2010 Internet Society Letter To United Nation's Under-Secretary General On Enhanced Cooperation

March 15, 2010
Ms Haiyan Qian
Director
Division for Public Administration and Development Management
UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
c/o Ms Elvira T. Doyle
KMB/DPADM/DESA
via email: [email protected]
Dear Ms. Qian,
I am writing in response to your kind request of February 19, 2010, in which you reference the
Internet Society (ISOC) submission of March 2008, responding to the Under Secretary-General
of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA), Mr. Sha
Zukangs, request for a report on the steps taken by ISOC towards enhanced cooperation on
public policy issues pertaining to the Internet. This letter is to provide information and
examples in response. We will appreciate your including it in the paper you are preparing for
the forthcoming thirteenth session of the Commission on Science and Technology for
Development (CSTD). It is our hope to be able to participate in that meeting, as one of the
non-governmental organizations accredited to the WSIS process, as we have been able to in
the past, so that we can answer any questions that delegates may have at that time.
The following response does not repeat the introductory material we included in our 2008
report, but we draw your attention to those comments. Today, the Internet model of
development remains as relevant to successfully achieving enhanced cooperation among all
stakeholders as it was before and during the WSIS process. We believe that it is vital for
governments, the private sector, civil society, the Internet technical community and
intergovernmental organizations to continuously improve their cooperation, each in the area of
their competence and mandate, if we are to achieve the ambitious goals agreed during the
World Summit on the Information Society.
The Internet Society continues to develop. We now have more than 28,000 individual members
and over 80 chapters around the world, and more than 100 organizational members 1 . The
Society also has five regional bureaus to better serve the Internet community around the world.
In preparation for this report, ISOC consulted with our membership to ask for examples of work
they are doing in cooperation with other stakeholders in their localities. Following is a nonexhaustive or exclusive compilation of concrete examples, to show the wide range of areas
where our members are working to enhance their cooperation and their contribution to the
development of Internet-related public policy solutions around the world. These examples
should be read in conjunction with the information that was sent to you in 2008, and that is
1 For a full portrait of membership, please see: http://www.isoc.org/membership/
Internet Society
Galerie Jean-Malbuisson, 15
CH-1204 Geneva
Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 807 1444

Fax: +41 22 807 1445
http://www.isoc.org
1775 Wiehle Ave.

Suite 201
Reston, VA 20190, USA
Tel: +1 703 439 2120

Fax: +1 703 326 9881
Email: [email protected]
continuously updated on the ISOC web site (listed in Annex to this report).
The ISOC Armenia Chapter has an agreement with the Ministry of Transportation and
Communication to cooperate on Internet-related issues, to consult, and to collaborate in
development of programs. The Chapter is recognized for its role in domain name delegation.
And, along with government and the civil society, the Chapter is part of a special Working
Group to combat issues such as spam and the challenge of illegal/inappropriate content on the
Internet.
ISOCs New York Chapter has engaged in the multi-borough hearings of the City's Broadband
Advisory Council, as well as in hearings on open data, webcasting policy, network neutrality,
spectrum allocation, and policies to spur innovation in the technology sector. Deliberations on
these important Internet-related public policy issues have all benefited from ISOCs
participation. The New York Chapter also works with others to stimulate public understanding
and participation in issues. Some examples include co-operation with NYU, to sponsor a
series of presentations on 'Computers & Society' with leading thinkers such as Lawrence
Lessig, John Perry Barlow, etc., and a new series planned for late 2010. All the New York
chapter events can be viewed on line 2 , and are available free as DVDs for educators, libraries,
and other interested parties.
Many other ISOC Chapters receive Internet Society funding to engage in concrete examples of
enhanced cooperation, through the Societys Community Grants Program 3 . Some of the many
concrete examples of enhanced cooperation enabled by this program include:
In Peru, a project to boost the use and promote the benefits of the Internet in the three main
cities involved. This project helps users become more sophisticated in their use of on-line tools,
focusing on local communities, SMEs, local governments and civil society. It intends to
generate local social networks, on-line communities and knowledge to stimulate the creation of
local content, while educating about the Internet as an essential tool for improved
communications in the different social sectors.
A capacity building programme in Internet and ICT policy for students from academic
institutions in Central Africa has been on going in the Congo. The project is to inform and train
students from universities and academic institutions in the central Africa region on Internet, the
implications it has for development, the current debates handled at the international basis and
governance principles resulting from the WSIS.
Finally, ISOCs regional bureaus regularly engage multiple stakeholders, especially Chapters
and organizational members, in an ongoing program of regionally-focused meetings known as
INET conferences. The INETs typically bring together high level speakers from civil society,
industry, and regional governments to discuss issues of shared concern. By way of example,
in 2009, the INET in Delhi 4 , India featured topics such as South Asia Internet for Development:
Road Towards Inclusion & Growth"; Developing National Internet infrastructure for Inclusive
Growth:The Role of Digital Content & Services in Internet Enabled Growth; and Internet
Governance & Digital Divide: Strategies from Thought to Action towards a policy Roadmap".
The INET held in Kuala Lumpur 5 , Malaysia focused on IPv6 deployment in the region, featuring
government representatives from Malaysia, Thailand, and China sharing experience with
2 Please see http://isoc-ny.org/webcasts
3 Please refer to http://www.isoc.org/isoc/chapters/projects/, as well as
http://www.isoc.org/isoc/chapters/projects/awards.php for a full listing of recent projects.

4 http://www.isoc.org/isoc/conferences/inet/09/delhi.shtml
5 http://www.isoc.org/isoc/conferences/inet/09/kualalumpur.shtml
industry representatives from across the Asia Pacific region. By bringing all stakeholders
together in this way, ISOC believes it is contributing to enhanced cooperation in understanding
and acting on important public policy issues related to Internet governance.
I trust these concrete examples of how ISOC Chapters, organizational members and regional
bureaus are contributing to enhanced cooperation around the world will be of use to you in
preparing the conference paper for the CSTD. I look forward to seeing the report when
completed. Please be assured of ISOCs ongoing commitment to an enhanced level of
cooperation with all interested and responsible stakeholders in the realm of Internet
governance.
Sincerely yours,
Lynn St. Amour

President and CEO
Internet Society

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March 15, 2010

Tel: +41 22 807 1444

1775 Wiehle Ave.

Tel: +1 703 439 2120

http://www.isoc.org/isoc/chapters/projects/awards.php for a full listing of recent projects.

Lynn St. Amour

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