Internet Governance Forum 2008 To Focus On 'Internet For All'

The world’s largest Internet congregation formed by the United Nations Secretary-General – Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in alliance with Department of Information Technology (DIT), National Internet exchange of India (NIXI) – supported by ISPAI and major corporates like Sify, BSNL, Tata Communications and STPI is set to begin its third meeting from December 3 – 6 at The Hyderabad International Conference Centre (HICC), Hyderabad.

IGF’s galaxy of speakers includes representatives of the government, private sector, civil societies, academia, Internet communities and International organisations. The proposed theme for deliberation – ‘Internet for All’ charts out an ambitious and inclusive growth path for Internet.

With over 1400 participants from more than 100 countries expected to attend, IGF will facilitate dialogue between various stakeholders on five main themes - reaching the next billion; promoting cyber-security and trust; managing critical Internet resources; taking stock and the way forward; and emerging issues – the Internet of tomorrow. The forum will address the issues concerning Internet and how it can act as a fuel for the country’s growth generating tremendous socio-economic benefits.

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IGF will host panel discussions and workshops on several Internet related issues, such as Internet accessibility for people with disabilities; freedom of expression in cyberspace; online privacy; mainstreaming human rights in the work of the IGF; effective digital education; Internet as a goal of national information policy; public participation in Internet governance; child protection; global measures to fight cyber-crime; and environmental sustainability of the Internet; as well as workshops on technical issues. For details on the session and issues please visit http://www.intgovforum.org.

Best practice forums will concentrate on child online protection; international co-operation against cyber-crime; Internet governance capacity building; delivering public service and innovation; equal access and equal opportunity; and self regulatory approaches to data security and privacy.

Several initiatives emerged from the Forum’s two previous meetings in the form of ‘Dynamic Coalitions’ – partnerships dealing with specific issues. In Hyderabad, Dynamic Coalition meetings will cover accessibility and disability, child online safety, access to knowledge, linguistic diversity, freedom of expression and the media, privacy, and an ‘Internet Bill of Rights’.

The two previous meetings of the Forum were held in Athens in November 2006 and in Rio de Janeiro in November 2007. In essence, the forum will seek to open an inclusive dialogue among all participants on public policy issues relating to the Internet and create new dynamics between participating institutions and move faster towards the objective of ‘Internet for All’.

An interesting aspect of this meeting in Hyderabad is Remote Participation Project, whereby various Remote Hubs across the world will also be able to participate in the meeting in Hyderabad, by using software called DimDim, partially developed in Hyderabad. NIXI has sponsored this project.