The following are the outputs of the real-time captioning taken during the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in João Pessoa, Brazil, from 10 to 13 November 2015. Although it is largely accurate, in some cases it may be incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. It is posted as an aid to understanding the proceedings at the event, but should not be treated as an authoritative record.
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>> CHAIR: We will now begin the Opening Session of the 10th IGF meeting. We will now proceed with welcome remarks by representatives.
We are going to have now some words of Mr. Virgilio Almeida.
>> VIRGILIO ALMEIDA: Ladies and gentlemen, I will speak a few words. The IGF celebrates here in the sunny and free City of Joao Pessoa its 10th edition. The first IGF was held in 2006, in Athens, when the global Internet had one billion users. Today, ten years later, the overall number exceeds 3.2 billion users, of which two billions in the developing countries. Four billion people in developing countries are still off‑line. In fact, the Internet user is an HackAc expression for, in the not distant future, we expect all citizens should have access to the Internet. I could present a short list of IGF achievements. However, I will point out a few whose impact was significant. Recognition of the multistakeholder nature of the Internet which followed the meeting of the WSIS in 2005 changed the nature of global Internet Governance processes. The expansion of the discussions of the IGF with the inclusion of social, economic and political issues was another achievement.
Various citizens in less central areas of the world held IGF meetings. This helped to quickly disseminate the concepts and innovative ideas of the Internet to the developing world. IGF 2015 has implemented one important innovation. CGI and ISOC launched the youth at IGF initiative, which seeked to strengthen the participation and leadership of young people during the 10th IGF.
Let me ask the 73 young students from Brazil and Latin America to stand up and give them an applause.
(applause).
>> VIRGILIO ALMEIDA: However, I want to take this few minutes to put some basic questions that go beyond the traditional discussions of Internet Governance.
We need to answer a fundamental question. What should we do so that the evolution of the Internet make real difference in the lives of billions of the world's citizens in developing economies and least developed countries.
What must we do so that the Internet of the future effectively contributes to reduce discrimination and economic and social inequalities, which mainly plague the developing world.
We know that Internet access is essential, but not sufficient. We know that access to the current universe of information is essential, but not sufficient. We know that connecting people is important, but not sufficient.
We know a lot about new digital technologies, but we don't know yet how the future Internet can ensure contribution to achieving the 17 goals of sustainable development proposals by the United Nations for 2030.
The central question is, what do we need to do? I don't know the answers. But we do know some clues. We know that the Internet of the future has to make a difference in health, education, employment, security of populations, worldwide, particularly in the developing world. We know that the Internet of the future needs to effectively contribute to the preservation of the environment.
We also know that the concrete benefits of the Internet have not yet achieved a global scale, that the technology allows. The fruits of the evolution of Internet technologies are not fairly distributed. We need to discuss both an ambitious public and private partnership that make a real difference for the disadvantaged populations. The IGF with its multiple views, with its multistakeholder nature, and with its wide diversity and representativeness provides the ideal space to develop a response to the challenge that the evolution of the Internet presents.
On behalf of the Steering Committee of the Internet in Brazil, CGI, I want to welcome all participants and wish them fruitful work at the IGF 2015. Thank you.
>> MODERATOR: Thank you, Mr. Virgilio Almeida. We will now proceed with welcome remarks by representatives of all stakeholder groups. We have 20 people who each will speak for a maximum of six minutes. I ask you to respect this time limit, so that we are able to finish in good time. I remind you from time to time the speaking order was selected by a lottery drawn yesterday. I would like to call Mr. Omer Fatih Sayan, Chairman of the Board, Information and Communication Technologies Authority of Turkey, host of the 2014 IGF meeting. Mr. Sayan, you have the floor.
(applause).
>> OMER FATIH SAYAN: On behalf of the Assistant Secretary‑General, Excellencies, it's a great pleasure for me to be here for the opening of the 10th meeting of the Internet Governance Forum. Having this chance, I would like to express our gratitude to Brazil for the excellent hosting of this meeting. We have been enjoying and I'm sure that we will be enjoying our stay in this beautiful City of Joao Pessoa.
