CSTD, established a Working Group on Improvements to the IGF (CSTDWG), which first met in February 2011, and will complete its work in early 2012, and report back to the United Nations General Assembly.
Activities at the IGF
The following are the activities that take place during the IGF:Workshops, Best Practice Forums, Open Forums and meetings of the Dynamic Coalitions.
The main themes of IGF are: openness, security, diversity and access. A new theme was introduced in IGF Brazil: critical Internet resources being one of the most debatable topics in the IG field at the moment.
Dynamic coalitions
The most tangible result of the first IGF in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
is the establishment of a number of so-called Dynamic Coalitions. These coalitions are relatively informal, issue-specific groups consisting of stakeholders that are interested in the particular issue.
Most coalitions allow participation of anyone interested in contributing. Thus, these groups gather not only academics and representatives of governments, but also members of the civil society interested in participating on the debates and engaged in the coalition's works.
So far, the following Dynamic Coalitions were brought to the attention of the IGF Secretariat:
- The StopSpamAlliance http://stopspamalliance.org/
- Dynamic Coalition on Privacy http://wiki.igf-online.net/wiki/Privacy
- The IGF Dynamic Coalition on Open Standards (IGF DCOS) http://igf-dcos.org/
- The Dynamic Coalition on Access and Connectivity for Remote, Rural and Dispersed Communities http://www.pacificit.org/dc
- Dynamic Coalition on the Internet Bill of Rights http://www.internet-bill-of-rights.org/en/
- Dynamic Coalition for Linguistic Diversity http://maayajo.org/spip.php?article27
- A2K@IGF Dynamic Coalition http://www.a2k-igf.org/
- Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media on the Internet (FOEonline) http://foeonline.wordpress.com/
- Online Collaboration Dynamic Coalition http://wiki.igf-online.net/wiki/IGF-OCDC
- Gender and Internet Governance (GIG)
- Framework of Principles for the Internet
- Dynamic Coalition on Child Online Safety
- Dynamic Coalition on "Accessibility and Disability" http://www.itu.int/accessibility/DC
- Dynamic Coalition for Online Education
Active Dynamic Coalitions http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/dynamiccoalitions
Workshops
In 2007, IGF hosted a number of workshops http://www.intgovforum.org/Rio_Schedule_final.html which attracted great interest with the public. In particular, the theme of child protection was one of the topics that increased the engagement of the participants in the events.For 2008 the IGF page stipulates that workshops http://www.intgovforum.org/workshop_info.htm can be proposed on the draft main session headings:
- Universalization of the Internet - How to reach the next billion (Expanding the Internet)
- Low cost sustainable access
- Multilingualization
- Implications for development policy
- Managing the Internet (Using the Internet)
- Critical Internet resources
- Arrangements for Internet governance
- Global cooperation for Internet security and stability
- Taking stock and the way forward
- Emerging issues
The following workshops have been proposed as of 15 May 2008, according to the Workshop page http://www.intgovforum.org/workshops_08/wrkshplist.php. These proposals will be reviewed and an attempt will be made to merge propositions into a manageable number of workshops.
| Number Proposed | Workshop Theme |
|---|---|
| |
Access |
| |
Diversity |
| |
Openness |
| |
Security |
| |
Critical Internet Resources |
| |
Development |
| |
Capacity Building |
| |
Other |
A revision of the Process and Programme of the Hyderabad meeting is available at http://www.intgovforum.org.
I IGF Athens 2006
The host webpage brings interesting information about the evolution of the first IGF.II IGF Rio 2007
There were 84 events happening in parallel to the main sessions, organized under the 5 main themes: (i) critical Internet resources; (ii) access; (iii) diversity; (iv) openness and (v) security. There were 36 workshops, 23 best practices forums, 11 dynamic coalitions meetings, 8 open forums and 6 events covering other issues (like the Giganet Symposium)The host webpage keeps video and audio records from main sessions and some parallel events such as workshops, best practices and open forums, as well as the tool for translation into Arabic.
Regarding the participation by region, around 35% of the attendees came from the Latin America and Caribbean of which 29% were from the host country (Brazil).
There are also some interesting statistics such as:
| Region | Participation |
|---|---|
| |
35% |
| |
20% |
| |
13% |
| |
13% |
| |
10% |
| |
7% |
| |
2% |
Main sessions
The main sessions were developed according to the five themes chosen for this year: Critical Internet Resources, Access, Diversity, Openness and Security.Please see below the summary of the main sessions:
Opening ceremony/Opening session
The multistakeholder approach was highlighted by many speakers and panelists during the Opening Session, including the message from the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, which was read by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, M. Sha Zukang.M. Ban Ki-Moon assured that it is not a UN goal to take over Internet Governance but the UN will offer an opportunity to bring people together, with the same interest, in a global reach.
M. Sha Zukang concludes that the IGF was a unique experience because “it brings together people who normally do not meet under the same roof.”
"Development" was a key discussion during the IGF Rio Meeting. It will still be an important aspect for discussion, together with the issue of bridging the digital divide - a key element of discussion for the IGF Hyderabad and reflects the theme of the IGF Hyderabad which is "Internet for All."
