Seventh Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum
6-9 November 2012, Baku, Azerbaijan
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
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The following is the output of the real-time captioning taken during the Seventh Meeting of the IGF, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Although it is largely accurate, in some cases it may be incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. It is posted as an aid to understanding the proceedings at the session, but should not be treated as an authoritative record.
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Announcer: Your Excellency, Vice Prime Minister, your Excellency, Under Secretary General, distinguished ministers, CEOs, heads of delegations, representatives of the (inaudible) society and international organisations, ladies and gentlemen, we welcome you to Baku City, the capital of Republic of Azerbaijan, where the 7th Internet Governance Forum is organised by the United Nations and hosted with the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Over 1,500 delegates from over 100 countries are gathered today in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, which is known as one of the (inaudible: audio problems). With this remark, I would like to give the floor to Mr Wu Hongbo, the United Nations Under Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs. Mr Under Secretary, the floor is yours.
WU HONGBO: Your Excellencies, Vice Prime Minister, colleagues, ladies and gentleman, colleagues and friends, on behalf of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki‑moon, allow me to welcome you all to the 7th annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum and to thank his Excellency President Aliyev, the Vice Prime Minister Sharifov, the Government and the people of Azerbaijan for hosting this event in the beautiful city of Baku. This is the first time for me to attend the IGF as Under Secretary General of the United Nations and I look forward to meeting, listening to you and learning from you throughout the forum.
As you all know, the Internet Governance Forum was convened by the United Nations Secretary General in 2006 as multi‑stakeholders forum for policy dialogue related to internet governance issues. The congregation here of all these stakeholders represents the most valuable asset of the IGF which is a dynamic discussion space where every voice has the same. The IGF is an open, inclusive and transparent forum. It welcomes governments, intergovernmental organisations, business representatives, the technical community, Civil Society organisations as well as any individual internet user who are interested in Internet Governance Forum.
Thank you for joining us here this week. A special thanks also goes to everyone participating today and throughout the week. The United Nations is committed to preserving and improving the core ideals of the IGF and its inclusive multi‑stakeholder makeup.
Year‑by‑year the IGF has gained prominence among internet governance stakeholders groups providing all with an opportunity to contribute to debate and exchange views on various internet‑related issues.
Although this is my first IGF with you, I have long been impressed by the success of this initiative. Despite extremely scarce resources, the forum has continued to grow both in prominence at a global policy‑making level and in its extent of participation and public interest around the world. The popularity of the IGF is reflected also in the growing number of regional and the national IGF initiatives around the world. In fact, the African and Arab IGFs have just had their first meetings last month in October.
The capacity‑building opportunities the forum provides are truly remarkable. Such a vast variety of stakeholders are able to learn from one another and to build long‑standing partnerships that are so crucial for development. My department, working with other UN entities, is committed to continuing and strengthening the IGF capacity‑building activities and to help provide training on the use of ICTs for development for those in need.
Let me take this opportunity to thank wholeheartedly the Multi‑stakeholders Advisory Group or the MAG, which provides extensive leadership and a guidance to this forum for several MAG members here physically or participating abroad. This is their first IGF as members of the MAG.
I welcome you all and look forward to working with you. I also thank our generous donor community whose contributions to this IGF trust fund have helped enable us to engage in capacity‑building programmes such as IGF fellowship programme.
The fund provides travel support to under represented groups and the participants from developing countries.
We look forward to your contribution in the future. This year the IGF theme as determined by the MAG is internet governance for sustainable human, economic and the social development. This theme reflects the increasing role of the internet in the evolution of the various aspects of development across all countries.
Clearly, the internet is the important tool for development. It is utilised in multiple sectors including health, education, agriculture and industry, disaster relief and environmental protection among so many others. Worldwide communications is now faster and easier than ever. Telemedicine and e‑learning are available to persons in remote areas and the mobile phone technologies are empowering millions of women in developing countries creating entrepreneurial opportunities. The use of ITCs in providing vital Government services is on the rise.
Internet penetration rate has accelerated. According to ITU, there were 2.3 billion internet users by the end of 2011. Mobile broadband reached more than 1 billion subscribers, while the use of fixed broadband was estimated at 590 million subscriptions.
While the progress is purely significant, we have a long way to go in our collective efforts to bridge the digital divide. Only a quarter of the inhabitants in the developing world were online by the end of 2011. This low number of internet users in developing countries calls for increased efforts in shaping and implementing appropriate policies to assist everyone to harness the benefit of the internet and advance sustainable development.
This is a task for all of us. The Internet Governance Forum is an important venue for raising awareness, initiating discussions, identifying ways to address digital divide and informing the policy making processes.
I invite all of you to actively take part in the discussions. Let us also use this opportunity to discuss the critical issues before this forum in the broad context of the implementation of the action plan, of the World Summit and the information society, the Rio+20 conference and the preparation for the post 2015 development agenda.
Excellencies, colleagues and friends closing wish to thank once again his Excellency President Aliyev, Vice Prime Minister Mr Sharifov and their excellent team for making this forum possible. Thank you all for being part of Internet Governance Forum. I wish you a fruitful and enjoyable week in Baku. Thank you very much.
M.C.: Thank you for your statement. I would like to give the floor to Dr Ali Abbasov, Minister of Communications and Informations Technologies to deliver the welcoming address of his Excellency, the President of Republic of Azerbaijan.
DR ALI ABBASOV: To participants of the 7th Internet Governance Forum in Baku, we are (inaudible) to welcome you, the participants of the 7th Internet Governance Forum in Baku organised by the UN and the Government of Azerbaijan. Internet is not on this space or exchange of information but it also serves as an environment that create new values and encompasses public governments, education, health, business, banking and other fields. Protection of human liberties is one of the vital activities of the modern internet network. Development of internet based media, freedom of ideas and speech on the internet and enlargement of social networks, ensuring open and transparent activity of the Government, involving citizens in governance are the new opportunities provided by the global network for people. Azerbaijan pays special attention to the development of information and communication technologies and the internet. Around 65 per cent of the population of the Republic of Azerbaijan use the internet. The most recent technology, 4G, has already been introduced in our country.
It is also important to note that Azerbaijan enjoys the freedom of the internet: internet‑based radio and TV programmes, electronic newspapers and journals, external and internal social networks have been widely spread out in Azerbaijan. Thousands of bloggers freely operate in the internet space of Azerbaijan. We welcome all the goodwill basic aspects of the internet which are aimed at developing friendly relationships among people and the nation and creating the relationships based on equal and mutual respect. I wish you good luck and success during the forum and believe that the forum will contribute to the global development. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Announcer: Thank you, Mr Minister, for sharing Mr President's welcoming address to the participants of the 7th IGF gathering. The next speaker is Dr Hamadoun Toure, Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union. Mr Secretary General, the floor is yours.
HAMADOUN TOURE: Your Excellency, Deputy Prime Minister, Excellencies Ministers, Excellency Minister Wu Hongbo Under Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, it is a great pleasure to be here with you today for the opening of the 7th annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum which is taking place here in this wonderful city of Baku alongside the 18th edition of BakuTel, the largest ICT event in the Caspian and Caucuses region.
The IGF is an excellent example of multi‑stakeholder in action. This is hardly surprising as the IGF was one of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, the WSIS, which was the most wide‑ranging, comprehensive and inclusive debate ever held on the future of the information society organised by ITU.
For the first time governments, the public sector, the private sector, intergovernmental organisations and Civil Society all worked together hand‑in‑hand for the common good. ITU remains firmly committed to the multi‑stakeholder WSIS process and has been afforded the leading manager role in terms of responsibility for the WSIS plus 10 review process following the endorsement by the United Nations Chief Executive Board of the plan of action for the overall review of the implementation of the WSIS outcomes.
I therefore look forward to welcoming you all to the next year's WSIS forum which, once again, will be the main forum for multi‑stakeholder dialogue on the future of the information society. The forum will be held in Geneva from 13 to 17 May 2013.
Distinguished colleagues, the 2013 forum coincides with the 5th World Telecommunications Policy Forum, WTPF13. This event will be of very special interest to IGF participants as the team is international internet‑related public policy matters.
The WTPF exists so that ITU membership can debate key issues in the world of ICTs in a low pressure setting. WTPF13 therefore represents a tremendous opportunity to air the issues among fellow experts and I look forward to seeing many of you there.
In July this year, ITU council agreed that all 11 stakeholders should participate in the informal group of experts that has prepared the content for the discussion at the WTPF. As a result, participation in the work of this expert group is now open to all 11 stakeholders and many ITU nonmembers, such as ICANN, Google and Paypal, to name just a few, are now actively participating in the WTPF expert group meeting.
With regards to ICANN, I would like to offer personal congratulations to Mr Fadi Chehade, the new President and CEO of ICANN. Mr Chehade is well‑known and highly respected by the ITU membership. His appointment represents a new era and I look forward to the exciting opportunities that lie ahead and all that can be achieved together and in a positive spirit of collaboration.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are now less than month away from the start of the Conference on International Telecommunications 12 which runs from 3 to 14 December in Dubai. WCIT 12 will review the international telecommunication regulations, the ITRs, which date back to 1988. The current ITRs set the stage for the mobile revolution and the information society and we are confident that the 2012 ITRs will help assure us in the knowledge society.