Last year we had the privilege of hosting 9th IGF in Istanbul, Turkey. Over 3500 participants came together on site, and online, to discuss many Internet related issues under the theme of connecting continents for enhanced stakeholder governance drawing inspiration from Istanbul's unique location where continents of Europe and Asia meet. In IGF 2014 human rights issues discussed in detail were IGF participants formulated an input to bring the Human Rights Council on the right to privacy in the digital age and agreed a key message. It was emphasized that there is a need for increased interaction between Government entities and all other interested stakeholders in ongoing and future deliberations on enhancing trust in cyberspace.
To facilitate the connection of currently not connected to Internet, a strong call was made for increased emphasis and inclusion of ICTs and Internet access in the post 2015.
Youth representatives emphasized the need to strengthen existing mechanism that empower youth in attending and engaging in the Internet Governance ecosystem. IGF Sport Association formally launched in Istanbul to achieve sustainable funding mechanism of IGF. IGF 2014 has also introduced numerous stakeholders to Internet Governance ecosystem and created a new global dynamism. We believe that the successful outcomes of Istanbul IGF 2014 will be a useful input for IGF 2015 here.
The Internet is an important contributor for sustainable growth, innovation and development. Based on discussions to accept the right to Internet access as a fundamental human right, to that extent, I am very proud to share Turkey's major set of goals within her strategic vision of 2030 regarding ICT.
These goals include expanding the economic among the global top ten transformation to knowledge-based society, building an international hub for ICTs, maintaining ICT base, economic growth and enhancing high‑speed broadband access for all.
Among these goals as a G20 member Turkey is holding G20 this year and G20 leader summit will take place this weekend in Turkey. The Internet economy has always been a hot topic in meetings.
In line with that vision, Turkey takes strong steps in order to create a fully transformed country using ICT in eGovernment services, we recently successfully held IMT advanced auction by which operators will provide IMT services enhancing high‑speed mobile Internet, and the further the value of added mobile services, and applications in Turkey.
We also aim to give one of the first 5G services by 2020. In today's world, data usage proliferates exponentially in both mobile and fixed networks thanks to the new applications, products and services, especially network neutrality discussions and over the top services revolutionalize the way of delivering ICT services. OTT services created a value, but on the other hand, they affect the whole broadband ecosystem, in particular the network operators' revenues and ability to finance network deployment.
We like all stakeholders in particular countries which have no specific rules and approaches to net neutrality to discuss these issues to evaluate pros and cons. It is important to provide rules for guaranteeing the right of Internet access in order to express their opinions freely of the citizens.
It is also equally important to respect privacy and data protection in the Internet. We should protect the balance between such kind of personal rights, and data driven, innovation and economy. That approach will unlock the economic value of personal data on one side, and foster economic growth on the other side.
I hope IGF handles this issue in its meeting, further to overcome challenges. There is an increasing trend in the number of people online. Online safety is becoming a critical issue for everyone. Kids have specific needs and vulnerabilities with regard to online safety, enabling a safe online environment for kids has many aspects, close collaboration between governmental institutions, network operators, Internet service providers, private sector and NonGovernmental Organizations is inevitable.
We need to work together to prevent any illegal action, especially terrorism of all kinds where Internet is used as a means of communication. Terrorism has no religion or language. All multistakeholders should evaluate policies and have special rules for international cooperation in combating this. In this respect we expect utmost support from the representatives of social media companies, in order to prevent utilization of Internet as a tool of propaganda, by terrorist organizations such as Isis. We believe that protecting the rights of Internet users against illegal content would be a great contribution to the development of Internet economy. Intermediaries should also fulfill their responsibilities in the implementation of national laws to combat with illegal content of the Internet. Close cooperation with the international organizations, governments, NGOs and international Internet intermediary required to combat illegal use of Internet. I draw your attention to creating multistakeholder governments both on national and international level in order to give each stakeholder equal rights and responsibilities regarding to Internet related issues, because of the transition and ICANN accountability period we experienced most importance of having equal voice regarding the Internet Governance at global level.
IGF 2015 will be the perfect place for multistakeholder Internet Governance, deep dives. Taking this opportunity, I would like to underline that IGF meetings provide splendid environment for fruitful discussions, fleshing out ideas, sharing ideas and exchanging experiences in very established manner. Turkey strongly supports the continuation of IGF and encourages all stakeholders to join us in supporting extension of IGF's mandate under the UN.
