[Chapter-delegates] IGov: Engaging global communities to strengthen Internet governance

[Lynn St.Amour]

Dear Chapter Delegates,

This update on Internet Governance issues is intended to share 
background with and invite comment from the Internet Society community 
on how we might strengthen the Internet governance model central to the 
Internet's success.

Of course, as always, I encourage and look forward to input more 
broadly, so I welcome input from anyone who shares our vision for an 
open and global Internet, and a vibrant and engaged community to support 
it. I have posted this note on our blog with additional links--please 
share your comments there:

http://www.internetsociety.org/blog/2013/11/engaging-global-communities-strengthen-internet-governance

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, there have been many 
developments since the Montevideo statement, in which I* leaders agreed 
to catalyze community-wide efforts towards the evolution of global 
multistakeholder cooperation.

As the community's discussion and the pace of developments continue to 
accelerate, including at the Buenos Aires ICANN meeting, now is an 
opportune time to consider opportunities for moving forward.

The path to where we are today

Shortly after the I* CEO's met in Montevideo, a meeting in Brazil on 
Internet governance emerged--and was confirmed this week for Sao Paulo 
on 23-24 April 2014. At the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) last month, 
numerous meetings were held with individuals from Industry, Civil 
Society, governments, I*, and others in order to assess what might be 
done to catalyze cooperation in evolving, and strengthening 
multistakeholder Internet governance arrangements. Since then, a mailing 
list has been launched at 1Net (http://www.1net.org). This has sparked 
further discussion in many communities about what, exactly, 1Net ought 
to be.

Opportunities for moving forward

And, this is where we all play a role, as our collective experiences can 
inform that exploration. Speaking personally, fostering successful 
multistakeholder engagement and dialogue requires broad engagement, and 
it takes time. The result of this shared investment of time and effort 
are sustainable efforts that effect real and positive differences for 
the Internet and in the world.

For example, our experience with the World Summit on the Information 
Society (WSIS), the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) and, of 
course, the IGF provides an important perspective. The Internet Society 
was asked to participate, and was represented by Daniel Kaplan from the 
French Chapter, in the initial discussions in 2001 that led to WSIS and 
ultimately the IGF. For the past seven years, the IGF has been a key 
forum for bringing people together. Today, the IGF encompasses not only 
the global meeting, but also regional IGF events around the world. The 
breadth of the community the IGF convenes around Internet governance is 
remarkable.

The Internet Society itself has grown and evolved significantly over the 
past two decades. In fact, we just welcomed the Paraguay Chapter of the 
Internet Society as our 100th Chapter, and we now have nearly 150 
Organization Members. Together our members and Chapters are very active 
in policy and development as well as technical matters at local, 
regional, and global levels. Together, we have all done amazing work to 
build and strengthen the open, global Internet. Their work, and the work 
of organizations throughout the Internet ecosystem, has informed a 
framework that provides a way to understand and highlight the 
distributed, collaborative stewardship that is the hallmark of the 
Internet's success, and how the challenges it faces are addressed.

You might ask, as 1Net is to be a dialogue on global Internet 
governance, does it stand alone? Does it work alongside or through the 
IGF and related processes? Or, you may be wondering how 1Net and 
Internet Society fit together?

Whatever you believe, we would like to have a discussion here, as ISOC 
Members, in order to inform the 1Net evolution. How can we, as a 
community, best strengthen Internet Governance cooperation across the 
world, for all?

Of course, we are all invited to participate in the 1Net discussion 
directly.

All of us in the Internet Society, look forward to hearing your 
thoughts, so please do share them.

Best regards,

Lynn