#IGF2016: Internet governance in action

The United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union (ITU) globally co-ordinates telephone services, but not the internet. The internet is managed by private law corporations, such as ICANN. In order to ensure the public accountability of the internet’s management, the UNO Secretary-General has convened since November 2006 every year the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), an annual multi-stakeholder forum for policy dialogue.

It brings together all stakeholders in the internet governance debate, whether they represent governments, the private sector or civil society, including the technical and academic community, on an equal basis and through an open and inclusive process. While there’s no negotiated outcome, the IGF informs and inspires those with policy-making power in both the public and private sectors. At their annual meeting delegates discuss, exchange information and share good practices with each other.

IGF 2016 took place early December in the Mexican town of Guadalajara. ChinaEU sent delegates to the Forum and organized, jointly with ChinaLabs an informal meeting between key policy-makers of the EU and China, participating to the event on 7 December in a top hotel of the town.

The key policymakers from the EU side consisted among others of the European Parliament delegation to the IGF: five members of the ITRE committee, one of each the IMCO and LIBE committees and two of the JURI committee, as well as committee staff and experts from the political groups. Megan Richards and Cristina Monti of the EU Commission were also present, while the Council of Europe was represented by Patrick Penninckx, Head of Department of Information Society. The UNESCO was represented by Hu Xianhong and Guy Berger.

The Chinese Internet sector was represented among other by Fang Xingdong, President of ChinaLabs, Li Xiaodong, Director of the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), Zhong Bu, associate Professor of Pennsylvania State University, Liu Dong, Committee Member of the IEEE Standards Institute, Li Yuxiao, Secretary-General of the CyberSecurity Association of China (CSAC) and Cao Yaxin, Secretary-General of the China Culture Institute of Internet Communication. In addition, former US ambassador David Gross and Professor Eli Noam also participated.

In his keynote speech, Zhong Bu reminded the global weight of the Chinese Internet sector and highlighted the opportunity provided by the yearly Wuzhen World Internet Conference for EU and Chinese stakeholders to set up specific cooperation projects.

On behalf of ChinaLabs, Zhong Bu also presented the to-be-launched new project Journal of Cyber Affairs (JCA), a novel initiative jointly promoted by ChinaLabs and ChinaEU. JCA aims to become an international scholarly journal dedicated to publishing cross-disciplinary research on the impacts and implications of the Internet on global communities, including but not limited to policy making, climate change, health care, poverty, education, humanitarian crises, and cyber security. JCA encourages researchers around the world to take unconventional approaches in studying how the Internet is shaping and redefining human lives, relationships, and national boundaries.

Li Yuxiao presented the exciting conclusions of the Report on World Internet Development 2016, released on 18 November by the 3rd Internet World Conference in Wuzhen.

The report acknowledges the achivements of the Internet development and the benefits that the information era has brought to humanity and the world. At the same time it examines carefully the severe challenges ahead, including the widening of the digital divide, the increasing risks of data leaks and cyberattacks, the multiplication of new forms of cybercrime and cyberterrorism. In conclusion, the report calls for international co-operation in reducing global digital dividends, in promoting mutual respect for cultural diversity, in building international norms and regulations in cybersecurity, as well as in supporting governments, international organizations, internet companies, technology communities, civil organizations, academia, and individuals to participate in the Internet governence.

President of ChinaEU Luigi Gambardella raised the opportunity offered by the review of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA). He reminded that at the TrustTech event in Cannes, the China Information Technology Industry Federation (CITIF) highlighted the urgent need to establish a professional information security personnel training mechanism in China. CITIF also deplored that in China information security awareness lags behind the world average level and that very few purchase information security services.

The Chinese government pledged to make network and information security a national strategy and already introduced of a series of policies and measures to strengthen information security and promote the development of information security industry.

A key priority of China’s internet policy is to ensure cultural diversity. This message was brought by the delegates from the China Culture Institute of Internet Communication (CCIC) at an open forum discussion organized earlier the same day by at the IGF, chaired by Wang Jianchao, Deputy Director-General of Department of International Cooperation of the Cyberspace Administration of China. The CCIC of China had invited Luigi Gambardella as a speaker to share his views with the participants on the opportunities of the Internet to promote cultural diversity and exchanges.

In between a presentation of the unique achievements of the CCIC to digitize Chinese literary tradition and a lively overview of the Maya cultural heritage of Mexico, Gambardella raised the question whether we should still continue to see cultural diversity in terms of linguistic diversity.

He said that on the internet, cultural diversity is increasingly a diversity among age groups: younger internet users do not consume the same services, play the same games as older generations. They develop their own communication codes and patterns, difficult to understand by older generations who have other usage patterns, which differ also strongly from those of occasional internet users.

As in previous years, IGF proved a useful forum for delegates from all players of the internet eco-system to exchange views and experiences, facilitating understanding of the trends that are developing globally. The next IGF meeting will take place in Geneva in December 2017. ChinaEU plans to participate again and report on the progress achieved in its endeavors to strengthen digital cooperation between China and the EU.

The transcript of the China Cultural Diversity Open Forum can be found here.

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