I would like to conclude my words by wishing a successful meeting and look forward to joining the discussions in parallels throughout the week. Thank you very much for your attention.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you. The next speaker on my list is His Excellency, Bambang Heru Tjahjono, Deputy Minister of ICT Applications, Ministry of Science, Information and Technology of Indonesia. Your Excellency, you have the floor.
>> BAMBANG HERU TJAHJONO: Excellencies, Under‑Secretary general, Excellency, Mr. Virgilio Almeida, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished participants, it is really an honor for me to be invited and speak in front of this very distinguished audience of the Opening Session of the 10th IGF held in Joao Pessoa, Brazil today.
Ladies and gentlemen, to start with, allow me to congratulate the Government for hosting this event successfully.
I believe following the successful result of the NETMundial global conference last year in Sao Paulo where the Indonesian ICT Ministry attended, this IGF will be successful too.
Indonesia firmly believes that the finest ICT ecosystems should be based upon working principles, the global ICT community embraces the principles such as people centered inclusive transparent, equal, and benefit for all mankind. This is the essence of the development oriented information society.
Along with the effective and affordable ICT ecosystem, our works in WSIS and other venue will contribute positively to the achievement of Post‑2015 Development Agenda that sets the ambitious target in empowering Sustainable Development Goals, the summit will certainly continue to serve that purpose.
Ladies and gentlemen, as part of our effort to enhance policies, Indonesia continues to strengthen its ICT policy and regulation. Indonesia has formulated a Indonesian plan, to create a better foundation for our ecosystem by 2019.
The plan seeks to harness the full potential through the creation of national logistic and transportation system. It is worth to mention that in line with the implementation of Indonesian event plan we are establishing national e‑commerce roadmap in order to enhance the ICT based creative industries. This we believe is a significant steppingstone to what Indonesia could plan. In year 2014, we have reached 18 billion U.S. dollar; in expected tourist 24 billion U.S. dollar this year.
Ladies and gentlemen, Indonesia would like to be one of the biggest users and players in the ICT market. For instance, mobile user of cellular market is rapidly increasing, with a penetration rate estimated from 150 percent of the total population, reaching approximately 350 million subscriptions.
Meanwhile, the number of Internet users has reached 88.1 millions while the broadband has reached 48 million. It is expected to hit 30 percent this year and 70 percent by 2025. As part of our ambition, state and telecommunication operator in my country is planning to put another 20 million in access starting this year.
These vehicles have contributed to Indonesia economic growth of 5.6 percent since 2009, the second highest in the G20.
The growth is also parallel with the quality of ICT spending that treats 32.8 billion U.S. dollar in 2013, and 38 ‑‑ 36.9 billion U.S. dollar in 2014, or 12.5 percent positive growth. Ladies and gentlemen, underlying the importance of existing Internet Governance framework, Indonesia continues to support multistakeholder approach that engages governments, private business, Civil Society, and other components in the ICT ecosystem. Internet Governance has to be an impetus to ICT that respects the laws and embrace norms and principle of good governance and based on a set of ethics.
I would like to conclude by expressing for a betterment of our people, to a strong effective and affordable ICT ecosystem, which is inclusive, transparent, equal, and people centered. These are reminding the foundation of our work today, and days to come.
Therefore, let me once again stress Indonesia's strong commitment to strengthen to be an active participant in the IGF. We continue to be working with all stakeholders and we are pleased to be able to offer a multistakeholder Forum for open discussion of this and any other issue.
So let's continue working together to ensure that the entire world people can benefit from equitable, affordable and safe access to Internet. Thank you very much.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you, Your Excellency.
The next speaker on my list is Ms. Ellen Blackler, Vice President for Global Public Policy of the Walt Disney Company. You have the floor.
>> ELLEN BLACKLER: Boa tarde. I'm Ellen Blackler. I work for the Walt Disney Company. And I'm speaking for the BASIS initiative of the International Chamber of Commerce, whose global network reaches 6 million companies of all sizes and sectors across 130 countries. Representatives of the private sector come to the IGF each year to engage with all our colleagues in Civil Society, Government, and the technical community, build common understanding of the opportunities and challenges presented by the evolution of the information society, and Internet economy, and identify policy options to address those challenges and leverage those opportunities.