Simply put, WCIT 12 is about putting ICTs in the hands of all the worlds' people. It is about the free flow of information, promoting affordable and equitable access to all, including people with disabilities; the continued development of broadband, including an increased focus on energy efficiency, and combating climate change; it is about continuing investment in network, services and applications and perhaps, more importantly, in this very fast‑moving world continuing to promote a harmonious and conducive international environment that drives innovation.
Governments who implement new provisions that might be provided by updated ITRs would help to stop fraud and other crimes, but some commentators have suggested that they could also legitimise censorship and we have to be very careful about that too.
The fact is, however, that ITU Member States already have the right, as stated in Article 34 of the Constitution of ITU, to block any private telecommunication which appear dangerous to the security of a State or contrary to its laws, to public order or decency. The ITRs cannot overwrite the constitution and many authorities around the world already intervene in communications for various reasons such as preventing the circulation of pornography or extremist propaganda, racist behaviours or the promotion of genocide.
Clearly a balance must be found between protecting people's privacy and the right to communicate and protecting individuals, institutions and whole economies from criminal activities. WCIT 12 is where these fundamental issues can be openly debated in search of a solution that is acceptable to all and let me remind you that no proposal can or will be accepted if they are not agreed by consensus. This is the ITU way and have proven extraordinarily successful and durable over our long history dating back almost 150 years.
Other important barriers to connectivity that will be addressed at WCIT 12 are the serious obstacles faced by the 1 billion people with disabilities in the world today. The ICT sector needs to step up to its responsibilities in this regard and find workable solutions that fully include all people and recognise everyone's potential in our shared need to be connected.
Indeed, this right to be connected is in itself enshrined in Article 33 of ITU constitution which is directly supporting to the critical use of freedom of expression and the right to communicate.
This is parallelled in the universal declaration of Human Rights. Indeed, let me quote you Article 19 of that declaration. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. So let me be absolutely clear: WCIT 12 is not in any way going to be challenging Article 19 or indeed any other Article in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and I hope to see that in the preamble of that document.
Distinguished colleagues, concerning WCIT and the internet, you will have seen misleading stories about ITU and the United Nations taking over the internet. This is of course ridiculous. ITU continues to play its role in the reality of the internet and, as we have done since the internet's inception, for example, through ITU broker and ITU approved global standards for the critical transport layers of the internet and internet access technologies. But this does not mean that ITU want to take over the internet or control the internet. Indeed, I don't even know what that might or would really mean in practical terms.
In any case, I can tell you, I welcome again the opportunity with organisations like such as ICANN and the new leadership and fulfil our different mandates that are different but complementary for the good of human kind.
Before I close, ladies and gentlemen, let me say once again that ITU has been and will continue to be an active participant in the IGF ‑‑ we continue to be working with the stakeholders and we are pleased to be able to offer a multi‑stakeholder forum for open discussion of these and any other issues. So let's continue working together to ensure that all the world's people can benefit from equitable, affordable and safe access to the internet. I thank you very much.
[applause]
M.C.: Thank you, it is a pleasure to invite to the floor, his excellency, vice Prime Minister, Mr Vice Prime Minister, the floor is yours.
Mr Vice Prime Minister: ...
We have as the government of Azerbaijan, allow me to warmly welcome you and to wish you every success in the forum, this is the first time we are hosting such an event in Azerbaijan, this is a reflection of our accumulated knowledge and our commitment to the promotion of information technology in our country. Information and communication technologies, and internet governance are a key area of focus for us.
Thanks to the decision that was, the decisions that have been taken in this area as in particular, in the area of translation of ICTs as well as the involvement of states in governance activities and the establishment of governance structures we have moved forward with the state agenda.
The economic and social development. That results from the internet is indeed a testament to its prominent role, in this world which is rapidly globalising. The importance of this forum is of key importance because it reflects a number of key elements in internet governance.
There are a great number of participants in this forum who represent state entities as well as NGO's and other entities as well. In recent years, we have been involved in the entire range of activities involved in information and communication technologies and technologies at a modern level. We have been able to improve internet access as well as improve the facilities for its use.
We are committed to the initiative that we have launched as a government. We have also adopted a programme to guarantee access to information through an electronic government platform.
As of next year, Azerbaijan will be launching its first communication satellite which will represent new possibilities for using modern services in the region and this will include the countries of eastern Europe as well as those of central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Azerbaijan is also planning to launch an initiative at the Eurasian level for information superhighway. This will be supported by a special resolution of the General Assembly. In this way this project will respond to the needs of the region and meet the needs of some 20 countries. This will ensure rapid internet access.
We are also launching a project to improve access to all sorts of services in the region. This will enable us to ensure that each household is part of the telecommunications network and infrastructure. All of these examples are a reflection of our willingness to develop a policy that creates a space in which the internet use is easier for all.
This is part of our larger effort to develop society. Among other initiatives we are also seeking to ensure that the measures taken as part of the decade long plan are fully implemented. We are trying to create results that will resolve a number of issues that are stemming from the rapidly globalising world that we live in.
The guarantee of freedom of access to the internet at the international level and nationally are also guarantees of respect for human rights. Part of this effort involves the establishment of norms and standards and regulations and this requires a sustained effort. With regard to security in the private sector and personal data, for example, security on the internet for our children, these are just some of the issues that are of great importance.
We cannot make the internet a tool that only creates problems or that promotes Xenophobia, racism or other types of intolerance. We must rather develop principles for international co‑operation that reflect all of these global concerns. We are organising these activities in Azerbaijan, a range of activities, and we believe that these will help to develop a platform to ensure that a number of procedures are fully implemented in this globalised world.
Finally, with regard to regulation and development of internet, these are also very important. I wish all participants my best wishes for every success in this conference. We believe we have created the conditions that will ensure for constructive participation of all and that will bring results.
I would also like to ensure that you have an opportunity to get to know the ancient culture of Azerbaijan and its people as well. I hope that you return home with very positive impressions of my country and I welcome you all again here to Baku, thank you.
ANNOUNCER:.: Thank you, his Excellency Deputy Vice Prime Minister.
Ladies and gentlemen, the formal ceremony of the opening of seventh Internet Governance Forum is over. Please be seated whilst Vice Prime Minister is leaving the venue.
Now enjoy a short ten minutes presentation about the charming colours of Azerbaijan.
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Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated, please be seated. We will start our opening session.
Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated.
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Please be seated, we will start our opening session.
Now we are starting the opening session, which is expected to decorate our first day. Mr Wu Hongbo,... secretary for economic and social affairs, Dr. ... of the republic of Azerbaijan and Mr Che tang,, are welcome to take theer seats on the podium. names
Excellency Mr Wu, it is your turn to lead the opening session.
WU HONGBO: Excellencies, distinguished IGF participants, ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?
On behalf of United Nations once again, a warm welcome to the opening session. I would like to take this opportunity to thank His Excellency president alif for his insightful remarks delivered through His Excellency Minister Professor Dr. Abbasov.
My thanks also goes to His Excellency Vice Prime Minister Mr ... for being with us today and for sharing his forward looking remarks.
There is no doubt that we are holding our forum in the most appropriate country as Azerbaijan is leading the way in the region in the future of ICT.
My thanks also goes to Secretary General Mr Toure for his very important message and his continued leadership of ITU. In accordance with the customs of Internet Governance Forum, I now have the honour to invite His Excellency Professor Dr. Ali Abbasov, Minister of Communications and Information Technologies Republic of Azerbaijan to assume the chairmanship of the meeting on behalf of the country.
Your Excellency, you now have the floor, thank you.
Dr. Ali Abbasov,: Thank you Mr Secretary General it is a great pleasure for Azerbaijan and for me personally, to take the chairmanship from you and for the next three years Azerbaijan will chair and Azerbaijan will be very happy to discuss all the problems concerning the IGF internet governance with you together.
Ladies and gentlemen, first day with great pleasure, I welcome you all, guests of Azerbaijan and participants in the IGF and express the gratitude of my government to all UN officials who had a hand in the decision to hold this high level event in Baku.
Today and over the next 3 days we will be discussing very important problems of the virtual world. The online fate of nations and relationships between them may well depend on the solutions of these problems.
We all, humanity as a whole, pay great attention to the internet and related issues because the global network has become a real environment in which people live and work. Governments function, companies do business and nations interact without borders.
The main topic of our forum is to find answers to the questions of how to improve the quality of internet governance, make it democratic, effective and reliable, ensuring all rights of nations to participate in this process.
In order to be part of the global network, first of all, every country has to provide its people with quality access to the internet, with a wide range of local content and high speed international activity.
In Azerbaijan, the government attach great importance to the development of ICT and the Internet. State programmes brought us to Internet penetration of 65% and 30% broadband by the end of 2011.
With the implementation of 3G and 4G LD technologies mobile broadband is speeding up and covering the whole country. To breach the digital gap in the provinces and especially in the rural areas the has to realise a broadband strategy . At a total cost of more than 100 million USD the project will expand ICT markets giving you opportunities for private business. Demand is growing due to the government projects on e‑government, e‑health, education, expanded in private sector online activity such as e‑commerce and trade and eBay business and banking et cetera.
On the other hand, civil society is taking up internet radio and TV broadcasting e‑newspapers and magazines, online conferencing and group discussions and social networks worth spread.
