ICANN : Global Panel Announces New Approach to Managing Future of the Internet

The Panel on Global Internet Cooperation and Governance Mechanisms today released key recommendations on how to evolve the Internet governance (IG) ecosystem to accommodate global needs for collaboration, interconnectivity and Internet growth.

The report also presents a roadmap and timeline for the future management of the Internet.

The report follows the Panel’s third and final meeting, hosted by the World Economic Forum in Dubai on 4-5 May. It adopts the IG principles established at NETmundial, the recent Global Multistakeholder Meeting on the Future of Internet Governance in São Paulo, Brazil. The Panel believes these principles— human rights, culture and linguistic diversity, security and stability, and open unfragmented space, among others—are fundamental to implementing a 21st century model of Internet governance.

“It has been an honor to serve is the chair of this distinguished Panel, representing a diverse group of global stakeholders from government, civil society, the private sector, the technical community and international organizations,” said Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of Estonia and chairman of the Panel. “We intend for the Panel’s work to contribute to the global discussion on how to preserve freedom of expression of the Internet.”

For the past six months, the Panel has worked to characterize key components for promoting a collaborative, decentralized IG ecosystem—one that can effectively meet the burgeoning needs and interests of Internet users globally, while ensuring networks’ security and stability. The Panel identified needed Enablers—including forums and dialogues, expert communities and toolkits—to foster communication, legitimacy and effectiveness throughout the IG process, which the Panel defined in four elements: issue identification, solution mapping, solution formulation and solution implementation.

 

“The Internet is an indispensable resource for its 3 billion users all around the world. Ensuring that it remains open and interoperable and that decision-making processes are carried out with the involvement of all stakeholders is critical to the future of the Internet and its continued success,” said Vint Cerf, vice-chair of the Panel.

“There is broad interest in how the Internet will be governed and by whom,” said ICANN’s President and CEO Fadi Chehadé. “The discussions at NETmundial reaffirmed the support and desire for a multistakeholder model of governance and served as an inspiration for the Panel’s recommendations.”

To achieve a collaborative, decentralized IG ecosystem, the Panel recommends next steps mapped against a three-year timeline that include coalescing and supporting broad multistakeholder alliances; developing new and strengthening existing IG mechanisms; and progressing collaborative decision-making. Recognizing the evolving IG dialogue and process, the Panel also identified specific additional questions that will need answers moving forward, and encouraged the global community to weigh in with its responses.

The Panel was convened by ICANN and the World Economic Forum (WEF), with assistance from The Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands. It met during a series of virtual and in-person meetings between November 2013 to May 2014 in London, Rancho Mirage, Calif., and Dubai. The Panel encourages the global community to refine its roadmap through ongoing discussions and forums, including the upcoming Global Commission on Internet Governance.

This announcement was sourced from :

https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-fb-2014-05-20-en