ICC and the individual businesses that travel to the IGF each year are committed to the goals of the WSIS and to creating a path for continued, sustainable and inclusive growth for the digital economy.
These goals can be best achieved by working cooperatively across all stakeholders. We support and advocate for effective and impactful multistakeholder approaches to Internet Governance. Progress towards our joint goals will be most successful when business, the technical community, Government and Civil Society each have an active role in the development and assessment of policy issues and solutions. This inclusion lowers the risk of unintended consequences, increases legitimacy, and facilitates implementation.
Critical to our ability to deliver on the potential for inclusive and sustainable growth of the digital economy is our ability to create an enabling environment for investment, creativity and innovation in the development and deployment of broadband infrastructure and the products and services which use it.
Key elements of that enabling environment are, interoperable policy and legal frameworks rooted in the rule of law, respect for human rights, the encouragement of open and competitive markets throughout the digital value chain, a safe and secure ecosystem that engenders confidence of all users in network availability, reliability and resiliency, one that protects businesses, consumers and other users from crime and delivers effective Cybersecurity practices and policies.
Where those components are in place, we are best positioned to advance an inclusive open Internet that serves Sustainable Development Goals. This enabling environment as well as sharing a recognition of the important role of voluntary commercial agreements and policies that promote efficiency through engineering driven design will best drive investment and improve the availability of the infrastructure for connectivity, a central need for developing economies, looking to create a sustainable broadband ecosystem. It will also best encourage continued innovation in the services, technologies and business models that further reduce costs, increase bandwidth and drive adoption. A positive enabling environment will increase the creation and availability of locally relevant content, resources and tools in all the world's languages, increasing adoption, and allowing more users to realize the full potential of participating online.
Protections for the freedom of expression, the press, privacy, and intellectual property, the development of e‑commerce infrastructure, consumer protections, entrusted online payment systems are all important elements of an enabling environment for the investment in that content.
This positive enabling environment is critical to greater progress for full participation in the digital economy of the one billion people around the globe living with a disability, who continue to experience a variety of barriers to accessing ICTs, and for women, and others, who find themselves on the wrong side of persistent digital divides, for the protection of children, and for the increased efforts to deliver capacity building and skills development. The private sector is a critical partner in our efforts to reach those goals and we look forward to thoughtful and informative dialogue around Connecting the Next Billion, this week and in future IGFs for more years to come. Obrigada.
>> MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next speaker is Mr. Tian Lin, Head of Delegation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. Mr. Lin, you have the floor.
(applause).
>> TIAN LIN: Thank you to the moderator. Ladies and gentlemen, I would initially like to represent the Chinese committee, congratulate on the success of the event, and thank the Brazilian Government and the Secretariat for this organization. It is a great result of WSIS, IGF is holding its 10th meeting to promote its special function of promoting international Internet Governance. The Chinese Government supports its mandate and calls for active participation of various stakeholders to strengthen its real function, and promoting a multistakeholder platform, diverse, and transparency.
Well, international Internet is the new debate in the world, to build a world in peace, open, cooperative, and it's cyberspace. The Chinese part believes in four points. First, respect to sovereignty. Internet Governance does not change the principle of sovereignty that is part of the UN Charter. The principle of sovereignty should be also applied within the Internet space. Each country and each Government has the right to have its own legislation, according to the local situation. No other country can intervene in another country, harming its interests.
And clarifying the principle of sovereignty in the Internet Governance helps building healthy environment for international cooperation.
The second point: Equality. Let us not divide the country. No matter how big it is, each country should have equal rights. It should respect the right to develop the Internet, the right of national and international governance, especially increase the help to developing countries, so they can resolve or overcome the digital divide, so that the access can be made popular, in creating a space where human beings can be the center, an inclusion digital society.
The third point is multi‑lateral participation. Internet is the common home of humanity. Only with a contribution of all can we actually benefit the best. The Government has the role of leadership. The Government combines the problems and defines the policies towards its resolutions.