The nature and prospective of the IGF were also discussed, as the Chairman properly summarizes:
“Several participants underlined that the IGF was not only a space for dialogue, but also a medium that should encourage fundamental change at the local level to empower communities, build capacity and skills enable the Internet's expansion, thereby contributing to economic and social development."
Critical Internet resources
This is a new session that was introduced during the IGF Rio Meeting. Basically, it covered some issues pertaining to the infrastructure of the Internet. ICANN discussions were not missed, as well as the role of governments in shaping policies.Access
The issue of “access” is more on how to get the billion of users around the world to go online in the next years to come. Such initiatives to this cause are reminiscent of pilot projects in Africa wherein laptops were given to children under an open source software agreement.Diversity
The issue of “diversity” calls for multilingualism in the Net. Such promotion on multilingualism would increase users whose main language is not English. In order to open the Net to a diverse population, international domain names (IDN) were added to facilitate the language needs of other users.Openness
The strong support on closed software has not been favorable to some people. This is because there were long-lasting agreements between governments and large software companies. Such actions were considered critical, as it binds different entities to proprietary or closed source technologies. Many believed that the shift from closed to open software can only happen with the full-scale participation of both the private and public sectors. As such, many people fear the turning of the Internet into a “private” network if there is much insistence on the use of closed technologies.Talks on open standards, open architecture and open software are clear indicators of what the issue on openness is all about.
Read this literature entitled "Free Culture" by Lawrence Lessig to know more on "Openness on the Internet."
Security issues
The question of Internet Security is one of the most important debate in the Information Society. Internet is becoming an important communication and business tool, as such, that the question of security comes as a cross-cutting issue to be addressed in all its dimension. As indicated by Michael Harrop, Rapporteur SG 17 Q4, Communications Security Project in 2006, "without effective security, all systems and processes that rely on electronic communications are at risk and, as a consequence, large numbers of resources are now devoted to countering threats, protecting systems and recovering from successful attacks." The Rio de Janeiro Meeting mentioned that "...achieving the Internet’s full potential to support commercial and social relationships required an environment that promoted and ensured users' trust and confidence and provided a stable and secure platform."Cyber-security, in this case, focused heavily on child protection, particularly on child pornography. Participants gathered were called to seek ways to harmonize legislative agendas to counter-act such crimes. This was a call of legislation between countries that can work together in order to enforce laws that would protect children. As such that some laws are not applicable online, this call also promoted formulation of legislation that would be applicable in the online or virtual world.
Internet Security has been mentioned in the Substantive Agenda of the Rio de Janeiro Meeting. It was also present in the Agenda of the Athens Meeting. Even before the Athens Meeting, Internet Security was mentioned at the Tunis WSIS under "Building Confidence and Security in the Use of ICT's." At the coming Hyderabad Meeting in December 2008, two panels will again discuss questions related to Internet Security. This gives an idea on how important the question has been in each of the IGF meetings so far.
Internet security issues can be folded under the following:
- secure telecommunication which deals most with the security of telecommunication infrastructure
- cyber-security as Internet users deal with it in their daily operations and use of the Internet
- identity theft
- children pornography
- hacking and other virus and cyber threats (scams, spams, etc.)
- cyber-terrorism
Internet Security on the Athens Agenda
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is at the forefront of contributors to the field of Telecommunication Security. At the Athens meeting, ITU mentioned the major contributions made in this domain by International organizations. ITU took the necessary steps to set up a number of initiatives that were presented at the Athens meeting. It presented a telecommunication security guideline and set up the road map towards Internet Security. The question of security of telecommunication was somehow dominant at the Athens meeting.
ITU mentioned the difficulty of experts in the field. One of the difficulties mentioned was related to the question of standardisation - as many international organizations were developing domain initiatives at the same time.
As a follow-up activity of the WSIS Conference, a number of ITU study groups have been assigned tasks related to Internet Security. At the Athens Meeting, findings of these study groups were presented to address diverse Internet security questions such as:
- Telecommunication management
- Protection against electromagnetic environment effects
- Outside Plant and related indoor installations
- Security, languages and telecommunication software
- Mobile Telecommunications Networks
Internet Security on the Rio de Janeiro Agenda
At the Rio de Janeiro meeting, a whole session was dedicated to the question of Internet security, emphasizing the importance of this question nowadays, as well as the threats, that users are facing more and more in their daily operations over the Internet. Internet Security questions put on the agenda at Rio were related to:
- cybercrime
- cyber-terrorism
- protection of individuals and automatic processing of personal data
- action against trafficking in human beings
- protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse
The Rio de Janeiro meeting called for international cooperation and coordinated action to counter cybercrime because of its trans-national dimension. Recommendations were forwarded towards the direction of responsibility of governments in order to raise awareness among Internet users and in the direction of ICANN because of the responsibility it has for the Domain Name System. It is required of ICANN since it accepts responsibility for controlling illegal online content for the protection of children from Internet pornography.
