Salutations
When the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) concluded in Geneva in December 2003, there were agreements on many important issues, including freedom of expression and enabling environment. There were however two unresolved issues at the summit: one was financing and the other Internet governance, which were left to be debated, analysed and solved by the second phase of WISIS.
Since then, the world and the Working Group on Internet Governance, established by the UN Secretary General, have been polarised dealing with the thorny and myriad issues relating to Internet governance. Literally thousands of papers and comments have been compiled, shared across the Internet and critiqued in the hope that there would be some common agreements as the second phase of WSIS fast approaches in less than two months.
From the inception, the work towards agreement on Internet Governance has been arduous and time-consuming. Even what would appear simple — the agreement on a simple definition of Internet governance — was not easy and, in fact, took almost two years. In the first instance, the Working Group used five criteria to develop a working definition, namely that it should be adequate, generalisable, descriptive, concise and process-oriented. After many hours of consultation, debate and disagreement the working definition of Internet Governance now reads as follows:
“Internet governance is the development and application by Governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet”.
This of course, is a simple definition since the more complex definition would of necessity have to treat with all the issues ranging from the administration of Internet names and Internet Protocol addresses to protecting the Internet as a global public good to spectrum policy.
What does the term governance mean to us? At it simplest level, it means a collection of shared rules, procedures and programmes which give rise to expectations and practices, assign roles to the participants and shape their interactions. Internet governance includes all this but adds the element of technology in the form of the Internet. I do not believe that much needs to be said at a Forum such as this with regard to the Internet except to reiterate that the Internet’s expansive nature has shunned the notion that a single geographic space can claim creative directorship over a medium so powerful. The Internet has saturated most of the globe, and now even the most remote villages are implicated in a communal creativity. Silicon Valley is often referred to as the Vienna of the Internet Age. As you may know, centuries ago, Vienna was the epicentre of music culture, and many works of enduring value issued forth from that city. The Vienna of today is the Internet.
In the case of the Internet, governance is needed, among other things, to:
• prevent or, at least minimise, the risk of the fragmentation of the Internet;
• maintain compatibility and interoperability;
• safeguard the rights and define the responsibilities of the various players;
• protect end users from misuse and abuse;
• encourage further development.
As I mentioned before, there is a lot of consultation and debate going on in the world today with regard to Internet governance. Sadly, the Caribbean response to Internet governance and, indeed, the Information Society, has not yet been articulated and presented. Our work over the next two days is not going to be easy. There is no need, however, to re-invent the wheel. It is my fervent hope that at the close of this Forum, we will have a framework document which could form the basis of the Caribbean input to the ongoing debate on Internet governance.
We must take the time now to identify those issues which are key and important to us. Issues which, if not addressed, will lead to diminishing our participation as viable, credible actors in the Information Society. We must ensure that whatever model of governance is finally chosen will allow all our Governments, private sector entities and civil society to be active participants, in a transparent and democratic way. An excerpt on Internet governance from the WSIS Declaration of Principles reads as follows:
“International Internet governance issues should be addressed in a coordinated manner”.
We must ensure that jurisdiction frameworks established for Internet governance do not detract from the autonomy of our various countries. Cyberspace is making us all neighbours; yet we must still find ways to ensure that our autonomy is not infringed. We must also continuously strive to ensure that the people element is given top priority in all our deliberations and work. To coin a phrase from Alice who said in Alice in Wonderland “what good is a book without pictures?” I say: “what good would a world be without people?
The participants in this Forum today represent key decision makers in our Region in various areas of expertise. We must ensure that when history is written the chapters on Internet governance will be written as success stories for our Region. In addition, we must ensure that every citizen in the Region understands the importance of Internet governance and what it means to him or her, and its role in the continued socio-economic development of the Region.
This year has been declared the Year of the Single Market. On one hand, that means for us as a Community that the hopes and dreams of our forefathers have been realised in measure after many years of tireless work. On the other hand, what this year trumpets and signals is the vast opportunity for all our developing states to truly unite and give the rest of the world a shining example of what ‘oneness’ means. Internet governance and its many, many political, social and economic issues and necessary mechanisms give us another golden opportunity to practice communal and community cooperation. The search for formulas to Internet governance will intensify after Tunis 2005. Let us begin the process today.
On behalf of the CARICOM Secretariat and our sister institution the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, I would like to place on record special thanks to the United Nations Development Programme for its generous financial assistance towards making this Forum possible. We would also like to thank the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company for its financial assistance for today’s luncheon. To the facilitators and presenters, I say thank you for so readily agreeing to CTU’s request. And finally to the Secretary-General of CTU and her staff, thank you for organising this Forum on such an important issue as Internet governance. We are looking forward to the output of this Forum which will be the beginning of a regional position on Internet governance.
Thank you.