The Internet related companies must have their responsibilities, and experts can support them, and Internet users must have an active participation, both for building and protecting them.
And also, have the right of freedom of expression, but anyhow, they have to comply with the laws.
The fourth point, joint governance. Internet belongs to each and every one. This means that everybody works towards building governance. Internet Governance is a important agenda of global governance. Thus, the construction of a fair and appropriate system is an important task.
It is a task that should never fail to envisage transparency, multi‑laterality, and also democracy.
Being a country that has 600 million Internet users, we build, use and contribute to the Internet. We participate in an active way of the deliberative Forum at the UN to create the civil or the legal frameworks from the 16th to 18th of December. The office of digital information in China will organize a Forum with a theme, Internet activity, shared governance and creation, and Internet Governance.
I'd like to invite you all to take part of our event, so that we can all together create an increasingly healthier environment on the Internet. Thank you all very much.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you, Mr. Lin. The next speaker on my list is His Excellency, Andrus Ansip, Vice President of the European Commission in charge of the Digital Single Market.
Your Excellency, you have the floor.
>> ANDRUS ANSIP: Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure to be here for you today at the Internet Governance Forum at this point in time. I would like to thank all the organizers of this event.
Earlier this year we adopted in Europe a Digital Single Market strategy. This strategy reflects the importance of the digital economy to growth and having the right environment available to achieve this.
The governance of the Internet is fundamental to ensuring that our strategy is successful. But governance of the Internet is important for all of us. It is about how we, people, governments, companies, want the Internet to be and shaping it according to that vision.
The Internet has become a common food for humanity, bringing its benefits to everyone should be our common goal.
Internet Governance must make sure the Internet remains a global, open and free space, a space where people enjoy the same rights as they do off‑line, and have the same degree of protection.
We need to make online opportunities open to all by closing the digital divide, guaranteeing equal access and allowing everyone to benefit.
We must use the digital revolution to really empower sustainable development. And the recent Sustainable Development Agenda reflects that. Next month, the UN General Assembly will review ten years of progress since the World Summit on the Information Society, and decide on the future of the Internet Governance Forum. For me the IGF provides the ideal space for all parties involve to discuss Internet Governance issues openly and to shape our common vision for the Internet together.
This is why its mandate should be extended for ten years. Here in Brazil, one and a half years ago, we saw the NETMundial statements produced. This stimulated our reflections on Internet Governance. It set out our common principles and values and outlined a way forward.
While the global Internet community has started to turn the vision into reality, even more focus and energy is still needed. The European Union is committed and ready to work, together with all parties, to operationalize a shared governance of the Internet based on clear, fair and transparent rules.
But we also must not forget the most fragile and vulnerable. In particular people in developing countries, and Civil Society, need to participate more in Internet Governance.
We want to build more capacity and confidence. This is why the European Commission has devoted a significant budget to support to the Global Internet Policy Observatory. To reach these goals we will also work with other similar initiatives.
As you know, changes at ICANN are taking place. Much progress has been made in developing a bottom up multistakeholder proposal to transfer oversight of the IANA functions to the whole community.
The global community has shown incredible dedication in this effort which also demonstrates how the multistakeholder model can work in practice.
Now, we just need to finalize work on improvements to ICANN accountability. We must not lessen our efforts to reach this goal.
The task is not easy. But it is worth it. It is only by including and involving everyone, all interested parties, that we can face and address the challenges of an ever interconnected and globalized world.
Thank you. Obrigado.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you, Mr. Ansip. The next speaker is Her Excellency, Hlengiwe Buhle Mkhize, Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Department of Telecommunications and the Postal Service of South Africa. Your Excellency, you have the floor.
>> HLENGIWE BUHLE MKHIZE: Program director, thank you very much. Firstly, I would like to thank the host country, and the IGF Secretariat, for their excellent planning of this year's Internet Governance Forum. As South Africa, we are extremely grateful to be part of this high level opening.
