Internet Governance Forum

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Internet Governance Forum, Rio de Janeiro 2007
Internet Governance Forum, Rio de Janeiro 2007

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is a multi-stakeholder forum for policy dialogue on issues of Internet governance[1]. The establishment of the IGF was formally announced by the United Nations Secretary-General in July 2006 and it was first convened in October / November 2006.

Contents

[edit] Structure and Function

The formation of the Internet Governance Forum was first recommended in the report of the Working Group on 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 in Tunis in 2005, which formally called for the creation of the IGF and set out its mandate.[2]

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, instead being malleable with future meetings, this means the organizations structures will continue to be changed and adjusted till they fit into the needs of the members.

[edit] MAG - Multistakeholder Advisory Group

The Advisory Group, now refered to as the MAG (Multistakeholder Advisory Group) was set up by the former Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan on May 17, 2006[3]. The MAG was originally made up of 46 Members from international governments, the commercial private sector and public civil society, including academic and technical communities, and was chaired by Nitin Desai, 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[4] with a new structure of 47 members, and a Co-Chairmanship by Nitin Desai[5], and Brazilian diplomat Hadil da Rocha Vianna[6].The mandate of the MAG was further extended in April 30, 2008[7] with a renewed one third of its members within each stakeholder group and Nitin Desai serving as the sole Chairman[8]. 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 [1][9]

[edit] Secretariat

The Secretariat, based in the United Nations Office in Geneva, assists and coordinates the work of the MAG, Multistakeholder Advisory Group. The Secretariat is headed by Markus Kummer with the designation of Executive Coordinator and Chengetai Masango is Programme and Technology Manager. The Secretariat also hosts fellowships.[10], Markus Kummer has also been involved with the WGIG as its Executive Coordinator of the Secretariat[11].

[edit] History

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 [12] 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.

Date Event
16 - 18 November 2005 Second Phase of the WSIS in Tunis
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
12 - 15 November 2007 Second Meeting of the IGF in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
13 May 2008 Open Consultations
14-15 May 2008 Meeting of the IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group(MAG)

The third IGF meeting will be held in Hyderabad, India from 3-6 December 2008.

The government of Egypt offered to host the 2009 IGF meeting, while the governments of Lithuania and Azerbaijan made a bid for the 2010 meeting.

[edit] Mandate and Outcome

The mandate of the IGF is principally that of a discussion forum for facilitating dialogue between the 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[13].

[edit] Activities at the IGF

The following activities take place at 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.

[edit] Dynamic Coalitions

The most tangible results of the first IGF in Athens are a number of so-called Dynamic Coalitions[14]. 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 [2]
  • Dynamic Coalition on Privacy [3]
  • The IGF Dynamic Coalition on Open Standards (IGF DCOS) [4]
  • The Dynamic Coalition on Access and Connectivity for Remote, Rural and Dispersed Communities [5]
  • Dynamic Coalition on the Internet Bill of Rights [6]
  • Dynamic Coalition for Linguistic Diversity [7]
  • A2K@IGF Dynamic Coalition [8]
  • Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media on the Internet (FOEonline) [9]
  • Online Collaboration Dynamic Coalition [10]
  • Gender and Internet Governance (GIG)
  • Framework of Principles for the Internet
  • Dynamic Coalition on Child Online Safety
  • Dynamic Coalition on "Accessibility and Disability" [11]
  • Dynamic Coalition for Online Education

[edit] Workshops

In 2007, IGF hosted a number of workshops [12] which attracted great interest of the public. In particular, the theme of child protection was one of the topics that raised much participation.

For 2008 the IGF page stipulates that workshops[13] 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[14]. These proposals will be reviewed, an attempt will be made to merge propositions into a manageable number of workshops.

Number Proposed Workshop Theme
15
 Access
9
 Diversity
15
 Openness
21
 Security
13
 Critical Internet Resources
9
 Development
6
 Capacity Building
17
 Other

[edit] Future IGF Meetings

2008 The third IGF meeting will be held in Hyderabad, India from 3-6 December 2008. [15]
2009 The Government of Egypt offered to host the 2009 IGF meeting.
2010 The Governments of Lithuania and Azerbaijan have made bids for the 2010 meeting.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
  2. ^ Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, para 72
  3. ^ Press Release By the UN
  4. ^ Press Release by the UN
  5. ^ List of Advisory Group Members
  6. ^ List of Advisory Group Members
  7. ^ Press Release By The UN
  8. ^ List of Advisory Group Members
  9. ^ www.intgovforum.org
  10. ^ About
  11. ^ http://www.wgig.org/about.html
  12. ^ Argentina´s Forum Proposal in WSIS
  13. ^ Mandate
  14. ^ Dynamic Coalitions

[edit] External links

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