INTERNET GOVERNANCE FORUM TO MEET IN RIO DE JANEIRO

From:

 

CENTRO DE INFORMAÇÃO UNITED NATIONS

DAS NAÇÕES UNIDAS INFORMATION CENTRE

INTERNET GOVERNANCE FORUM TO MEET IN RIO DE JANEIRO

FROM 12 TO 15 NOVEMBER

 

UNITED NATIONS, 10 September 2007 – Representatives of government, the private sector, nongovernmental

organizations, the Internet community and the media will converge in Rio de Janeiro for the

second meeting of the Internet Governance Forum, to be held from 12 to 15 November.

 

The conference, to be held at Windsor Barra Hotel, will focus on the overall issue of “Internet Governance

for Development”. Five main themes will be addressed – access, diversity, openness, security and critical

Internet resources.

 

Some 2,000 participants from more than 100 countries are expected to attend. In addition to plenary

sessions, there will be open meetings and thematic workshops to discuss specific issues and share best

practices.

 

The Internet Governance Forum is not a decision-making body, but a space for dialogue for all those

involved to discuss Internet governance issues. There will be no negotiated outcome, but the meeting will

seek to create a dialogue among all participants on public policy issues relating to the Internet and create

new dynamics between participating institutions.

 

The first Forum meeting in Athens last November saw the creation of a number of “Dynamic Coalitions” of

participants from governments, the private sector and civil society to address issues such as open

standards, spam, access, freedom of expression, privacy, digital identity and a proposed “Internet Bill of

Rights”. The meeting in Rio de Janeiro will allow members of these coalitions to collaborate further on

common concerns.

 

Hadil da Rocha Vianna, Director for Scientific and Technological Affairs in Brazil’s Ministry of External

Relations, has been appointed co-chair of the Advisory Group for the Internet Governance Forum, which

will assist in preparing for the Rio de Janeiro meeting. The other co-chair is Nitin Desai, the United

Nations Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for Internet Governance.

 

The 47 members of the Advisory Group, who serve in their personal capacity, come from government, the

private sector and civil society, including the academic and technical communities, representing all

regions (see list of members at http://www.intgovforum.org/ADG_members.htm).

 

A round of open consultations held in Geneva in May showed broad support for keeping the four themes

discussed in Athens – access, diversity, openness and security – and for adding the theme of critical

Internet resources. Participants agreed that the Rio de Janeiro Forum should retain the overall theme of

“Internet Governance for Development”.

 

The main themes to be discussed cover the gamut of the functioning of the Internet. The theme of access

includes infrastructure, connectivity and the role of government and the private sector to improve access

by all. Issues of diversity and openness cover promoting local content, cultural diversity and the number

of languages used on the Internet.

 

Security means among other things cyber-security, the safety of the Internet and the fight against

cybercrime. “Critical Internet resources” covers issues relating to infrastructure and the management of

key Internet resources, including administration of the domain name system and Internet protocol (IP)

addresses, administration of the root server system, technical standards, peering and interconnection,

and telecommunications infrastructure.

 

The Forum will hold its 2008 session in India and its 2009 session in Egypt.

 

Journalists interested in attending the Forum should register at http://intgovforum.org/register/index.php

For further information, please visit http://www.intgovforum.org and http://www.igfbrazil2007.br.

Contacts:

In Rio de Janeiro,

Valeria Schilling at the United Nations Information Centre,

Tel. 21 2253 2211, valeria@unicrio.org.br.

In Geneva,

Rolando Gomez at the United Nations Information Service,

+41 (0)22 917 23 26, rgomez@unog.ch.

In New York, Edoardo Bellando at the United Nations Department of Public Information,

Tel. 1-212-963-8275, bellando@un.org.