Coming back to the topic, due to its multi‑national scope and cross‑cutting applications, ICTs have become a critical tool for sustainable development, especially for developing countries, and I'm making special reference also to Africa. We have seen how the Internet has changed people's lives and circumstances. Since the second phase of WSIS, developing countries have made strides with access to the Internet. This is evident by the increase of mobile penetration in the African continent and the mobile applications that have been developed such as M‑pesa. Having said that, as we move forward to the cognizance of the many challenges ahead of us, some of the most vulnerable people especially in rural areas still do not have access.
This lack of access is underpinned by challenges of affordability, lack of relevant content, insufficient infrastructure, especially in areas that are not economically active, the rise in Cybercrime and lack of trust in the online environment.
As governments, it is important to ensure that people have affordable access to the Internet, and that their policies developed, create an enabling environment.
In South Africa in particular, we are in the process of implementing South Africa Connect, which in part addresses broadband rollout in rural areas, and also take into account the whole ecosystem, ensuring that there is relevant content, skills development, digital opportunities, to mention but a few.
This is an inclusive agenda, with clear targets for 2020 and 2030. Significant strides are being made in enhancing the education and awareness of our users in line with Government's commitment to ensure that our people are safe and they feel safe. Within the multi‑lateral fora we are searching cooperation with African union and Briggs partners through existing mechanisms. South Africa is of the view that there is a void created by the lack of an international instrument dealing with Cybersecurity and Cybercrime.
The Budapest convention and the AU convention on Cybersecurity have their merits and can be utilized to elaborate an effective international instrument that can be accessed and owned equally by member states.
South Africa supports the WSIS vision of creating a program centered inclusive and development oriented information society, and has embraced it as an available tool to bring up economic information.
We developed an information society and development plan in 2007, to provide a national roadmap for the attainment of the WSIS action lines. The objective is to realize an information infrastructure that will meet the needs of citizens, business and the private sector, providing access to the wide range of services required for effective social and economic participation.
In line with the WSIS vision, ICTs are now a key component in the national development plan and vision 2030. In preparation for the 10th year reviews, South Africa is to report on its achievements of the WSIS outcomes to reflect on progress made, and contemplate on future goals and opportunities arising from new technologies.
Looking ahead to the review in December, South Africa would like to see more emphasis on privatization of Africa and other developing countries, capacity‑building, and investment in backbone infrastructure to drive economic development, improved quality of access, addressing ICT illiteracy, education and innovation, bridging the gender and digital gap between and within countries.
Further to this, the outcome document should be aligned to the 2030 agenda as ICTs underpins the achievement of all 17 SDGs.
Equally so, South Africa is committed to sustainable development by implementing economic transformation to ensure that the youth meaningfully participate in the economy through job creation in the ICT sector. We see human capital development as a key factor in fostering inclusion. South Africa would like to thank the Brazilian Government and the IGF Secretariat for convening this meeting as it brings together all critical stakeholders in the Internet community, each with their own valuable contribution to take the discussions forward.
We believe that we all have a role to play in line with the roles and responsibilities contained in the Tunis Agenda. Obrigada.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you. The next speaker on my list is Mr. Hossam Elgahmal, Board Member and Treasurer, Africa Information and Communication Technologies Alliance, AfiCTA.
You have the floor.
>> HOSSAM ELGAHMAL: Distinguished guests, I'd like to begin by thanking our host, Brazil, for their warm welcome and to IGF Secretariat, and UN DESA, and to many stakeholders for their invaluable part in the preparation of this year's Forum on Internet Governance.
My name is Hossam Elgahmal. I am a Egyptian entrepreneur, who founded several ICT SMEs, and I'm also a board member of the African ICT alliance, that gathers the business community from over 20 African countries. I am on the IGF MAG, and I am part of the leadership of business action to support information society, an initiative led by the International Chamber of Commerce, known as ICC BASIS.
I'm pleased to have this opportunity to share my perspective as a SME and as an entrepreneur from a developing country.
Rapid changes in ICTs and Internet connectivity have made it possible for SMEs with minimal infrastructure investment to scale up and to trade across borders, entering the global economy.
The kinds of connectivity benefits for SMEs include, reaching customers and diversifying markets, accessing timely market information, creating new opportunities and means to innovate, bringing more women entrepreneurs into the marketplace, realizing agility and responsiveness to market vulnerabilities, crowdsourcing ideas and funds for specific projects, and access to Internet and mobile banking services.