The number of Facebook users alone in Azerbaijan is operating in 1 million and in terms of activity rate, for this indicator, Azerbaijan is in one of the leading countries in Asia. There are more than 20 internet television broadcasters and tens of thousands of bloggers.
No authorisation or licence is required for any activity conducted over the internet, be it media or business activity et cetera. The internet in Azerbaijan is not controlled and regulated by government.
The digital divide is, from our point of view, one of the important problems requiring our attention, especially in developing countries. To breach the digital gap in EurAsia, Azerbaijan has initiated the project, Transnational Eurasian Information superhighway, connecting Europe with the Asia Pacific and bringing them to the bridging and connectivity.
The project has been supported by the UN General Assembly. A second project on connecting Europe with the Middle East via Russia, Azerbaijan is the Europe Persia Express Gateway is under construction.
A second problem for consideration is global cyber security, internet cyber crime is covered by countries' domestic criminal codes ,including Azerbaijan, but more frequent and dangerous are cases of cross border cyber crime, when hackers from one country attack the digital resources of another. It is especially dangerous when threats are the results of internationally organised crime, unfortunately sometimes supported by governments. Therefore, we really need to work on the International Cyber Crime Treaty authorised by the UN. Also the condition of the Council of Europe on cyber crime now has 46 signatories. We need a document committing all countries to respect all people the norms of cyber security. Another important aspect of the internet are the online rights of people. We all have to make sure that online rights are respected in every country but online rights to freedom of expression are very sensitive with regard to privacy and information security and the right balance between these three concept must be ensured.
Finally, concerning technological control and governance of the internet. We have all been working on the new principles of internet governance CWSSIS helped Indonesia in the 2005.
Now the most discussed topic for IGF is the question how to modernise and internationalise internet governance but, first of all, we have to thank the US because they brought the Internet to the world. We have to thank ICANN for its long‑term efforts on internet governance and very effective democratic governance. But the internet is borderless and there will be no borders in internet governance. However, the presence of internationalisation of internet governance needs to continue without any side effects which could lead to the technological falls and organisation of violation of the work of the Internet.
From my point of view this process should be gradual and considered and working group should work closely with ICANN.
Finally, once again I should like to thank you all supporting Azerbaijan as hosts of the IGF and I hope despite the very busy agenda of the forum you will be able to get to know Azerbaijan's culture and history and all the treasures and will enjoy Azerbaijan hospitality. Thank you for your attention.
Now I would like to ask Mr Hand letie to continue the session, please.
Mr Hand letie: Thank you very much, Mr Chair. We will now proceed with the welcome remarks by representatives from all stakeholder groups. We have 19 people and we will begin with the last host country Dr Bitange Ndemo Permanent Secretary of the Republic of Kenya who unfortunately cannot be here right now because his plane was delayed so we will have Ms Alice Munyua who was the Chair of last year's meeting to come and say a few words on his behalf.
ALICE MUNYUA: Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.
It a great pleasure to be in Azerbaijan today for the 2012 IGF. Kenya had the pleasure of hosting last year's, the 6th IGF, in 2011, whose theme was internet as a catalyst for change, access, freedom and innovation. We are very pleased to have welcomed a large number of various stakeholders to Nairobi and we thank you very much for having made it into one of the most successful meetings.
We support the IGF multi‑stakeholder model and we are very proud in Kenya to have this as a very active and successful process which in our context is a successful example of enhanced co‑operation. The IGF as you all know has helped Kenya and the East Africa region to build a foundation, a multi‑stakeholder foundation. For example, the Kenya international IGF was established soon after Kenya attended the India IGF and Kenya went on to also lead the process at the regional East Africa level, what we called the East African IGF which has had a successful history of multi‑stakeholder bottom‑up internet governance discussions.
It has also helped us to implement several other initiatives including the Kenya internet exchange point which is a very good successful case study of multi‑stakeholder approach, our open data initiative, our fibre optic cable teams and others and also other mobile applications for development, among others.
So I hope that this year's IGF will provide similar benefits to all participants and to other countries in terms of understanding the multi‑stakeholder model and also being able to implement it at the national level.
I apologise that my permanent secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo is not here. He would have wished to be here and we are still expecting him to be here to share with us a little bit more of experiences we have had at the national level on implementing the multi‑stakeholder model.
I wish to thank Azerbaijan for providing this opportunity and to UN and the IGF secretariat for again providing this opportunity for the IGF to continue the great tradition of multi‑stakeholder discussions. I thank you.
(applause)
Chengetai Masango: Thank you very much, Alice. On behalf of the IGF community I would like to thank you and the people of Kenya for your kindness while hosting us for an outstanding meeting last year. Thank you.
Our next speaker is Mr Carlos Afonso, Executive Director from NUPEF. Thank you.
CARLOS ALFONSO: Your Excellencies, Mr Under Secretary General, Chairman, Minister names Ali abato have in the name of wish I salute all present authorities, ladies and gentlemen, I have been assigned the honourable task of speaking in the opening ceremony of this IGF in the name of civil society organisations, social movements and NGOs active in internet governance processes, many of them involved in these processes since the inception of WSIS nearly ten years ago, several of them collaborated with me in drafting the following statement.
We believe that the access of gatekeepers in the open global communication enabled by the internet is crucial to realise the promise of Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
To impose the restrictions, legal or otherwise, to the free flow of information is and has all been contrary to the individual Human Rights to freedom of expression. We therefore oppose efforts to create national internts or to block and filter internet access in ways that deny individuals access to applications, content and services of their choice. All attempts to deem certain forms of communication and information illegal and to restrict or block them must follow established transparent due processes of law and should not involve prior restraint.
We oppose efforts to militarise the internet or any actions that would foster a destructive and wasteful cyber arms race among governments or private actors.
We consider the covert use of exploits and malware for surveillance or attacks to be criminal, regardless of whether they are deployed by Governments, private corporations or organised criminals.
We are sceptical of efforts to subordinate the design and use of information and communication technology to national security agendas.
We believe that internet security will be achieved primarily at the operational level and that the national security and military agendas often work against rather than for users' security needs.
In the processes of policy formulation, we emphasise the need to prioritise dialogue with policy makers over their subordinated law enforcement agencies.
Global governance institutions should not be restricted to states so we welcome the additional participation and global policy making that multi‑stakeholder processes provides but we caution that multi‑stakeholder participation is not an end in itself.
Opening up global governance institutions to additional voices from Civil Society and business does not by itself ensure that individual rights are adequately protected or that the best substantive policies are developed and enforced.
In the informal spaces created by pluralist institutions it is possible that that incorporate actors can make deals contrary to the interests of Internet users. Multi‑stakeholder processes, while involving all interest groups must incorporate and institutionalise concepts of due process, separation of powers and users in a learnable, civil and political rights and governmental decision‑making or to take into account the of all participants of such pluralist processes. Let us remind ourselves that participation goes beyond representation and participation in decision‑making goes beyond just debates and dialogues. Regarding the ITR, the International Telecommunications Regulations review process to be concluded in Dubai ‑‑ and here I use the standard terminology the technical community defines to refer to the different components of the network ‑‑ we agree that the internet layer and the layers above it, transport layer and applications layer, should not be included in any way in the regulations while the free flow of internet packets should be guaranteed in the link layer in line with network neutrality in which internet packets are never touched by the operators providing the physical connectivity infrastructure. Let the internet flourish freely to the benefit of those who live at its edges, which are all of us.
Thank you.
(applause)
Chengetai Masango: Thank you very much, Carlos. As a reminder,
the speakers are given five minutes' speaking time. There's a
clock there which will chime when the speaking time is up since
we have so many speakers and we want to have time for lunch.
Thank you very much.
The next speaker on the list is Mr Sibal , Minister of Communications and Information Technology from the Republic of India.
MR SIBAL: Excellency, Minister of Communications, Ali Abbasov, Under Secretary General, Mr Wu Hongbo, UNDESA, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, the internet has evolved into a powerful, ubiquitous, empowering and liberating medium even though only a fragment of its full potential is known and has been exploited by us so far.
In its borderless cyberspace the internet provides limitless opportunities for freedom of speech and expression. Internet perhaps is the nearest approximation to the utopian world of freedom envisioned by one of our greatest poets and I quote:
"Where the mind is without fear, where the head is held high, where knowledge is free, where the world has not been broken into fragments by narrow domestic walls", internet is greatly significant for India and we believe India is greatly significant for the internet. These twin beliefs stem from two simple propositions: firstly, internet with its immense transformational potential can provide the means for sustainable and inclusive development in a country of 1.25 billion people in areas such as education, healthcare, agriculture, financial inclusion and service delivery.
Secondly, with an internet user base of over 125 million, which is likely to grow to half a billion over the next few years, and an established mobile base of 950 million, coupled with a large and talented pool of human resources, India will be a key player in the cyber world of tomorrow. In view of these two complementary and mutually reinforcing positive externalities, India is deeply committed to the free and unbridled growth in development of the internet and is determined on its own and to persuade others to exploit this tremendous opportunity. At the outset, let me state that in the true spirit of the vision outlined in the Tunis Agenda, the issues of public policy related to the internet have to be dealt with by adopting a multi‑stakeholder, democratic and transparent approach. It is my belief, and my personal belief, that the term "internet governance" is an oxymoron. Internet by its very nature cannot co‑exist with the concept of governance which relates to a system designed for dealing with the issues of the physical world. The term "governance" immediately invokes concept of those who govern and those who are governed, which have no relevance in cyberspace.
