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History of the WGIG

The Internet Governance Forum is an outcome of the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society, which took place in 2005. In the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, Governments asked the United Nations Secretary-General to convene a new forum for policy dialogue to discuss issues related to key elements of Internet governance in order to foster the Internet's sustainability, robustness, security, stability, and development.

The Internet Governance Forum is not a decision-making body, but a space for dialogue for all those involved to discuss Internet governance issues, where all participants attend as equals. There will be no negotiated outcome, but the meeting will seek to create an open and inclusive dialogue among all participants on public policy issues relating to the Internet and create new dynamics between participating institutions.

APNIC's IGF involvement

APNIC:

  • Is an active supporter of the WSIS and IGF processes and supports the activities of the IGF 2008. For more information about APNIC's Internet Governance activities, please refer to the following information.
  • Has been involved with Internet Governance since its inception, has actively participated in the WSIS and IGF processes, and has taken part in PrepCom and intersessional meetings in addition to the WSIS, WGIG, and IGF meetings.
  • Supports the Internet Governance Forum's (IGF's) work to facilitate discussions on matters affecting multiple stakeholder groups and to provide an open forum that addresses emerging issues.
  • Encourages all stakeholders to work together during IGF 2008 and in the future to support the continued growth, security, and stability of the Internet.

WGIG The Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) was set up by the Secretary-General of the United Nations in accordance with the mandate given to him by the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held in Geneva, on 1012 December 2003. The WGIG comprised 40 members from governments, the private sector, and civil society who all participated on an equal footing and in their personal capacity. It was chaired by Mr Nitin Desai, Special Advisor to the Secretary-General for the WSIS.

For more information, see:

The first WGIG meeting

News item: On 11 November 2004, Secretary-General Kofi Annan of the United Nations announced the formation of a Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) to prepare for the second phase of WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society), which was held in Tunisia in November 2005.

The purpose of the group was to develop a working definition of Internet Governance, to develop a common understanding about the roles and responsibilities of participants in Internet governance, and to identify public policy issues relevant to Internet governance.

The Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) was chaired by Nitin Desai, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General for the World Summit, and included 40 members from around the world representing a diverse range of stakeholders, including governments, the private sector, international organizations, and civil society.

The RIRs were represented by Raúl Echeberría, the Executive Director of LACNIC, the RIR for Latin America and the Caribbean, who was selected as one of the members of WGIG. The Asia Pacific community was represented by the following WGIG members:

  • Peng Hwa Ang, Dean, School of Communication, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
  • Kangsik Cheon, Chief Operating Officer, International Business Development, Netpia, Seoul
  • Dev Erriah, Chairman, ICT Authority of Mauritius
  • Qiheng Hu, Adviser, Science and Technology Commission, Ministry of Information Industry, China; former Vice-President, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Rajashekar Ramaraj, Managing Director, Sify Limited, Chennai
  • Masaaki Sakamaki, Director, Computer Communications Division, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan
  • Joseph Sarr, President, NTIC Commission, Dakar Regional Council

The Working Group submitted a report on its findings to the Secretary-General in July 2005, which was made available to the WSIS second phase in Tunis.

Second WGIG meeting

The second meeting was held 14-18 February 2005. The NRO presented a response to the WGIGs Draft issue paper on the administration of Internet names and IP addresses.

Fourth WGIG meeting

The fourth meeting was held 14-17 June 2005. The Number Resource Organization (NRO) presented a statement on the question of Internet technical coordination.

WGIG releases report on Internet governance

On July 18, the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) officially released the "Report of the Working Group on Internet Governance". The WGIG was established in December 2004 to develop a working definition of Internet governance, identify the public policy issues relevant to Internet governance, and develop an understanding of the roles of the various actors in Internet governance. The recently released report, presented to the United Nations Secretary-General, summarises the WGIG's work on these issues:

APNIC has reformatted the transcripts of the presentation of the report in Geneva to aid readability:

Workshop on Internet Governance at the national level

A one-day workshop was held on 19 July in Geneva to focus on national policies related to Internet governance and highlight the importance of a coordinated approach at the national level.

Responses to the WGIG report

Following the report's publication, there were a number of responses to the report:

Summaries of the responses to the WGIG report

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