Internet Security on the Hyderabad Agenda
Emerging issues
This session aims to identify key issues in Internet Governance that should be addressed in the Forum. The first obstacle was to filter some themes, as there is a variety of interests to be held in such a generic target.There were four themes proposed:
(i) demand and supply side initiatives (by Robert Pepper). He brought into debate the economic concept of demand and supply applied to Internet Governance. On the demand side, there were interesting proposals, such as the need for educating through capacity-building Internet users, the ability of people controlling their web ID (part of educating the usage in Internet), local content in local languages (enforcing local community) and improving public policies (but not over regulating, such as prohibiting or limiting access to VoIP, which can suppress the demand). On the supply side, there were the common concern of extending Internet users/access, but also considering “the opportunities created by the release of spectrum through the switch to digital broadcasting were highlighted. Some speakers suggested that such spectrum could be used to support new broadband networks and support new investment and innovative services, while others held the view that this would not be a sustainable solution.”
(ii) social, cultural and political issues of Web 2.0 (by Andrew Keen);
(iii) access (particularly in Africa, by Nii Quaynor) and
(iv) innovation, research and development (by Robert Kahn).
Another challenge was to discuss emerging issues in a global forum with different perspectives, for example, developed and developing countries realities; democratic and non-democratic political regimes; and etc.
III IGF Hyderabad 2008
The third meeting of the IGF was held in Hyderabad, India. The over-all theme for the meeting was "Internet for All." The chairman's summary can be accessed via the official IGF website.In terms of attendance, there were 1280 participants from 94 countries. The actual breakdown of participants by region can be found here.
Renewal of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG)
Stakeholders from different sectors - government, civil society, private, academe and technical communities - were invited to submit proposals/nominations for new MAG members. The mandate behind the rotation of its members are based on recommendations from different sectors. The official IGF website carries the list of updated MAG members.Remote Participation in the IGF 2008
The Remote Participation Working Group (RPWG) has been working closely with the IGF Secretariat for allowing remote participants across the globe to interact in the meeting. There were 522 remote participants from around the world who joined the main sessions and workshops.The entire meeting in Hyderabad was webcast in real-time using high quality video, audio streaming and live chat.
Remote Hubs were also introduced with remote moderators leading the discussions in their region. Most of the hubs were able to discuss pertinent local and domestic Internet Governance issues. The Remote Hubs were found in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Belgrade, Serbia, São Paulo (Brazil), Pune (India), Lahore (Pakistan), Bogotà (Colombia), Barcelona and Madrid (Spain).
The platform used for remote participation in Hyderabad was DimDim.
IV IGF Sharm El Sheikh 2009
EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
hosted the fourth IGF meeting in Sharm el Sheikh from 15–18 November 2009 in Sharm El Sheikh. “Internet Governance – Creating Opportunities for all” is the overall title of the meeting. It marks the beginning of a new multi-stakeholder process.
The main sessions on the agenda points are Managing Critical Internet Resources; Security, Openness and Privacy; Access; Diversity; Internet governance in the Light of WSIS
World Summit on the Information Society
The World Summit on the Information Society was a pair of United Nations-sponsored conferences about information, communication and, in broad terms, the information society that took place in 2003 in Geneva and in 2005 in Tunis...
Principles; Taking Stock and the Way forward – on the Desirability of the Continuation of the Forum; and Emerging Issues - Impact of Social Networks.
One key focus of IGF 2009 is encouraging youth participation towards Internet Governance issues. Videos of the Forum are available at http://www.un.org/webcast/igf/ondemand.asp.
Another video from the event.
Remote participation in the IGF 2009
Following the success of remote participation in the IGF Hyderabad, the Remote Participation Working Group (RPWG) has come up with improved guidelines on intervention for the training of remote moderators. Webex was also used as the platform for this year's remote participation. There are 11 registered remote hubs for this year's meeting and the complete list can be found in the official IGF website.Information on Remote Participation during the IGF meetings are available at http://www.igfremote.info
Future IGF Meetings
The Sixth Meeting of the IGF will be held 27-30 September 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya, at the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON).. This follows the invitation by the Government of Kenya, conveyed by Philip Okundi at the Closing Ceremony of the 2010 IGF in Vilnius. Philip Okundi is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK)External links
- Internet Governance Forum
- IGF Community Site
- IGF - Internet SOCiety Public Policy Activities
- IP Justice IGF webpage
- Diplo Internet Governance Community
- Internet Governance Project (IGP)
- Internet Governance: The Way Forward. An international conference organised by DiploFoundation discusses the objectives, multi-stakeholder composition, organisation and relevance of Internet Governance Forum.
- International conference presentation:"Internet Governance and Multistakeholder Diplomacy" by Jovan Kurbalija. The presentation reflects on the diplomatic dimension of Internet management, the multistakeholder composition and inter-professional dimension of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG).
- Association for Progressive Communications (APC) on the IGF Recommendations and publications from the civil society network for social justice and sustainable development. 80% of APC's member organisations are from developing countries.