Semantics apart, what we need today is to put in place a system designed for cyberspace, a system which is collaborative, consultative, inclusive and consensual for dealing with all public policies involving the internet. Such a cyber paradigm should, to my mind, rest on four pillars that are rooted in the fundamental principles of democracy, inclusive growth, transparency and accountability.
Firstly, it should be consultative including all stakeholders in the decision‑making process. The medium of internet providers provides voice to the voiceless as never before in the history of mankind. This potential can be realised only by providing universal access and affordable devices. The digital divide must be relegated to the past. Instead, our communities must reap the benefits of the digital dividend. Such a consultative process should also factor regional and national sensitivities besides vast diversities in language and culture. Secondly, it should be evolutionary with a process evolving through a dialogue that is continuous and continuing. This is in keeping with the very nature of the internet which is multi‑dimensional, dynamic and evolving. A set of static frameworks is inappropriate for meeting the ever‑changing requirements of the internet space.
Thirdly, it should put in place a mechanism for accountability in respect of crimes committed in cyberspace such that the internet is a free and secure space for universal benefaction. A new cyber jurisprudence needs to be evolved to deal with cyber crime without being limited by political boundaries and cyber justice can be delivered in near real‑time.
Lastly, it should be duly reflective of the ground realities as to the manner of representation of stakeholders at all consultative forums. In order to deliberate on the approaches to the design and establishment of such a cyber paradigm, India recommends the constitution of a working group on enhanced co‑operation. If we put together our collective wisdom, I am sure that we will be able to soon make a transformational shift from the internet of today to the equinet of tomorrow. Thank you.
(applause)
Chengetai Masango: Thank you very much minister .
Our next speaker is Mr Denis Sverdlov, Deputy Minister
Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation.
DENIS SVERDLOV: Mr Under Secretary General of the UN, Minister, distinguished guests, distinguished participants in the forum, ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to greet you on behalf of the Government of Russian Federation.
As you know, recently Russia has become one of the leading internet powers of the world. Today in the terms of the use of users of the internet we're first in Europe and for 4G we're fourth in the world in terms of the numbers of users. We're also very actively developing Russian domain names already today we have more than 5 million Russian domain names in the internet. Of course we recognise the importance of the development of the internet because it's one of the most important levers in our economy.
We all know development of the internet increases labour productivity, increases access of small and medium enterprises to trade and many processes but we need to recognise that there are threat in the internet and we as officials who are responsible for policy, we are obliged to see those challenges, see those threats and make real efforts to counter them.
We see that different countries of the world have adopted different measures to ensuring security but we need to recognise underlying all of these measures the state is playing a leading role in promoting security working with other stakeholders with the business sector with Civil Society and with the community of experts.
Today we need to focus on three specific areas. The first is the sustainability of local segments. Today I believe that this is true for all countries of the world because of the trans‑boundary nature of the internet we need to make great effort and pay special attention to the sustainability of local segments in order to ensure the security of those system.
The second element is fighting is cyber crime. Here again because of the trans‑border nature of internet it is extremely important for us to find way of working together in order to see that the crimes recognised as crimes in the courts of particular countries should be accepted as crimes in other States too.
We need to develop an international mechanism which will allow us to pursue policy in this area of combating cyber crime.
The third area that is very important for us is the international recognition of electronic signatures. Today in Russia we are developing electronic services very quickly and we already have a large number of citizens and enterprises that have electronic signature on the basis of our standard. It very important for these electronic signatures to be recognised by other countries of the world but we need a mechanism that would allow us to exchange electronic documents with electronic signatures under local jurisdictions.
The diversity of the objectives facing us means that on our agenda we need to look at lessons learned. Our dialogue today should also have a practical purpose and we greatly expect from this forum practical results in the areas I have outlined earlier.
We need to come out with specific recommendations which we can all use so that we can apply them in all our countries so that together we can resolve these problems.
In conclusion I would like to say it should be based on a collectively collaborated on systems of measure of confidence and a multilateral consideration among all countries of the world in order to develop the global network. Thank you very much. .
Chengetai Masango: Thank you very much, .our next speaker is
Mr Eiichi Tanaka, Vice Minister for Policy Coordination
EIICHI TANAKA: Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to make the remark of the opening of the Internet Governance Forum. First of all, I would like to thank the Government of Azerbaijan for for hosting this forum. I also commend the tremendous effort of the IGF secretariat members, members and of the supporters for organising this.
As we all know the internet is a ital engine for economic growth and innovation. To sustain this internet economy I believe it is essential to protect the intellectual property, personal data and youth while ensuring freedom online. To facilitate these protective measures it becomes more important to incorporate various stakeholders in the policy making process.
Since last year, the number of smart phone users has been growing at a very high speed. On the one hand, this device makes our life more convenient; on the other hand applications of the smart phones sometimes breach users privacy.
To cope with this new problem, my ministry organised a study group with academia, about industries and consumer associations last fall and this August the group released a set of guidelines for industries to follow when they have the smart phone users personal information.
So, the guidelines are not to legally binding. The relevant industries have already started materialising them in their daily operation. Guidelines may not be the perfect solution but they are practical and promptly implementable for the relevant industries.
As the internet related technologies evolved first I believe it is essential to incorporate various stakeholders views in their policy to make it properly implemental.
It becomes also important to protect the industries, societies and ourselves from malicious use of the internet. The threat arrives via servers located in foreign countries regardless of the origin. Therefore, international co‑operation is becoming much more essential to effectively cope with the issues and to protect ourselves.
Japan has already participated in several international dialogues and in regional initiatives. These dialogues often deal with more than one topic. Further, we need legally binding internet rules. Japan's standpoint on this matter is clear, first, existing treaty should be effective online. Regarding new rules, as a treaty making process cannot run at the same speed of the evolution. We don't have enough time. Threats are coming now. We need to take joint protection measures as soon as possible based on common understandings.
IGF provides us an opportunity to have condensed discussion on the internet with various stakeholders. Japan believes [inaudible] and therefore the Asia Pacific IGF this July to get ourselves ready for this opportunity. As you know, [inaudible] IS follow up process is running towards 2015 and will be held this December.
Internet governance and cyber security are the hottest words today, therefore I believe discussion here in Baku is much more important than ever. Let's have a fruitful discussion. Thank you very much.
[applause]
Chengetai Masango: Thank you very much Mr Tanaka.
The next speaker on my list is Mr Andreas Reichhardt, Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology, Austria.
ANDREAS REICHHARDT: It is a great honour to speak at the 7th Internet Governance Forum today. I want to thank the Government of Azerbaijan most warmly for hosting this important event.
When the idea of the Internet Governance Forum was born in 2005 at the World Summit at the Internet Society by the Tunis Agenda nobody was aware that it will develop into one of the most important instruments of shaping the environment of the internet.
Since the development of the internet was mainly privately driven it was necessary to find a form of co‑operation between the different stakeholders. The aim is to combine all forces towards the development and improvement of the functioning internet infrastructure, the provision of services and the working internet policing.
The Internet Governance Forum is a perfect example of the multi‑stakeholder approach. It includes, NGO's, the industry and public forces such as international organisations and governments.
The Internet Governance Forum was not created to adopt any final acts but it became a platform to learn from each other, thus to propagate best practice all over the world. It is however important that governments in co‑operation with the respective stakeholders play an active role in promoting the internet policy to meet the requirements of a modern society.
First, there has to be a safeguard against all sorts of threats against the infrastructure, the whole world relies on. By the end of the day, governments will be asked to provide for these safeguards and, second, there has to be an imposed for increased use of the internet for public welfare, for instance, by means of e‑government.
Austria pursues both targets by maintaining an Austrian computer emergency response team and by successful efforts to implement all forms of e‑government, e‑inclusion is also is one of Austrian main targets on the ICT agenda. This also requires to role out broadband connectivity which is part of the Austrian government programming, especially mobile broadband is quite popular in Austria and partly substitutes fixed lines.
This means that broadband is available almost everywhere in Austria, even most of the rural regions. This is for the benefit of both the citizens and the enterprises and therefore the economic welfare in Austria.
I see that developments are already taking place everywhere on this planet but it is still a long way to go. It is up to us, both the governments and the civil society, to find ways to close the digital gap and to foster access to all means of communication for all people, especially in the developing countries.
It is up to us to face upcoming challenges by furthering resilience and sustainability of the internet.
I wish the 7th Internet Governance Forum all the best and I am looking forward to the next four days of exciting workshops and discussions. Thank you very much for your attention.
Chengetai Masango: Thank you Mr Reichhardt.
The next next speaker is Mr Lawrence Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, United States of America.
LAWRENCE STRICKLING: Thank you under secretary General Wu, Minister Abasov sps ,ladies and gentlemen. I thank you for the opportunity to speak at this opening session of the Internet Governance Forum.
Today, is election day in the United States. Through the miracle of the internet and modern communications people in every corner of the world know how partisan and contentious this election has become. Yet, on one issue, all Americans stand shoulder to shoulder. That is how essential it is that the internet remains stable, secure, and free from governmental control.
Earlier this year, members of both political parties, Democrats and Republicans in both houses of Congress, unanimously passed resolutions stating that the consistent and unequivocal policy of the United States is to promote a global internet, free from governmental control and to preserve and advance the successful multi‑stakeholder model that governs the internet today so why when our Congress finds little to agree on, does it unanimously support the multi‑stakeholder model?