In short, ICTs and the Internet are helping SMEs around the world to become more productive and more commercially competitive than ever before.
And this is of great benefit to all the society. Still more needs to be done from a policy perspective to ensure better access that is competitive, stable and secure.
Micro, small and medium‑sized enterprises are vectors for job creation, particularly for women and for youth. And because 90 percent of all companies around the world are SMEs, and 60 percent of all the world's employees are employed by SMEs, more must be done to engage SME community, particularly in developing economies.
Every effort should also be made to enhance the capacity of women to access and use the Internet. According to one study, enabling Internet access to another 150 million women and girls has a potential to open up a market opportunity between 50 and $70 billion, that would support developing economies.
Bringing the next billion online to benefit from the information society requires, among other things, policy support for swifter access, reducing ICT investment risks, enhancing capacity building, facilitating local business innovation, encouraging local content creation, and strengthening institutional capacities.
Also international multistakeholder policies support is necessary and required to address Cybersecurity and privacy, to maintain a stable, secure and trusted Internet.
There are many great stories to tell about the potential of the Internet and how it has changed lives of people in developing countries.
We can speak of health and the mobile applications saving lives from epidemic diseases in Nigeria, or the telemedicine local solutions providing consultations and diagnoses improving care to patients in remote underdeveloped areas in Egypt. We can speak of education, and examples of local eLearning platforms and content made available to bridge the knowledge gap and improve equality through access for the least developed regions.
The Internet enables also funding alternatives such as crowdsourcing for innovative solutions, and creating an advanced and healthy ecosystem for young entrepreneurs.
Much has been achieved to date, but there is certainly more to do ahead to connect the next billion and more.
The IGF is so meaningful to the business community, including SMEs. At this Forum we have a unique opportunity to engage in a candid and constructive discussion with governments, the technical community, academics and Civil Society, all contributing valuable perspective.
This method of dynamic and substantive exchange must be safeguarded so that every stakeholder, including small business, can further harvest the benefits of connected ICTs.
At this crucial juncture in the history of the IGF we must encourage effort to bring Internet access to all global citizens improving cultural diversity, expanding local content and developing tools that promote access for those with disadvantages.
Getting more SMEs and start‑ups from developing countries engaged would certainly give opportunity to discuss challenges firsthand, as well as local industry success stories. This will help to better shape policies to enable the information society in developing countries and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
I very much look forward to working with all of you to advance on this important topic and I wish you a most enriching IGF, and thank you again for this opportunity to address you today. Thank you.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you. The next speaker is Mr. Shola Taylor, Secretary‑General, the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation. Mr. Taylor, you have the floor.
>> SHOLA TAYLOR: Your Excellencies, all protocols do accept, let me first of all thank the present Government and IGF Secretariat for this excellent arrangement.
I also would like to congratulate the 73 young Brazilians who are participating at this event, for being lucky to be part of the future of the Internet.
Your Excellencies, just last year in March, the Commonwealth ICT ministers gave a mandate to the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation to ensure a constructive engagement on global ICT agenda. Just last week in Geneva, the CTU led a constructive engagement with other members of the global community, to ensure that spectrum, additional spectrum is allocated to services on an equal basis.
When the ministers met last year, Commonwealth ministers, they decided on a number of principles which they would support, they recognized and appreciate the central role which cyberspace plays in facilitating development and promoting linkages amongst people, communities and cultures. They expressed their willingness to subscribe to the openness, decentralized and distributed nature of the cyberspace which empowers the individual, fosters innovation, and also ensure that it empowers everyone that is involved in the Internet. Bound by a set of common values, the Commonwealth is to set an example of a complex collection of people, ideals and cultures, working together in harmony.
In recognition and in pursuance of the ministers' mandates the ministers adopted four principles which will guide cyber governance. They are as follows. 1, we contribute to a safe and effective global cyberspace. 2, our actions in cyberspace supports broader economic and social developments. 3, we act individually and collectively to tackle Cybercrime. 4, we each exercise our rights and meets our responsibilities in cyberspace.
