Experts gathered in Tokyo on 9 May for a conference ahead of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) which will take place in Brazil later this year.

The conference – attended by experts such as Markus Kummer, Executive Coordinator of the IGF secretariat, and Paul Twomey, President and CEO of the International Cooperation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) – gave participants, particularly from Japan, the opportunity to discuss how the multi-stakeholder approach of the IGF can be used at the national level to raise awareness of Internet governance related issues.

Kim Ambler, Vice-Chair of ICC’s Commission on E-Business, IT and Telecoms (EBITT), emphasized ICC’s support of the IGF and the importance of business involvement in Internet governance issues in his remarks to the conference:

“The IGF in Athens gave stakeholder groups from around the world the opportunity to discuss best practices and share thoughts on the way forward on Internet governance related issues. This should continue at future IGF events.”

Mr Ambler went on to say that the IGF gives participants the unique opportunity to present their understanding of what is being done, what has to be done, and how best to do it. “It is an extraordinary formula for constructive discussions that will lead to more informed decisions by all,” he said.

As the voice of global business, ICC and its initiative Business Action to Support the Information Society (BASIS) consider the continued engagement of business, civil society and the technical community in the preparations for the IGF sessions in Rio de Janeiro to be essential.

“BASIS members recognize and value the creation of an open and informative forum for discussion on Internet governance issues by all stakeholders on an equal footing at the first IGF in Athens,” stated Mr Ambler.

The IGF was established to discuss issues of crucial importance to the global development of the Internet and was set up by then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to fulfil one of the commitments laid down by the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis 2005.

In his remarks Mr Ambler complimented Athens on its hosting of the previous IGF in November 2006:

“ The IGF in Athens provided essential logistical, practical, and organizational support. Greece provided the appropriate support in its role as host country and this example should be a template for the future.”

The IGF Tokyo conference was organized by Nippon Keidanren and supported by the United Nations and the GIIC Global Information Infrastructure Commission.

The next Internet Governance Forum will be held in Rio de Janiero from 12-15 November 2007. ICC and BASIS members will participate.