The reason should be obvious to all of you who have worked so hard to preserve and expand the multi‑stakeholder model here at the IGF and at organisations such as the internet engineering task force and ICANN.
The multi‑stakeholder model has enabled the internet to flourish. It has promoted freedom of expression online. It continues to provide an environment for economic growth and the creation of wealth in the developing world. The strength and power of the multi‑stakeholder process arises from the engagement of all interested parties, including industry, civil society, technical and academic experts in governments.
By encouraging the participation of all parties, multi‑stakeholder processes encourage broader and more creative problem solving and this is essential when dealing with the internet which thrives only through the co‑operation of many different parties.
We have many serious issues to discuss with respect to the internet ranging from economic matters regarding the sustainability of the internet; to basic rights such as freedom of expression and the free flow of information. We need to ensure that these issues are taken up but it is just as important that we find the right venue, a multi‑stakeholder venue in which to hold these discussions.
A treaty conference in which only member states have a vote is most definitely not the right venue for such discussions. No one should mistake such a conference for an open multi‑stakeholder process. Certainly, much could be done to improve the transparency of treaty conferences such as the WCIT and a number of important suggestions to that end were made yesterday by civil society groups attending this forum.
But even if the ITU takes seriously the suggestions of civil society and improves the transparency of the Dubai deliberations, at the end of the day only the member states will have a vote. In addition to being slow and bureaucratic, a treaty conference never can be a true multi‑stakeholder process where all interests are fairly represented. Issues that affect all internet stakeholders should be debated where all all stakeholders have a voice.
When I appeared before you at last year's IGF in Nairobi I asked all of you to work to ensure that the multi‑stakeholder model continues to define internet governance. I think we have established a lot in these past months to build a global consensus with stakeholders around the world on this critical issue but there is much yet to be done.
We must continue to support and strengthen the IGF and other multi‑stakeholder organisations such as ICANN. We must continue to engage all stakeholders, especially those representing civil society. We must continue to build bridges to the developing world and ensure that their voices are heard and their needs are met.
If we do these things we will ensure that the internet continues to flourish and brings the benefits of economic growth and human rights and freedoms to all citizens of the world. Thank you.
Chengetai Masango: Thank you very much, Mr Strickling. The next speaker on the list is Ms Lynn St Amour, President and CEO the Internet Society ISOC, thank you.
LYNN ST AMOUR: Thank you, good morning Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues and friends. It is again a great pleasure to be here in Baku for the seventh Internet Governance Forum and I would like to thank the Government of Azerbaijan for hosting this conference and thanks to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs as well as to the IGF Secretariat and of course the MAG for all their hard work over the last year.
The work and the collaboration that occurs in this venue are extremely important to all who are committed to an open, thriving and accessible internet. The IGF has shown us the power of multi‑stakeholder dialogue. All the national and regional multi‑stakeholder IGF and IGF type meetings that have sprung up across the world have proven the validity of the concept. The latest additions being the African and the Arab IGFs, as well as the Internet Governance meeting held in India last month.
The idea of creating the internet based on open standards ‑‑ and I will note this was over 30 years ago ‑‑ reflected a philosophy that encompassed open, participatory management and government structures and principles of freedom of expression and access to information, as well as other democratic processes with a broad community of stakeholders, a shared ownership with all the responsibilities that that implies but without central control.
This approach was first institutionalised in the Internet Engineering Task Force, the IETF, which continues to lead in the development of internet standards today. This also gave rise to the recent open stand campaign led by the IEEE, IETF, IEB, W3C and ISOC and highlights the principles behinds some of today's most important standards organisations.
In addition to these organisations we all also rely on a number of organisations managing or overseeing some key internet resources for and on behalf of all of us. I would like to recognise the very central efforts of these other internet bodies, interalia, the regional internet registries, RIRs, route servers, GLD operators and ICANN.
Of course, the Internet would not be what it is today without all the efforts of the private sector or without the support of governments and intergovernmental organisations.
All these organisations work together in a distributed collaborative effort, each with their broad multi‑stakeholder communities and based on expertise and trust. We all work together, nobody and no one body controls the internet or should control the internet.
As we all know, the internet's impact of the world economy is staggering and importantly, developing countries and emerging economies are at the forefront of internet growth, with many experiencing some of the fastest rates of GP growth in the world. As more internet users come online, the centre of the internet will shift more and more to the developing world and this will significantly influence the future of the global internet.
These new users are rapidly developing the innovations, efficiencies and opportunities that will help fuel the next wave of growth investment and prosperity. While the internet governance arrangements of today have served it well over the years, the proof point is the internet itself and its undeniable economic and social benefits. There are challenges and forces at play that have the potential to undermine the Internet's benefits, for those of us today and for the billions of people to come online. Let's look at just a few of these as there is a lot of work we need to do together.
For example, the advent of big data and the ways it affects the nature of digital identity, increasingly third parties are more likely to rely on low assurance data from many sources, to establish a reliable idea of who we are, some of which we, as a data subject, may not even know they have.
Taking this a step further, our privacy and individual liberties can be significantly infected by inferences about us drawn from data about others.
Privacy, trust and identity are social constructs a very highly contextual , that makes them difficult problems to solve.
We could also turn to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which still needs attention and support in different parts of the world. The Internet is an essential vehicle for promoting freedom of expression and opinion and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights encapsulates the very essence of the Internet and its nature.
Yesterday the Internet Society cohosted a pre‑event, where the Association for Progressive Communication and the Internet Chamber of Commerce faced this group to discuss enhanced co‑operation.
Enhanced cooperation was one of the outcomes of WSIS. Since 2005 we have all repeated our different and diverging interpretations of what we felt the negotiators had in mind when they coined the term. In other words, we had a deadlock. Yesterday's event was meant to bring us from deadlock to dialogue and succeeded. We did not reach agreement of any sort, in the spirit of IGF, we talked and listened to each other and believe we continue the dialogue with within the framework of the IGF, this week we will discuss further. The the IGF can play a essential role, collaboration is essential to ensure the continuation of the internet. Thank you for the opportunity to address you here today.
Chengetai Masango: Thank you very much Ms St Amour . The next speaker is Janis Karklins Secretary General of Communications and Information UNESCO.
Chengetai Masango: Honourable minister, Under Secretary General Wu, Ministers, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, UNESCO is for the 7th time actively participating in the internet governance forum and I am pleased to represent this organisation today at Baku. Allow me to join the speakers who expressed gratitude to the Government of Azerbaijan for a warm welcome and hospitality.
UNESCO has been at the forefront of efforts to promote image freedom of expression cultural and linguistic diversity both offline and online. Therefore, it is most fitting for the organisation to be given a platform at this multi‑stakeholder forum to foster comprehensiveness and meaningful dialogue around these talks .
For UNESCO the principle of freedom of expression, cultural and linguistic diversity and universal access to information are essential to build the inclusive knowledge societies. These principles must also be safeguarded on the internet. Whereas the internet can provide open channels for users to freely express their opinion, it can also be used as a tool to restrict and control information flows. We need to apply the existing international human right law including Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the cyberspace and ensure protection and promotion of the freedom of internet to foster democracy and accelerate economic growth.
At the heart of the internet governance framework is the need to provide universal access to information and knowledge. UNESCO has therefore taken up the mantle to promote access for all in all languages.
As language is the primary vector for communication it is incumbent upon us to ensure that citizens in all parts of the world are given the possibility to access information in every language. No citizen should be left out or behind. After all, if some are unable to access information they will not be able to successfully surf on the information highway and actively participate in the socio‑economic development of their countries.
Without the access to the possibility of the widening of information and knowledge the divide becomes more pronounced.
Ladies and gentlemen, the technological development offers unprecedented opportunities for digital knowledge creation assimilation.
UNESCO believes that the digital continuity, the assurance of the long‑term accessibility to digital content to support economic development, good governance, transparency, protection of rights, cultural awareness and identities and thus contribute to the building of equitable endeavours knowledge societies.
However, the ability of citizens to that in the rest of the world of this knowledge is being compromised by the accessibility of digital records which are extremely fragile and can be easily lost, deleted, corrupted or altered. Preservation of digital heritage is more complex than traditional and requires a different approach.
In light of the need to develop digital preservation policies to ensure long‑term accessibility to digital heritage, UNESCO in September this year held a conference in Vancouver, Canada, to explore ways of preserving mankind from the development of digital amnesia. More than 500 participants from 110 countries discussed the key factors of acting digitisation of analogue materials and the long‑term preservation of digital content. Experts pointed out that the current understanding about digital preservation is not keeping up with the pace of technological development. The Vancouver declaration adopted by the conference called on stakeholders to combine energy and work towards global long‑term accessibility of digital heritage.
The success of the forum was a result of the commitment of many partners, including the Ministry of Communication Information Technology of Azerbaijan which supported this initiative.
Ladies and gentlemen, in concluding, let me touch upon the preparations for the business plus 10 review. UNESCO will host the first review conference entitled "Towards knowledge, societies for peace and sustainable development." The event will give us an opportunity to review the implementation on the decisions of the summit, analyse trends of social and technological developments and forecast evolution of knowledge societies beyond 2015.
