After a short but rather intense preparatory period, NETmundial, the Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance will open today in Sao Paulo. The objective of this two days meeting is twofold: defining a set of Internet governance principles and setting up a roadmap for its future evolution.
The organization of this meeting in Brazil has been a great initiative, which Telefónica has welcomed and supported for its success. We have been quite active in the definition of the base document which will be discussed during the conference, both directly presenting our contribution and through our work with the business sector and its various associations. Moreover, Christoph Steck, Director of Public Policy & Internet at Telefónica, S.A. is member of the High Level Multistakeholder Committee as business sector representative. He has collaborated in the preparation of the conference and is having an active role in the conference, where he will also participate as panellist in the “NETmundial and the Internet Governance Ecosystem” panel on Thursday 24th.
To be attended by some 800 representatives of the different stakeholders from around the World, including a good number of governments, the conference will be opened by Dilma Rousseff, President of the Federal Republic of Brazil. As could not have been otherwise, Net Mundial is open to everyone, who can actively participate through the Internet, or by physically attending to one of the 30 remote hubs around the globe.
The already mentioned base document for discussion is known as Draft Output Document, and it comprises two main sections, the first one compiling a set of Internet Governance Principles and the second one drafting a roadmap for the future evolution of the Internet Governance Ecosystem. This document has been prepared taking into account the 188 contributions received from all stakeholders and has subsequently been opened for comments during the last week, receiving 1,370 comments from all interested parties, according to the following distribution:
The NETmundial Executive Secretariat has produced a consolidated draft of all comments received with the aim of helping participants during the discussions; the document presents some illustrative data about the consultation process and includes the modification proposals stating number of comments supporting and against such modifications.
We think the NETmundial meeting is a great opportunity to rethink the current model of Internet Governance to adapt it to the new realities of the Internet. The current multistakeholder model is a good basis for further development but it needs to evolve to be truly representative and accountable.
The primary focus in Brazil should be on establishing Principles for the Governance of the Internet, principles that must ensure that no new barriers to the growth of the Internet as a global platform for economic and social development are introduced.
International principles on privacy and security are the most urgently needed to bring back trust of Internet users. The future internationalization process of ICANN and the IANA function is also of the outmost importance as its correct application will be a sign of the new geography on the Internet, more and more centered in the developing world.
We are confident that the output of NETmundial will:
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- Respect the multilayered and global Internet Governance system
- Promote innovation and ensure interoperability of services, freedom of speech and economic sustainability of the Internet
- Preserve the open nature of the Internet and free market competition
- Help create Digital Confidence by enhancing privacy and security
We’ll put all our efforts and good will for the greatest success of the Brazilian meeting.
