(MEDIA) IGF 2009 Highlights - Sunday, 15 November 09
(MEDIA) IGF 2009 Highlights - Sunday, 15 November 09
(MEDIA) IGF 2009 Highlights - Sunday, 15 November 09
Sharm el-Sheikh
HIGHLIGHTS
Sunday, 15 November 2009
• The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) officially opened in Sharm el-Sheikh today
where more than 1,500 participants government, international organizations,
private sector, civil society, academics, the technical community to explore ways
on how the Internet can be used to its full potential for the benefit of all people.
• Built around the main theme of "Creating opportunities for all", this year's
meeting will aim at developing a common understanding of how to maximize the
opportunities the Internet offers for all nations and peoples, and raising
awareness on the development dimension of Internet governance. It will also
focus, among others, on the emerging issue of social networks, and the more
traditional issues of security, diversity, openness and critical Internet resources.
• The fourth gathering of the IGF, which will end this Wednesday, will also discuss
the issue of the extension of the five year initial mandate, which will conclude at
the end of 2010. In this regard, several speakers today supported the
continuation of this mechanism.
• Mr. Sha said this year's overarching theme –Internet Governance: Creating an
opportunity for all” – was timely and appropriate. It would allow reflection on the
main themes of the IGF – access, diversity, openness, security and critical
Internet resources. Mr. Sha also stressed that though the digital divide was wide
– with Africa and Arab States lagging behind Europe, Asia and the Americas –
gains were being made. By 2009, the number of people connecting in developing
countries had expanded by an impressive 475 million to 17.5%. In this dialogue
on Internet governance, the voice of developing countries must be heard. Good
and democratic Internet governance was a means of achieving development for
all. The Internet was a powerful tool that would help reach the Millennium
Development Goals and improve the lives of millions. With its overarching
development perspective and crosscutting priority of capacity building, the IGF
fully complemented one of the United Nations' central mandates, to promote
higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and
social progress and development.
• Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said that, four years after the creation of
the Forum, great progress had been realized: the Forum was a valuable space for
continuous education on the prospects of the Internet and the global cyberspace.
The knowledge generated by the IGF would be used as precious learning tools for
the young generations, and the Prime Minister said he saw the continuation of
this Forum as a real priority. Through the process of regular evaluations, the
international community would be able to expand and administer the global
cyberspace in forums that mirror aspirations for freedom of access, usage, and
expression, as well as equality of opportunity in education and research
allocation.
• Turning to the situation in Egypt, the Prime Minister said Internet penetration
rose to almost 20% with over 15 million users in 2009, turning the Internet into a
real tool of empowerment. He also underlined that Egypt had succeeded in
maintaining growth during the crisis and that a substantial component of the
country's banking reform program aimed at capacity building and increased
utilization of ICT.
• Tim Berners-Lee, Father of the World Wide Web, and Director of World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C), also made a keynote statement, during which he officially
launched the World Wide Web Foundation, an international, non-profit
organization that strives to advance the Web as a medium that empowers
people. Jerry Yang, Co-Founder and Chief Yahoo!, also made a statement
highlighting the rapid expansion of the Internet and of its uses.
• Speaking in the high level session that followed the opening meeting, were Moritz
Leuenberger, Swiss Minister for Environment, Transport, Energy and
Communication, and Jozsef Györöks, State Secretary, Ministry of Higher
Education, Science and Technology, Slovenia, both representing the
Slovenian/Swiss Chair of the Council of Europe; Pedro Sebastiao Teta, Vice
Minister, Information and Communications Technology, Angola; Åsa Torstensson,
Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Communications, Sweden, Representing the
EU Presidency; Augusto Gadelha, Vice Minister of Science & Technology, Brazil;
Philip Verveer, United States Coordinator, International Communications and
Information Policy, United States Department of State; and Nathalie Kosciusko-
Morizet, Secretary of State for Prospective and the Development of the Digital
Economy, France.
• Government representatives agreed that the IGF should continue to meet beyond
the 2010 meeting in Vilnius, stressing that IGF had proven its usefulness.
• Also speaking this afternoon were Lisa Horner, Global Partners tld, United
Kingdom; Subramanian Ramadorai, Vice-Chairman of Tata Consultancy Services
Ltd, TATA, Charman, ICC-BASIS, India; Viviane Reding, European Commissioner
for ICT and Media; Jean Rozwadowski, Secretary General, International Chamber
of Commerce (ICC); Abdul Waheed Khan, Assistant Director-General for
Communication and Information, UNESCO; Lynn St. Amour, President & CEO,
Internet Society (ISOC); Nitin Desai, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on
Internet Governance.
• The President and CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN), Rod Beckstrom, drew attention to the recent agreement
between ICANN and the US administration, which provided for greater
transparency on the international level, adding: "Because of you, things have
changed".
• The IGF will also discuss in Sharm el-Sheikh the desirability of continuation of the
forum and Mr. Sha said he would report to the Secretary-General for him to
submit recommendations to the UN membership next year. He noted the
position of Egypt in this respect was made loud and clear by the Prime Minister
this afternoon and said this important position of Egypt would be reflected in his
report. After hearing statements today, he believed the IGF still had a lot of work
ahead of it.
• During an orientation session held this morning, M. Kummer said IGF did not have
"the power to take decisions", but had "the power to put issues on the agenda of
international cooperation". It was stressed by speakers that the IGF was the only
forum paving the way for the involvement for all stakeholders in the Internet
governance process and establish a productive dialogue between all parties
involved, interacting on an equal footing and respecting the perspectives and the
role of each. Speakers agreed that discussion forum was, indeed, the proper
format for significant impact in Internet governance.
• The impact of IGF in capacity building was also stressed, including its role for
fostering inclusive participation and in the democratisation of education.
International organizations, including ITU, UNESCO, World Bank, have trained
many people in Internet governance issues, including infrastructure and
multilingualism. International organizations such as ICANN have also trained a
large number of people. Internet society is one of the most prominent players in
capacity building, especially on the national level.
• At the start of the day, the IGF held a minute of silence in memory of Francis
Muguet -- a leading figure of the open source community closely associated from
the start with the Internet governance process -- who died on 4 October.
• A panel on regional initiatives was also held this morning, bringing together
different regional experiences, as they emerged from various regional and
national meetings.
A full text of the statements can be found on the IGF website at www.intgovforum.org -- scroll
down to "transcripts".