The event will take place in UNESCO headquarters in Paris on 25‑27th February 2013. One of the highlights of the event will be the UNESCO Internet Forum looking at internet freedoms, multi‑lingualism and different aspects of use of the internet. In conjunction with the conference, UNESCO will host the consultation meeting following this Internet Governance Forum in Baku and the MAG meeting also will take place in the conjunction of the event.
I would like to reiterate my thanks to the IGF secretariat and IGF community for having supported and accepted our invitation and we're looking forward to continue working together on key topics of the internet to develop all our future. Thank you very much indeed.
(applause)
Chengetai Masango: relisten to audio here Thank you very much. The next speaker is Mr Jean‑Guy Carrier, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
MR CARRIER: Excellencies all of your participants I am honoured and also on behalf of the business action to sustain support the information tech New York to be able to address you today.
Many of you are aware of basis from it record of action and organisation within the context of the IGF. The ICC is a very large network of million of companies around the world in 120 countries. It comprised of of course international companies but also one key reality of ICC is that 90 per cent of our members company are small and medium sized enterprises. What they have in common, big, small, medium, is that they're involved in cross‑border trade, that they are part of the drivers of the global economy and the global trading system.
For what many of these companies the internet is not a tool, it is the life's blood really of their business and so they are very much interested and engaged in the development of that particular medium.
It is one reason why at the ICC we are very solid in terms of our support for IGF. We see it as a form of international governance that actually is delivering results. When we look at the situation in the world crisis that we have been experiencing economically in various parts of the world for the last several years, many of our models of governance have been found wanting certainly in terms of delivering progress and results. We look at the world trade system and the frustrations and stalemates that are part of that particular engagement, we look at the world economy and the difficulty of countries even within a G20 grouping to act decisively together. We look at the world environment and again governance is found to be slow in terms of its possibility to deliver results.
The IGF for us as a business community is a model that works. It has delivered stability, it has delivered confidence, it has delivered growth, growth in terms of the number and spread of users but also in terms of its impact on the world economy and not individual and national economies. So it is, from a business perspective, a model of governance that needs to be supported and developed.
In the current economic crisis, again, it has been underlined to us how crucial this model needs to be supported, how crucial it is that we are able to make sure that trade through the internet, that activity through the internet of all kinds is built on the respect for the rule of law and on regulatory predictability and on stakeholder participation from all the communities that need to be involved.
We at ICC believe that the IGF is that vehicle, that it provides a fair, balanced and effective approach to internet governance. The ICC was founded by business people 100 years ago who called themselves the merchants of peace because they believed that the world of business went beyond the horizon of the bottom line, that it involved contributing to peace and prosperity in the world. It is a firm conviction of the ICC members in this modern day world of the 21st century and the internet and the developments that have taken place that we are all called upon to become, in terms of the co‑operation that is required to use and develop the internet, we must all become modern day merchants of peace. Thank you.
(applause)
Chengetai Masango: Thank you very much. The next speaker is Mr Eligijus Masiulis from the Republic of Lithuania.
MR MASIULIS: Your Excellency, Professor Dr Ali Abbasov, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I would like to thank the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan for their hospitality and their initiative to organise the 7th Internet Governance Forum in Baku. Lithuania, as the former host country of the 5th IGF which took place in Vilnius in 2010, understands the responsibility as well as the opportunities that go to the organiser of the IGF.
I greatly appreciate this opportunity to address such a wide and respectable audience. Today, we can say with certainty that the IGF has proved itself as an able global platform for discussion between the various stakeholders from all levels, governments, intergovernmental organisations, private sector and academic communities. The proposed theme of this meeting, internet governance of sustainable human, economic and social development, it is a perfect continuation of last year's topic which emphasises the key role of internet as a catalyst for change.
Today, nobody doubts that internet and other modern information and communication technologies have changed people's lives radically all over the world. We all are witness and participant of the process of information technology's penetration to all spheres of human activity: work, leisure, human communication. The internet is now the driving force that helps to transmit large amounts of information, promote innovation, create jobs, advance human development and creativity, thus contributing to a sustainable human economic and social development.
Being a minister responsible not only for ICT majors but also for transport, I can say with certainty that internet has a great influence on the development of the efficient transportation corridors and the logistics streams. Internet facilitates trades, export of services, improves the business environment and promotes competitiveness thus contributing to the country growth, GDP growth.
Speaker about Lithuania's experience, I would like to say that Lithuania is the 7th country in the world regarding using internet in business, also the number of public and administrative services in Lithuania has been transferred to the electronic environment. For example, due to the rapid development of innovative mobile banking service, 61 per cent of all Lithuanian population use electronic banking and 86 per cent of population submit income declaration by internet. Also, there is the possibility of interactive setting up a business companies, arranging of public procurements, as well as using other mobile public administration services interactively. Among the main factors determining the rapid penetration of the internet in the private and public sector of Lithuania are the high internet communication speeds and the high internet connection data download speed together with the low cost access.
Another crucial factor is the rapid penetration of global internet. Lithuania is in the first position in Europe and sixth in the world regarding the development of broadband internet. The development of first broadband network is identified as one of the factors ensuring the economic success of different countries as well as other reasons. For example, it is a statement by the European Commission that the increase of growth and penetration by 10 per cent results in an economic growth from 1 to 1.5 per cent.
The influence of ICT on the social and human development is worthy of special attention. The promotion of internet infrastructure forces the communication between different social groups also improve the local as well as applications system.
However, the access to the internet is still not sufficient in some developing regions of the world. I wish that here in Baku we will have useful discussion and constructive ideas regarding the promotion of ICT in the developing world and these ideas will turn into the real world in the nearest future. Thank you for your attention.
(applause)
Chengetai Masango: Thank you very much, Mr Minister. The next speaker is Mr Alan Marcus, Senior Director, Head of IT and Telecommunication Industries of the World Economic Forum.
ALAN MARCUS: Honourable Chairman, your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for this opportunity. I am responsible for the ICT agenda at the World Economic Forum which largely looks at how ICT impacts global issues, particularly around economic benefit and one of the things that we have been looking at and understanding and hearing is this notion that in the internet space, particularly around the idea of governance, no one organisation, no one person, can solve this problem on their own, that in fact as we look at these issues we notice this concern of interdependency, we're all interdependent with each, other every business leader, every civil society leader, every citizen and every government leader.
We need to work together more as a community to understand these interdependencies and when we make our decisions we make them with the notion of what is best for the overall community.
When we look at the internet and recognise that 80 to 90 per cent of the infrastructure is privately owned, is owning by the enterprise, we have to understand the role, therefore, of the leader of the enterprise and the responsibility that we have in terms of protecting both the freedom of the internet and the security necessary for the infrastructure and the information. This leads to a new kind of leadership.
Historically, information has been a tool of power, the leader being the arbitrager of that power. In the internet space we have a more networked effect and in that network effect, power and information flow in very different ways and so as leaders we need to rethink our position and what the opportunity is.
When we look at this notion of how others are doing it and I hear this certainly in the halls here, what is the best practice for such an idea?
The best practice is an interesting experiment but what we need to really be thinking about is how or the results we're looking for. If we're talking about things like cyber security it's not who's got the best security paradigm. It's how do we measure the immunity and the resilience we have to such threats. How do we understand these sort of responses, I think becomes a much more productive and co‑operative opportunity.
We need to remove the fear, what drives a lot of decisions is the fear of the unknown and in this hyper‑connected world, in this very fast moving space, unknowns will be prominent and we'll continue to be in a world of unknowns. We need to get more comfortable that that's okay and we need not fear that, in fact, working together as a community we can remove a lot of the fears.
As someone said to me once that if someone wants a law or a policy badly, one will get a bad law or a bad policy. We need to make sure that fear does not drive that idea, that in fact we work better together and understand and co‑operate we can help each other through this rather complex but incredibly powerful medium known as the internet.
Thank you very much.
(applause)
Chengetai Masango: Thank you very much Mr Marcus . The next speaker is Mr Amirzai Sangin, Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
AMIRZAN SANGIN: Honourable Chairman, Excellencies, ministers, respected delegates, it is a great honour for me to be participating in this 7th IGF meeting in this beautiful city of Baku.
I take this opportunity to thank his Excellency Abbasov for welcoming us here and for the great hospitality he has shown ... .
Chengetai Masango: Thank you. The next speaker is Mr. Amirzai Sangin Minster of communication and information technology, Islamic republic of Afghanistan.
Mr. Amirzai Sangin: Honourable Chairman, excellencies, ministers, respected delegates, it is a great honour for me to be participating in this seventh IGF meeting. In this beautiful city of Baku, I take this opportunity to thank His Excellency for welcoming us here for the great hospitality he has shown.
I think we all agree that ICT plays important role in the lives of the people. There is no doubt about that. That means that it is very important to promote and protect the internet and that is why we are all here participating in this IGF meeting. I think I find this IGF forum a very good forum for discussing issues related to the internet because here all the stakeholders are present and they can debate and discuss the various issues and I am sure that this discussion and dialogue will lead to a consensus among all of us for for making sure that the fantastic internet that is being used by money, in these developed countries also trying to get that we want to ensure that this internet is always available and we can all make good use of it.
