[Telecentres] WGIG press release

[Andy Carvin]

The UN has put out a press release on the selection of the working group 
on Internet governance; see below. Please note that one of our 
telecentres caucus colleagues, Jacqueline Morris, is on the committee. 
Congratulations! -ac


UNITED NATIONS ESTABLISHES WORKING GROUP ON INTERNET GOVERNANCE

NEW YORK, 11 November (Working Group on Internet Governance) -- 
Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced today the establishment of the 
Working Group on Internet Governance.  The Working Group will prepare 
the ground for a decision on this issue by the second phase of the World 
Summit on the Information Society, to be held in Tunis in November 2005.



The Secretary-General was requested to establish a working group on 
Internet governance by the first phase of the World Summit on the 
Information Society held in Geneva in December 2003.  The task of this 
Working Group is to organize an open dialogue on Internet Governance, 
among all stakeholders, and to bring recommendations on this subject to 
the second phase of the Summit.



The two documents adopted by the Geneva Summit -- the Declaration of 
Principles and the Plan of Action -- asked the Working Group “to 
investigate and make proposals for action, as appropriate, on the 
governance of the Internet by 2005”.  The Group was requested to:



-- Develop a working definition of Internet governance;



-- Identify the public policy issues that are relevant to Internet 
governance; and



-- Develop a common understanding of the respective roles and 
responsibilities of governments, international organizations and other 
forums, as well as the private sector and civil society from both 
developing and developed countries.



The Working Group on Internet Governance will be chaired by Nitin Desai, 
Special Adviser to the Secretary-General for the World Summit.  It 
includes 40 members from governments, private sector and civil society, 
representing all regions (see the list below).



“The Working Group is not a negotiating forum”, said Mr. Desai.  “Its 
purpose is to facilitate the negotiations that will take place in 
Tunis.  We come into this process as facilitators, and will strive to 
establish a dialogue of good faith among all participants.”



The two Summit documents call for an “open and inclusive” process and “a 
mechanism for the full and active participation of governments, the 
private sector and civil society from both developing and developed 
countries, involving relevant intergovernmental and international 
organizations and forums”.  On the basis of these guidelines, the 
Working Group will hold regular consultations and will seek to make the 
best possible use of electronic working methods, including online 
consultations.



The first meeting of the Working Group is scheduled to take place in 
Geneva from 23 to 25 November.  On 24 November, the meeting will be held 
in an open format, allowing all governments and other stakeholders to 
interact with the Working Group.



“There is a general convergence of views on the need to treat Internet 
governance from a broad perspective and to build on what has been done 
elsewhere”, said Markus Kummer, Executive Coordinator of the United 
Nations secretariat of the Working Group.  “Issues that we expect to 
address include the management of Internet resources, network security, 
cyber-crime, spam and multilingualism.”



The report of the Working Group is expected to be submitted to the 
Secretary-General in July 2005 and will be made available to the WSIS 
second phase in Tunis.



Contact:  in New York, Edoardo Bellando, tel.:  (212) 963-8275, e-mail:  
bellando at un.org; in Geneva, Markus Kummer, tel.:  +41 0 22 917 54 88, 
e-mail:  mkummer at unog.ch.  Web sites:  www.wgig.org and www.un-wgig.org.



List of Members



Chairman:  Nitin Desai.



Members:



-- Abdullah Al-Darrab, Deputy Governor of Technical Affairs, ICT 
Commission of Saudi Arabia;



-- Carlos Alfonso, Technical Director, RIT, Rio de Janeiro;



-- Peng Hwa Ang, Dean, School of Communication, Nanyang Technological 
University, Singapore;



-- Karen Banks, Director, GreenNet, Association for Progressive 
Communications, London;



-- Faryel Beji, President and CEO, Tunisian Internet Agency;



-- Vittorio Bertola, ICANN at-large Advisory Committee, Turin;



-- José Alexandre Bicalho, Member, Brazilian Internet Steering 
Committee; Advisor, Board of Directors, National Telecommunications 
Agency (Anatel);



-- Kangsik Cheon, Chief Operating Officer, International Business 
Development, Netpia, Seoul;



-- Trevor Clarke, Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United 
Nations in Geneva;



-- Avri Doria, Technical Consultant, Providence, Rhode Island;



-- William Drake, Senior Associate, International Centre for Trade and 
Sustainable Development, Geneva; Chairman, Computer Professionals for 
Social Responsibility;



-- Raúl Echeberría, Executive Director, LACNIC, Montevideo;



-- Dev Erriah, Chairman, ICT Authority of Mauritius;



-- Baher Esmat, Telecom Planning Manager, Ministry of Communications and 
Information Technology, Egypt;



-- Mark Esseboom, Director, Strategy and International Affairs, 
Directorate General for Telecom and Post, Ministry of Economic Affairs, 
the Netherlands;



-- Juan Fernandez, Coordinator, Commission of Electronic Commerce, Cuba;



-- Ayesha Hassan, Senior Policy Manager for E-Business, IT and Telecoms, 
International Chamber of Commerce, Paris;



-- Qiheng Hu, Adviser, Science and Technology Commission, Ministry of 
Information Industry, China; former Vice-President, ChineseAcademy of 
Sciences;



-- Willy Jensen, Director, Norwegian Post and Telecom Authority;



-- Wolfgang Kleinwächter, Professor, International Communication Policy 
and Regulation, University of Aarhus;



-- Jovan Kurbalija, Director, DiploFoundation, Geneva;



-- Iosif Charles Legrand, Researcher, California Institute of Technology 
and CERN, Geneva;



-- Donald MacLean, Director, MacLean Consulting, Ottawa;



-- Allen Miller, Executive Director, World Information Technology and 
Services Alliance, Arlington, Virginia;



-- Juan Carlos Moreno Solines, Executive Director, Gobierno Digital, Quito;



-- Jacqueline A. Morris, Consultant, Port of Spain;



-- Olivier Nana Nzépa, Coordinator, Africa Civil Society, Yaoundé;



-- Alejandro Pisanty, Director, Computing Academic Services, Universidad 
Autonoma de Mexico;



-- Khalilullah Qazi, Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the United Nations 
in Geneva;



-- Rajashekar Ramaraj, Managing Director, Sify Limited, Chennai;



-- Masaaki Sakamaki, Director, Computer Communications Division, 
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan;



-- Joseph Sarr, President, NTIC Commission, Dakar Regional Council;



-- Peimann Seadat, Permanent Mission of Iran to the United Nations in 
Geneva;



-- Charles Sha’ban, IT Manager, Talal Abu- Ghazaleh International, Amman;



-- Lyndall Shope-Mafole, Chairperson, Presidential National Commission 
on Information Society and Development, South Africa;



-- Waudo Siganga, Chairman, Computer Society of Kenya;



-- Mikhail Vladimirovich Yakushev, Director, Legal Support Department, 
Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, Russian Federation;



-- Peter Zangl, Deputy Director-General, Information Society Directorate 
General, European Commission, Brussels; and



-- Jean-Paul Zens, Director, Media and Telecom Department, Ministry of 
State, Luxembourg.



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Andy Carvin
Program Director
EDC Center for Media & Community
acarvin @ edc . org
http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org
Blog: http://www.andycarvin.com
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