The ninth annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will be held in Istanbul, Turkey on 2–5 September 2014. This year’s overall theme is “Connecting Continents for Enhanced Multistakeholder Internet Governance”.
Major developments in global internet governance have taken place since the 2013 IGF in Bali. From the first-ever UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the right to privacy in the digital age to the announcement of the U.S. government’s intention to give up its oversight over key internet domain name functions, to the historical NETmundial meeting in Brazil.
In spite of a busy year, some of the most difficult issues have not been resolved. The question of enhanced cooperation was not addressed in any definitive way by the Commission on Science and Technology for Development. A major UN report tackled mass surveillance and privacy but governments have yet to react. The U.S. government will relinquish its responsibilities over the DNS (Domain Name System), but many questions remain on what new mechanisms will be established. The NETmundial meeting in Brazil demonstrated that a multistakeholder process can produce an outcome (the NETmundial Statement and Roadmap) and advance key shared principles, including that the internet is a global resource and a critical enabler of human rights and development, which should bemanaged in the public interest. But how should these principles be operationalised? In some ways, these developments leave more questions than answers.
We expect that IGF 2014 will be a place for valuable dialogue to reflect on these developments. We also expect this IGF to be more outcome oriented than any previous IGF. Multistakeholder participation needs to evolve and so should the IGF and there is much to learn from NETmundial. Although we don’t think the IGF should be a space for negotiating text, we do encourage the IGF to adopt some of NETmundial’s innovative approaches. In line with the recommendations of the Working Group on IGF Improvements we support a more outcome oriented IGF and we are actively working to produce outputs from IGF 2014 to feed into other processes. As we indicated in our contribution to the IGF secretariat’s consultation on concrete decisions or actions that have been taken as a result of engagement at national, regional and global IGF’s, there have already been some tangible outcomes from the IGF. But in order for it to be more effective, it must have more resources and capacity. To continue its growth and development as the home of the global multistakeholder community, the UN General Assembly should renew the IGF for another 10 years not 5, and UNDESA (UN Division for Economic and Social Affairs) should ensure it has the required leadership and institutional capacity to fulfill its mandate under the Tunis Agenda.
In the document attached are APC’s priorities for IGF 2014, clustered according to the event’s sub-themes, followed by a schedule of APC activities in Istanbul.