Internet Governance- Challenges and oppourtunities; Netmundial and next steps for the Internet ecosystem.

Media for Change Joint Event with leading members of Indian Civil Society 
and Think tanks active in IG

Internet Governance Challenges and oppourtunities; Netmundial and Way Forward for the Internet ecosystem 

Dear friends of the internet,

The announcement by the US government of the internationalisation/dentionalisation of the IANA fuction is not only timed well, but in fact is an announcement in the right direction.  This should allow for a discussion at the Netmundial meeting on real internet governance issues which go over and beyond the ICANN/IANA contract / relationship in US. This is indeed historic and quite pertinent but leaves us open and asking more questions. The secretarial and registration functions aside more than ever, there is now a need for a greater role by all stakeholders to work in a manner which strengthens the decentralised multistakeholder decision making process which makes the Internet an equitable space- a thriving medium for seeking knowledge, information and empowerment. Innovation often and always happens on the fringes. Both the UN processes/ mechanisms including the IGF, the ITU and the GAC in particular now have significant roles to play in moving towards the path of least resistance towards Internet as platform for common good and an engine for growth and development. To actualize it's potential we need to respond to some deeply uncomfortable and pointed questions and the first one is -What next?

I have always maintained that the situation that has existed for many years, needed a change.  Thankfully, that is now behind us. And we're now focused on next steps and the way forward. In any event on the eve of Netmundial, Internet governance must address issues beyond those linked to the IANA contract and ICANN, especially 

• Access and Diversity, 
• Multilingualism, 
• Internet for Growth and Development, and above all
• Building trust (including surveillance – both international and national), as well as 
• Emerging issues, new technologies and 
• Most importantly, cyber security and human rights. 

Just 58% of the households are currently online, leaving out over four billion people in the world. Connecting the unconnected remains critical. These are key issues which the world hopes will see a nuanced discussion at Netmundial. The IGF remains and important and a key  platform for this dialogue in a manner which is bottom up, inclusive and lends itself to a greater participation. That is the space which can conclusively emerge through positive and adequate reinforcement also a space for a policy dialogue include a home for orphan issues. A global cyber jurisprudence is difficult and complex but a multistakeholder dialogue in both decision making and policy formulation even in issues such as Cybersecurity is an imperative. These are issues which form the core of both the Internet and IG.

While there is a lot of conversation in this space and rightly so about the IANA function but it should not be the pivot around which Netmundial or the larger IG debate should revolve. The challenges are much bigger and far more serious. There is a trust deficit today and healing and repair will need to be prioritised before we progress on the path of an equitable Internet for all.

None of these discussions are easy, nor do we have a history of reaching consensus, on issues which member states, companies, civil society, academia and technical communities approach with red-lines.

The success of the new solutions based approach and global meetings including Netmundial, IGF 2014 and beyond through the calendar year will depend upon  our collective wisdom and ability to be constructive and to keep an open mind, and also to urge participants to show genuine compromise and flexibility to reach solutions that can be acceptable to all. Or atleast not be violently or vehemently opposed in thought and practice. This must be done without compromising the multistakeholder decision making process while respecting the role for governments in very specific areas such as cyber terrorism, or international jurisdiction, to engage amongst themselves and as required with members of the multistakeholdergroup to facilitate decisions through workable solutions.

But all processes need to remain multistakeholder not just in dialogue but also decision making.

KEY CHALLENGES AND WAY FORWARD:

My experience and of the recent narrative shows that the biggest deficit that exists in this dialogue relates to trust. To the extent that we can all help bridge that ahead of and during the Netmundial and beyond , we would have succeeded in discussing “real” issues relating to the entire IG space, and reach some basic agreements on principles that can help examine the roles that each of the multistakeholder participants can play in the current environment. And atleast carve a deep enough foundation on which the bricks can be laid for an Internet of the future and the one we want. 

I applaud and commend the effort of our friends from Brazil to actually take a problem and deal with it from a solutions approach. It is an opportunity, which more governments must seize across the world and turn the lens inwards. I complement friends from Sweden for being visionary in their approaches and the EU. We need more governments to also be more forth coming to encourage national dialogues and take these learnings to the International fora, and facilitate participation of civil society and academia alongside the technical community to feed into this process. This is another space where, like the IGF, the ITU, IETF, ISOC and other related mechanisms and processes can be more open, enabling and welcoming of other stakeholders. We need a 1000 flowers to bloom.

I thank all of you for opening up this discussion, asking uncomfortable questions and helping clarify what the announcement regarding ICANN/IANA means, and most importantly what it doesn’t. Netmundial, the IGF Istanbul and the year 2014 itself is an opportunity and as historic as the internationalisation or denationalisation of the IANA function. And history will hold us to account, if we do not do our utmost to make this time and the subsequent meetings productive, positive and optimal. All of us will need to focus our energies with a single point agenda to keep sight of what is relevant in both content and form, so that we do not stray from our path, which will not be an easy one.

No one (and I certainly don’t) underestimate the challenges ahead of us.  So long as we can ensure that these meetings remain multistakeholder, open and transparent, especially with regards to 

• voices from developing countries and underrepresented stakeholder groups,  
• including the underprivileged and marginalized communities
• we would have done justice to the cause, of building an inclusive, stable, free, safe and open Internet, where all stakeholders are able to define their roles and work  on the goals that we have set for the Internet of the future including the transition of ICANN in an “orderly and time bound (as the contract ends in 2015) ”, manner on one hand and sow the seeds of a new framework to address other very important issues in the IG space.

Trust you will find this helpful and in consonance with the goodwill and hope that all of us have in each other and the collective wisdom of the entire IG community.

I will end with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi from whose life and works I draw immense inspiration. Gandhi believed that strength does not come from physical capacity, it comes from an indomitable will. 'And in a gentle world you can shake the world'."

Subi Chaturvedi

Tweets:@subichaturvedi

Member MAG, UN-IGF (Media & Civil Society)

Member MAG, India-IGF (Civil Society)

Convenor WG-India IGF 

Co-Chair, Netmundial Brazil (Civil Society)

Assistant Prof. Journalism & Comm,

Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR), 

Delhi University, India

Founder & Hon. Managing Trustee,
Media For Change

Founder, Chief Mentor & Editor
The Saltlist
www.thesaltlist.org

Independent DocumentaryFilmmaker, Photographer,
Curator, Media Critic & Scholar

PhD. Scholar,
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-D), New Delhi