The
debate on Internet Governance, especially regarding “who
owns the Internet” gained momentum in the late 1990s
when the Internet became popular, giving rise to its use
beyond universities and research institutions.
The controversy increased during the first phase of the
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) when debates
pointed to the need to enhance the role of all key stakeholders
in making the Internet a development tool and a global public
good. In this context, a number of developing countries
called for the need to re-examine the issue of who governs
the Internet.
They also questioned the role of the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a US-based private-public
partnership, dedicated to among other objectives: preserving
the operational stability of the Internet; promoting competition;
and achieving broad representation of global Internet communities.
The debate pitted developing countries against developing
country governments who were asking for an "inter-governmental
organization on Internet Governance matters" to take
over the functions played by ICANN. Developed country governments
rejected the idea. The only point of agreement by all the
stakeholders was that a consensus on Internet Governance
is important, as it is a critical global development issue.
In light of this debate, the Geneva phase of the Summit
held in December 2003 requested the UN Secretary General
to establish a Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG)
to delve further into the subject. Despite a report by the
WGIG, there was no agreement on Internet Governance at the
Tunis Summit. Instead, it was decided that existing arrangements
for Internet governance should be kept in place and a transparent,
democratic, and multilateral process, with the participation
of governments, private sector, civil society, international
organizations and all stakeholders should be upheld. The
Summit requested the UN Secretary General to “convene
a new Internet Governance forum for multi-stakeholder policy
dialogue”, which will hold its first meeting in Athens
from 30 October – 2 November 2006. More information
is available at: http://www.intgovforum.org.
In the African context, ECA considers the Internet as a
major tool for development and has been pioneering ICT for
development activities since 1996 in the framework of the
African Information Society Initiative (AISI). This was
reiterated by the "Accra Commitments," adopted
by the African Regional Preparatory Conference on the WSIS
held in Accra in February 2005, where Governments and African
stakeholders exchanged views and visions on the developmental
policy, technical, ethical, societal, security and legal
dimensions etc. related to Internet Governance.
However, Africa’s participation in the global Internet
Governance debate was hindered by its lack of capacity to
negotiate Internet Governance issues during the WSIS process.
This lack of capacity was also evident among delegates from
other developing regions.
To build capacity in this area, ECA, in the framework of
the UN Development Account, is launching a series of training
courses on Internet Governance for African policy-makers,
supported by the Diplo Foundation of Malta, the Canadian
e-Policy Resource Centre (CePRC) and ICANN. Approximately,
35 African Anglophone Permanent Secretaries, Directors and
Advisors will participate in the course. There will be representation
from Angola, Cameroun, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia,
Libya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South
Africa, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The training, to be held from 2-6 July 2006, in the UN Conference
Centre in Addis Ababa, aims to develop the skills and knowledge
required to participate meaningfully in the global debate
on Internet Governance and ICT for Development, in particular
the use and exploitation of the Internet achieve the MDGs.
A second course will be delivered during the second half
of the year for Francophone member States. Online courses
will be available before the end of the year.
It is expected that at the end of the course, African policymakers
would acquire knowledge to facilitate their participation
in the debate on ICT for Development at the national, regional
and international levels, including meaningful contribution
in the newly established Internet Governance Forum and the
Global Alliance on ICT and Development, both created by
the UN Secretary General at the request of member States.
Information on the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society
adopted by world leaders in November 2005 at the second
phase of the WSIS is available at: http://www.itu.int/wsis.
For
more information, please contact Makane Faye, (mfaye@uneca.org)