I think the state of the ICT development is different from country to country. This is dependent on other factors on the policies of the governments, I think the policies of the government is one very important aspect and in this case I want to give you the example of Afghanistan. In 2002 before 2002 we have the Taliban regime in what was their policy? Well their policy was that the internet was forbidden it was not allowed. Nobody could use the internet. TV was forbidden. Music was forbidden, photography was forbidden. So what was the result? The people of Afghanistan were completely isolated. Actually, the people of Afghanistan had to travel to the neighbouring country to make a simple phone call that was the situation. Today in Afghanistan we have more than 90% of the population under the coverage of mobile services. 20 million mobile phone users and there has been more than 2 billion dollars of investment in the ICT infrastructure.
As a result of this success in Afghanistan in the short period of 10 years, despite the huge challenges that we have in our country, it was a great honour to receive the (inaudible) Association Government Leadership Award 2011 in Barcelona. Our current efforts are to promote broadband. For this, we are building optical fibre which is connecting major parts of Afghanistan and also Afghanistan is connected by wire optical fibre to all of our neighbouring countries. We have already have issued 3G licences and more than 11 cities have come under the 3G services. We plan that in the next two years, more than 80 per cent of the Afghan population should have access to broadband services.
We will continue to follow the ICT development and whatever technological developments, whatever technology, whatever services that are available to the people of the developed world it is our goal that this should also be available to the people of Afghanistan.
That is why I am here to hear your experiences and to share with you our experience and to use this for the mutual benefits of our people.
Thank you.
Chengetai Masango: Thank you.
The next speaker is Mr Edward Vaizey, Minister of Culture, Communications and Creative Industries of the United Kingdom.
MR VAIZEY: Thank you very much. Thank you, minister, Chairman. It is a great privilege to be here in Azerbaijan, my first visit, and to visit Baku, to the very beautiful city. I was at my first IGF last year in Nairobi and the Kenyan government did a fantastic job in organising it, and this year your government has done equally superb job in organising this very, very important conference. I was struck by what the Indian minister said about internet governance being an oxymoron. I say that to show that I am listening to the speeches but also because I thought it was a pretty pithy phrase that encasulated really what we are doing here.
The internet seems to have done pretty well without too much help from people like me, politicians. Civic society and private business worked together to put together the protocols that allow the internet to work. Civic society and private business have built the networks that people use and civic society, private business and of course the British Broadcasting Corporation have put this superb content, by and large the superb content, that we all benefit from, on to the internet.
That is really what the IGF is all about. It is a vital forum for stakeholders in every community to discuss the opportunities for the internet as it continues to evolve.
It is unique, it is precious in facilitating this aim and it is now seven years since the IGF concept was launched. It is difficult to imagine life without the IGF. It is unrivalled in terms of stakeholder engagement and it is rightly the hub of the global internet landscape.
Which brings me to my first substantive point, which is the select group of experts in the Multi‑stakeholder Advisory Group, the MAG. They have a crucial mandate to assist the IGF secretariat to achieve its aims. I am disappointed as a donor government that we still don't have a fully effective government structure for the IGF in place. I very much hope, therefore, that the UN Secretary General will appoint a new special adviser soon to oversee the MAG's immensely valuable hard work associated with preparations for the IGF. It is also important that a new head of the IGF secretariat is appointed as soon as possible. I seem to remember making a similar call last year in Kenya and I hope very much that I don't have to make a similar call when we reconvene next year.
Now when I said that internet or when I repeated what the Indian minister had said about internet governance being an oxymoron, of course there is a role for government in the internet and in fact it was a great honour to follow the minister from Afghanistan and his remarks because there can be no‑one who is facing a tougher job in terms of doing the job that he is doing in Afghanistan. He reminded us that governments simply allowing the internet in many countries is an important step for government. Governments sometimes seek to control the internet and a government that allows its citizens to use the internet freely is to be applauded.
Of course there are huge issues in supporting the build‑out of networks, issues like intellectual property, cyber crime, cyber security, data, privacy and the protection of our children, where governments of course have a role. When people call for enhanced co‑operation, that of course echos the calls made in Tunis at the World Summit for the Internet Society. We know that the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development has been asked to consider how the provisions on the enhanced co‑operation in the Tunis Agenda might be taken forward. Our view is that a key task for any working group on enhanced co‑operation should map what has happened and is happening in terms of the initiatives that rely on co‑operation between different stakeholders, different governments and intergovernmental organisations. This mapping exercise will ensure we have a full understanding of whether there are any gaps that should be addressed and what might be the best way of addressing them.
The next four days, I am sure, will be inspiring with a series of debates and discussions about the internet. Keep in mind that the internet has been created by many bodies, it is fast‑moving and transformative, and let us all keep in mind that we want it to stay that way. Thank you.
Chengetai Masango: Thank you very much, Mr Vaizey. The next speaker is Mr Hanimamhood, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Arab Republic of Egypt.
Chengetai Masango: Dear Chairman, your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great honour to stand here today addressing your distinguished gathering at the seventh meeting of the Internet Governance Forum held in the beautiful Baku.
Allow me, like everybody, to start by thanking the Azerbaijani government for their warm hospitality and excellent organisation of this event. As well, I would like to extend our special thanks to the UNDISA and IGF secretariat for their excellent job and effort.
The internet today has transformed into a genuine platform where real innovation emerges. Mobile technologies and applications, social and economic services are more and more prevailing over the World Wide Web. As a result, the internet nowadays is considered to be a tool for creating opportunities and reaching out for new horizons. This is why the developing countries are looking up to what such vibrant platform could provide to them. They are noting with care that the expansion of the internet and its next billion users are asked to recognise from within, I mean from the developing countries.
At the same time, those same regions are anxious about the currently evolving international discussions around internet governance and help their developing countries and communities be more integrated. That is why serious effort should be extended by the international community to find ways and means to stimulate the emerging markets' interest and actively engage them in the discussions.
The forum of internet governance is an ideal platform for that. One way of doing this is through looking at key issues that could help emerging countries more participate from developing countries to our forum. Among those issues is the development of local content. The internet is a vital tool that could be utilised in reaching out for rural and remote areas providing them with real opportunities and more integration. Nevertheless, the absence of localised content stands as an obstacle in that regard. Egypt believes that it is our responsibility together to further dig into current mechanisms and propose creative models to address policies that encourage the creation of multilingual content. We believe as well that access should remain ‑‑ our discussion should remain on the discussion table. It is noticeable that, despite our collective efforts, the current distribution of access to internet needs to be readdressed, especially with regard to that developing world.
National broadband strategies and sound infrastructure are key among the options to solve access concerns. Fibre optics and submarine cables are one of the ICT critical infrastructure issues that need collaboration of governments and private sector together.
Appropriate tools and applications need to be developed so that all members of the societies can benefit from internet service. On another hand, enhancing security and building confidence and trust in the use of ICTs are among the vital issues that need collaboration of regional and international efforts from all stakeholders. The IGF has always been the key platform for open discussion among all stakeholders. The flexibility it provides and dynamic nature it introduces is helping participants to converse freely in order to achieve the full realisation of internet potential.
The era we are living at nowadays obliges us to extend our hands to one another and look at our partners along the road. We therefore need to see more involvement from developing countries on the IGF platform. We need to see real collaboration between government and other stakeholders engaged more freely in open discussions and constructive dialogues.
In conclusion, looking at the future of IGF, we believe that we should put forward all efforts to maintain its multi‑stakeholder nature in order to continue its mobility and dynamism with its regional and national impacts, so we could all work together for better integration. Thank you.
Chengetai Masango: Thank you very much, Minister Mahmood. The next speaker is Mr Ziga Turk, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, Republic of Slovenia.
MR TURK: Dear UN Undersecretary, dear Minister Abassa , Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, in the beginning I would like to congratulate Azerbaijan not only for the splendid organisation of the IGF and other events but also for its policy to develop the ICT sector in this country, the ICT infrastructure and in particular the policy to turn, as they call it, the black gold into the human capital by developing the school infrastructures, universities and of course what connects them and that is the internet. In fact, it is impossible to imagine the development of human capital without the internet. The IGF is discussing the public policy issues relating to key elements of internet governance, in order to foster sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of the internet and, of course, to protect the freedoms of the internet.
One of the key factors in the development of the information society is the availability of broadband infrastructure for all users. It is becoming one of the fundamental and most significant public infrastructures. At the end of the day, like for all other infrastructures, the citizens expect the governments to ensure that it works. But like the citizens expect the government to make sure that roads are open in spite of flooding and hurricanes, the citizens do not the expect to government to inspect the trucks, what the trucks are carrying or what kind of music the people are listening to in the cars or on the roads that the government is supposed to keep open.
Slovenia operates the new policy, the digital agenda. Following, from our point of view, quite ambitious aims of these policies, we estimate there will be larger investment into the IT infrastructure required to achieve those policies. Right now, about two‑thirds of the household in Slovenia have broadband access, but internet opens also business opportunities. At the Baku Telfair next door, there are quite a number of Slovenian countries exhibiting, from those who provide infrastructure to those who provide government services, medical services, et cetera, et cetera.
Internet indeed improved how we can collaboration at a distance but the fact is that events like this one present an appropriate and necessary platform for the exchange of views and the direct communication of the participants.
Republic of Slovenia supports the principles of openness, transparency and the existing way of internet management based on the democratic co‑operation among stakeholders in compliance with the EU and CEPT. The internet, ladies and gentlemen, holds its success to engineers, civil society, entrepreneurs, NGOs and, last but not least, also the governments and intergovernmental organisations.
