Internet connectivity underpins global business growth and social inclusion, yet well over two billion people remain offline. ICC champions meaningful connectivity and an open, secure, stable and resilient Internet.
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The Internet enables people and businesses to learn, trade, communicate and access essential services.
Yet well over two billion people remain offline and many more lack the quality of access needed to participate fully in the digital economy.
At the same time, fragmented national approaches and unilateral decision-making risk undermining the global reach of the Internet, increasing business costs and slowing innovation.
At ICC, we advocate for an open, secure, stable and inclusive Internet, underpinned by meaningful connectivity and strengthened through multistakeholder governance.
We believe that policy decisions affecting the Internet are most effective when governments, business, the technical community and civil society work together.
Through ICC’s Business Action to Support the Information Society (BASIS) initiative, we bring the practical expertise of global business into key Internet governance processes – including the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
Our engagement helps shape policies that preserve a single, global Internet and expand access so the digital economy can drive inclusive development for everyone, everywhere.
ICC Global Digital Economy Commission
Timea Suto, Policy Lead – Digital
Meni Anastasiadou, Policy Manager – Digital
Want to be part of shaping the solution?
The Internet has become a foundation for social and economic progress. Yet billions remain unconnected. Infrastructure expansion alone will not close this gap. Achieving universal meaningful connectivity demands pairing infrastructure investments with policies that make adoption and full participation in the digital economy possible – from affordable access and digital skills to content that reflects local needs. Without these conditions, communities remain locked out from accessing forms of education, healthcare, commerce and public services, and the promise of digitalisation to advance global goals falls short. Governments must prioritise strategies that integrate infrastructure expansion with adoption measures, ensuring that connectivity delivers inclusion and growth for everyone.
Achieving meaningful connectivity depends on frameworks that create the enabling conditions for investment and innovation across the digital value chain. Light-touch, evidence-based and pro-competition regulation reduces barriers to entry, strengthens trust and encourages new market players.
Effective spectrum management and predictable, interoperable rules support network expansion, and the emergence of innovative business models and services. By lowering adoption barriers and ensuring open, competitive markets, enabling policy environments provide the certainty and incentives needed to mobilise both public and private investment at scale. These frameworks ensure that digital technologies can deliver long-term benefits for societies, businesses and economies worldwide.
A multistakeholder governance model is the cornerstone of effective Internet governance and digital policy development. When governments, business, technical experts, civil society and the academic community work together, they bring the diversity of expertise needed to shape effective and future-proof digital policy. This collaborative approach underpins progress on expanding meaningful connectivity, safeguarding a globally connected and unfragmented Internet, enabling trusted cross-border data flows, strengthening cybersecurity, tackling cybercrime and advancing responsible AI development.
The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is recognised as one of the key outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) – a two-phase United Nations summit in 2003 and 2005 that established a shared global vision for an inclusive, people-centred information society.
ICC convened the private sector for the Summit and continues to be the voice of global business in all its follow-up processes, including the IGF, where we advocate to:
This guide will support your participation as a business newcomer at the Internet Governance Forum 2025.
This guide will provide you with the business messages that ICC BASIS will bring to the Internet Governance Forum 2025.
ICC has welcomed the adoption, by consensus, of the outcome document of the 20-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society. The document sets out the United Nation’s approach on global digital cooperation. ICC has called on governments and stakeholders to work on establishing policy environments that are open and interoperable, and can support investment and innovation in digitalisation.
AI holds immense potential to accelerate economic prosperity and development. Yet, with an estimated one third of the global population remaining offline, its benefits risk being unevenly distributed. This policy paper sets out practical building blocks for inclusive AI, the role and responsibility of governments and businesses, and recommended policy actions to foster inclusive development and adoption.
The Internet Governance Forum is the only global forum hosting open and inclusive discussions on Internet governance and digital policies. For 19 editions, ICC has mobilised business representatives from across the globe to participate in the forum and was in Riyadh from 15-19 December driving input from business to co-shape the future of the Internet for the benefit of all.
A steady rise in the adoption of electronic Bills of Lading (eBL) has been revealed by the results of a 2024 global survey by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and other FIT Alliance co-founders BIMCO, DCSA, FIATA and SWIFT. Conducted in partnership with the HKUST Li & Fung Supply Chain Institute and the Boston […]
ICC warns of serious flaws in the newly adopted UN Convention against cybercrime.
In an era defined by digital interconnectedness, safeguarding critical infrastructure and essential services has become paramount. This paper delves into the complexities of this critical task and offers actionable insights and a holistic approach to addressing evolving cyber threats. It particularly focuses on striking the right balance between regulation and sustainable controls supported by both the voluntary actions of the private sector and decisive action from governments.
Digital tools and technologies play a crucial role in boosting trade for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Latin America, reveals a new ICC report.
ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO provided insights into the developments emerging from the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Ministerial Meeting (MC13) in Abu Dhabi.
Responding to the European Commission's call for contributions, ICC acknowledges the potential impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual worlds on competition and innovation in the digital economy and highlights the need for appropriate policy instruments to address societal and ethical concerns.
ICC has issued a statement upon conclusion of the World Trade Organization's 13th Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi.
