Internet Forum Wraps Up In Egypt
The fourth annual Internet Governance Forum wrapped up Wednesday in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Among the major issues that the forum must tackle at its fifth meeting next year is whether to continue the forum, which was created following the United Nation's World Summit on the Information Society in 2005. Sha Zukang, the United Nations undersecretary general for economic and social affairs, sought feedback on whether to continue the forum. After obtaining feedback, the U.N. secretary general will make his recommendations in his annual report to the General Assembly next year on whether to continue the forum.
In a summary of the event from the forum, Sha described the IGF as fostering dialogue by giving voice to a wide range of views and bringing together diverse cultures. Many of the speakers favored continuing the forum, but some would like to see more focus on international public policy issues, increased participation by developing countries, greater transparency, and more focus on the outcomes and the ability to make recommendations on the issues discussed at the forum.
"There is no other forum where governments, civil society groups, and industry can meet and work together on equal footing on the important issues we have been discussing here in Egypt this week," TechAmerica Vice President Liesyl Franz said in a statement. Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tarek Kamel said "with opportunities there were rights and also responsibilities, and in tomorrow's cyberspace the IGF should address important issues such as cross-border security, youth experience, multilingual content, and enhanced broadband capacity in developing countries, among others," according to the forum summary.
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