We should all be committed to support the model that works and I am happy to hear at this forum that some of the key players understand this, that we close with the words of (inaudible) they did not relate to the internet but hold true for the internet as well: "The best is still yet to come."
Chengetai Masango: Thank you very much, Minister Turk. The next speaker is Miss Amelia Andersdotter, Member of the European Parliament.
AMELIA ANDERSDOTTER: Thank you, Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, participants of the Internet Governance Forum 2012. My name is Amelia Andersdotter. I am a member of the European Parliament on behalf of the Swedish Piratpartiet since December 2011. I am mindful of the fact that I am one of only two women speaking in the opening session. Also, I am probably the youngest person speaking. I am only 25 years old.
The Piratpartiet wants to change the legislative framework for communication, interaction, innovation and culture. We formed around the idea that communication technologies and culture present fantastic ways of building broad global communities.
We want interactions, social, cultural and economical to be determined and under the control of the people interacting.
When information, communication and culture can be freely accessible and used, which on the internet is basically always the case, this should be allowed and any exceptions or deviations to that general rule must be kept exceptional.
Unfortunately, laws at both nation state level and the international level are very ill‑equipped to achieve these goals. Direct interventions by nation states into communication and cultural flows of their citizens are ubiquitous in the world.
More insidious are the restrictions on communications imposed on users by private network operators or intellectual property rights holders. We hear words like "freedom of speech" and "Human Rights must be respected online" but actually so far very few top political figures in the world have acknowledged, or are willing to acknowledge, that this will require regulatory intervention on some private sectors and also letting go of some of the regulatory hinders that we're currently putting in place to block communications between people.
It is clear to me both at the personal and at the political level that we need to fundamentally reconsider our approach to communication. We need communication to be open and accessible. This is how we make friendships, it is how we make societies, it is how we form words.
The control over communities and the ability to shape them must be with the communities themselves. Infrastructure must be regulated to enable that ability and such autonomy.
The raw material for cultural identities, the culture itself, must be made more accessible than is currently the case. Copyright is not only an untimely instrument for the 21st century, it is doing active harm to culture and to communities around the world.
During one of my travels this summer I met a young man who told me with a straight face that he liked open torrent trackers because he wants to be able to see the unpopular files. I want to see the unpopular files. I want to see the unpopular torrents and I want to live in a world where a social network, a community on its own initiative preserves the cultural wealth through the spontaneous contribution of all its members. All of the changes that are needed in our laws to ensure that these communities can exist must be undertaken and now.
To all of you here and to all of the Governments and to the public officials and lobbyists that haven't been able to bring themselves to support these actually very extensive reforms that are necessary for these places and creative communities to exist, I would like to paraphrase George Michael from I think 1992, "fuck you, this is my culture and if copyright or telecommunications operators are standing in the way, I think they should go." Thank you.
Chengetai Masango: Thank you very much.
The next speaker is Mr Vint Cerf Vice President and chief internet evangelist for Google.
VINT CERF: I don't think I am going to successfully top that last speech. Under Secretary General Wu Hongbo hamurdinToure many taa by zov names, Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is an honour and a privilege to participate in this 7th Internet Governance Forum. I am grateful to the organisers, the Secretariat of the IGF, UNDESSA , the sponsors and most of all to all of you who are participating in these important discussions.
The internet is more than a unique and distributed amalgam of computers, networks, software, institutions, applications and content. It is a concept and a technical design that has persistence beyond any one component. Networks and their associated computing devices come and go but the internet abides.
It is organic in the sense that it evolves as new technology, applications and business models arise and new players enter into its provision and use.
It is open in the sense that anyone is free to contribute to its development and expansion. It is unlimited, in the sense that the medium that the internet creates can be expanded in capacity at will and new applications can augment or supplant old ones.
The internet is collaborative in many dimensions. In principle, anyone can create and share information in its global information commons. Billions of users, millions of networks large and small, hundreds of thousands if not millions of operating entities co‑operate to maintain, manage and contribute to the information infrastructure arising from the internet's design.
The internet is a remarkable artefact that creates a borderless medium through which people, devices and applications and their contents can and do interact.
The complex interactions that take place in the internet medium challenge conventional wisdom and experience. Actions taken in one part of the internet can have impact virtually anywhere in the system. The very notion of internet governance transcends historical theories of sovereignty and demands that we develop thoughtful, global and co‑operative practices that reinforce the communal utility of the internet while protecting the rights, freedoms and safety of its users.
The Internet Governance Forum emerged from the World Summit on the information society as an expression and recognition of the roles and responsibilities of multiple stakeholders with an interest in the internet's growth, operation, accessibility and use. It is founded on the belief that policies associated with the internet should be informed by the views all parties affected by and benefiting from its operation.
To the freedoms articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we must aspire to add "freedom from harm". The Internet cannot fulfil its promise unless its users feel and enjoy a genuine sense of safety. To this sense of stewardship that should guide the actions of providers and users of the internet must be added the commitment to defend against abusive and harmful practices. The challenge to achieving this objective is to succeed without irreparable harm to Human Rights. Here then lies our challenge as participants of the Internet Governance Forum. We must assure that the IGF dialogue continues and that all stakeholders can be heard. We must not only highlight problems arising in the use of the internet's unique medium but also seek solutions to them in appropriate forms and institutions. We must be candid in our discussions and in our assessment of our progress. We have collectively benefited from the respectful, thoughtful and constructive engagement of the Internet Governance Forums of the past and must affirm our commitment to continuing and evolving this process to preserve the unique value of the internet medium. While we may not be able to predict with precision the course of the internet's evolution, we can and must do our best to preserve and enhance its utility for those who come after us. Thank you very much.
Chengetai Masango: Thank you very much, Mr Cerf. Last but not least, the final speaker on my list is Mr Fadi Chehade, President and CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
MR CHEHADE: We should give a big hand to the people who have been sitting here through all these speeches; so Under Secretary Wu and Dr Ali, thank you. I am last, so I have to be quick because I stand between you and a fabulous lunch.
First, my big thanks to the people of Azerbaijan. If there are people from Azerbaijan here, you should know we feel very welcome. This is a great place to be, very warm hospitality. Thank you for that. Thank you for all the work you have put to make us comfortable.
Okay, so I'm the new ICANN president and I'm new and so it's a new beginning and a new season at ICANN. I say it's a new season because one of the things we are committed to do at ICANN is to open ICANN to the world and to bring ICANN to the world. So the first things we are doing are to demonstrate our commitment that ICANN is not an organisation that is limited by its geography. On a practical level, we are getting out of Los Angeles and we're going to the world, we're going to be opening offices around the world, sending our people around the world and reducing our focus from our internal operations to focussing on engagement.
So we brought on board samy costirten who is based in Europe and Dr Tariq Kamill who will soon be based also in the Asian region so we can bring what we do and who we are closer to you, our stakeholders, the people we're supposed to serve and we're committed to do that.
The second thing we're going to do is to stop being a fortress. ICANN should be an oasis that people find as a great place to get their business done, to get their work done. We are going to remove the walls, we are going to make it easier to engage. One of the ministers here asked me, "How do we work with ICANN? Tell me how. We want to engage." We're going to make that possible by engaging, by inviting, by facilitating, by making our structures easier to understand so that all of you can be part of this great mission that we were entrusted with.
On that point, I want to be clear, I am now clear after having spent a couple of months on this: our mission is a limited mission. It is an important mission but it is a limited mission. We belong to an ecosystem of organisations that have roles in the internet. We do our part, they do their part. You saw as a beginning of this new season today when Secretary General Toure brought up how we will work together in this new season. His work at the ITU, the work that our friends at ISOC do, the work that our friends at the IETF do, the work that happens in all the organisations that co‑ordinate together to make this possible is important.
My commitment as ICANN is to make sure we're open and we remove the walls and we're truly an oasis of partnerships of real work, of committed work. Finally, I just want to remind us why we're all doing this, why we're all doing this. We're doing this for two reasons: (1) I'm an internet entrepreneur and for 25 years I've built internet‑based companies and I've benefited from the internet. We should make sure that this opportunity that I had is available to all the children and all the youth on the planet who have the possibility to build their dreams on the internet today. This is why I am here because I want to allow others to benefit in the same way I was lucky to benefit from this great enterprise.
The second reason we're here is best embodied in the little girl Malala. Malala, at the age of 11, decided to write a blog and because of it today she lies in a hospital bed trying to live. It is for her that we need to keep this open, we need to work with all the organisations with a deep commitment that young people like Malala can continue voicing what is on their mind, what is in their heart and what they believe and together with all the organisations that I mentioned (the ISOC, the ITU, the W3C, the IETF), all the organisations of goodwill, we are going to make this happen. Thank you.
DR ABBASOV: Thank you all. We understand you must be tired but thank you to all speakers. It was a very successful beginning and I want to inform you that for the next days we will organise sessions and meetings where you could have an opportunity to discuss all things concerning internet governance and all stakeholders, be it Government, Civil Society, business, are invited. We will organise special sessions of Azerbaijan on the internet issues you will be invited and we will try to create an environment which could give the opportunities to discuss all things, all things that you want. Thank you and the first part, the opening session of our meeting is over. The next session starts at 3.15 p.m. Thank you. Our session is over. Thank you.