The Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) concluded its first meeting in Geneva by highlighting a proposal presented by Mr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Vice-Chair of United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force (UN ICT TF), which he presented at UN ICT TF Forum in Berlin November 19, 2004.
"The issues listed in the proposal on Promoting Enabling Environment for Digital Development were used as a base for the WGIG members during their meeting on Internet Governance," according to Mr. Charles Sha'ban, Executive Director of Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP) Regional Office.
The Working Group has a tremendous responsibility which includes developing a working definition of Internet Governance; identifying public policy issues and developing a common understanding of the respective roles of governments, international organizations, private sector and civil society from both developing and developed countries.
During the course of the sessions, which were held November 23 - 25 in both private and open formats, the Working Group considered organizational issues, such as the agenda for its activities, the structure and outline of its report, the scope of its work and its priorities.
In addition to the definition of the Internet and Internet Governance; the meeting tackled the current situation, including the main players and their functions, and current Internet Governance mechanisms; the major public policy issues and priorities; future developments and scenarios, both technological and policy/regulatory; and proposals for action.
Mr. Sha'ban, who has been selected to the UN WGIG, is among the six candidates who were chosen to represent the Business sector.
The 40 members of the Working Group, appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on November 11, 2004, were chosen in their personal capacity from the different stakeholders - governments, private sector and civil society- to represent all regions. The WGIG Chairman, Nitin Desai, is Special Advisor to the Secretary General for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
As requested by the first phase of the World Summit, held in Geneva in December 2003, the Working Group will make proposals on the Internet Governance in a report to be considered at the Tunis phase of the Summit in November 2005. The Group is expected to submit its final report to the Secretary-General in July 2005.
The Working Group agreed on a timeline for meetings, the next one taking place February 14 - 16, 2005 in Geneva, back-to-back with the second meeting of the Preparatory Committee for WSIS (February 17 - 25, 2005). A preliminary report will be presented to the Preparatory Meeting II. Another three-day meeting will take place in April 2005 followed by a final longer meeting in June 2005 to draft the final report.
For more information on the WGIG meeting and for full list of WGIG members, please refer to:
www.wgig.org