Global Business Presses for IGF Renewal As Nations, Regions Adopt its Model
The top priority for the Internet Governance Forum now is its own continuation, said Cisco Senior Director of Strategic Technology Policy Art Reilly in an interview Friday. The IGF, which holds its fifth meeting September 14-17 in Vilnius, Lithuania, has a five-year mandate which ends next year, and the International Chamber of Commerce, which Reilly represents there, wants it to carry on, he said. Other key issues are Internet resources, security/privacy and, for the first time, cloud computing, he said. Meanwhile, the IGF model is successfully spreading to the local and regional level, said Marilyn Cade, a longtime participant in ICANN and Internet governance activities.
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The ICC created Business Action to Support the Information Society, a mechanism to enable the global business community to take part in the activities and processes arising from the World Summit on the Information Society, Reilly said. BASIS identifies issues likely to come up at IGF meetings, polls business sector views and represents its collective interests, he said. It also publishes position papers on key issues, he said.
Three major, and intertwined, topics are security, privacy and lawful interceptions of communications, Reilly said. The ICC has just updated its best practices and recommendations on a broad range of Internet and information and communication technologies issues, including a new section on legal interception, he said. The intercept recommendations came at the request of several developing countries who, as more Internet networks roll out, are becoming interested in the issues, he said. The business sector wants to ensure that any regulations enacted are clear, practical and don’t impose unnecessary costs on communications services providers and consumers, he said.
Lawful interception is connected to privacy and security issues, Reilly said. Businesses are clearly concerned about cybercrime and other security issues but also about privacy, which affects consumer confidence and human rights, he said. Some privacy requirements can pose security challenges, such as rules that ban interception or allow users to evade it through encryption, he said. There are special cases, however, such as child online protection, where privacy is more important, he said.
Emerging technologies such as cloud computing may raise new Internet governance issues but they should be handled within existing IGF structures, Reilly said. From a business standpoint, it’s more appropriate to set up groups to examine new issues within the ongoing constellation of players than to create new mechanisms for each, he said. This year, cloud computing is the designated “emerging issues” theme. A workshop will look at its policy and technical aspects and begin to explore possible Internet governance considerations, the IGF said.
The IGF is likely to evolve over time, Reilly said. The business sector would like more participation by developing countries and there’s already some effort to bring that about, he said. For the Vilnius meeting, Cisco has provided licenses for remote participation in meetings, he said.
One area that doesn’t need change is the open forum IGF meetings provide for frank discussions, Reilly said. Some want the meetings to produce “output documents” -- negotiated text -- but the current process is more constructive, he said.
The effects of the IGF are being felt around the world, said Cade. “The growth and activities of the national and regional IGFs are a significant example of the positive impact of the IGF itself,” she said.
The regional and national forums are drawing information and knowledge from the IGF, tailoring it to their national concerns, and then enhancing the IGF itself, creating a “virtuous circle,” Cade said. But even more significant is the growing understanding at national level -- across governments, civil society and business -- about the IGF, she said. There are eight regional and 15 national IGFs already, including the U.S., and new initiatives are under discussion in India, New Zealand and Australia, the Pacific Islands and Canada, she said.
The Aug. 11-13 East Africa IGF focused on strengthening critical Internet resources in the region, said Alice Munyua of the Association for Progressive Communications. Issues included how to strengthen country-code top-level domains in the region, affordable broadband access, and cybercrime and cybersecurity, she said. Key challenges facing the region are how to make the EA-IGF relevant by ensuring it produces concrete results and regional certification for ICT training, she said.