Today, this model provides useful guidance to Commonwealth countries, in certain practical action. We also note that enjoyment of the benefits of cyberspace relies upon its safety, security, and resilience. It is highly concerning to see the cyberspace being used today as a vehicle for crime. However, the necessary security measures to tackle these challenges may be intentioned with the very features that have made cyberspace a success.
It is definitely important to determine an equitable balance, and this is shared, this is based on the shared common values. This, these are the values upon which the, cornerstone upon which the Commonwealth based its values. As a result of that, the city has built the cyber Commonwealth approach to develop Cybersecurity strategies on a national basis. And this serves as a model not only to Commonwealth countries but also nonmembers.
I'm delighted to inform you that this model is being used to develop national Cybersecurity strategies, in Botswana and Cameroon and Fiji and Uganda.
As we head towards Commonwealth heads of Government meeting next month, towards this month in Malta, we look back at a period of highly constructive engagement with the globalized community. It is pertinent to note that the theme of the Commonwealth heads of state meeting is adding global value. CTU is proud to have been about providing values to the whole spectrum of ICTs including cyberspace. It's encouraging to note the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals, recognizing the potential of cyberspace by setting the specific goal to provide affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by the year 2020.
Working together in partnership, with respect and value of all stakeholders regardless of their size, appreciating their strengths, I'm certain that cyberspace will continue to grow as a platform to bring people together and as a tool for social, economic development.
The past has been exciting, but the future will be more exciting. I'd like to conclude my statement with a quote from George Bernard Shaw's Methusulah, you see things and you say why. But I dream things that never was and I say, why not.
Today, let's ask ourselves why not. Thank you, Obrigado.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you, Mr. Taylor. Our next speaker is Mr. Fadi Chehade, CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN. You have the floor.
>> FADI CHEHADE: Minister Virgilio Almeida, Secretary Chengetai Masango and Mr. Koulov, thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I've said before that cyberspace is dead, because there is no such thing now as cyberspace. All space is now cyber. Everything. The Internet is like a powerful river that has permeated every aspect of life and every aspect of the economy. And like a powerful river, we may all try to govern it as we use that wonderful word, govern it. But governing a river is difficult. A river is powerful.
It can be maybe constrained. You could put walls, you could put dams, you could put bridges, you could put tunnels, you could come up with agreements on how to share it. But you cannot stop a river.
The Internet today is such a powerful river. Now, we are here at the Internet Governance Forum because one of the things we are trying to figure out is how to govern that powerful resource. And let me tell you that it is not easy right now.
Let me divide the governance of this powerful resource into two parts. One part is about how the Internet works. Let's call it the technical part. And one part about governing what runs on the Internet. And when it comes to the technical part, I think things are pretty much coming into order. Most of the world sees the various organizations, whether it's the IETF or the ITU or the regional Internet registries or ICANN, IANA, all these functions as working relatively well.
Yes, we need to improve the accountability. Yes, we need to make ICANN independent with its functions. All of this is in the works. I can assure you that this program certainly to make ICANN independent and make it strong and accountable is on track and should be done next year.
But now, we move to what is on the Internet, and that has nothing to do with what ICANN, the IETF and these organizations do day in and day out.
Who will govern that? Who will decide on the many issues on running things on the Internet? Where will these mechanisms be built? What organizations will be needed? How will we do it and include governments, businesses, users, Civil Society and everyone? How do we do that?
It's not simple.
If you think it's been hard to get the technical part of the Internet governed, I can assure you that the challenges ahead are even bigger, because the issues of Cybersecurity, child protection, trade, taxation, and the list is long. In fact there is 90 of them exactly, are not simple to manage.
What will it take? How do we get there?
I believe that it will take public/private partnerships. It will take multistakeholder involvement, and it will take more than anything, trust. We need to build trust, because without trust, we will not be able to build together a safe Internet for everyone. Today there is a lack of trust. In fact, all the studies are showing that the confidence and trust in the digital space is going down. Why is it going down? Because it's not clear who is in charge, it is not clear what policies are affecting people, privacy issues, security issues are growing, and if we don't catch this early, we will start our digital century with a lack of trust.
We are here at the IGF to build trust.
This is a hopeful place. Here, in this room, we have governance, we have private sector, Civil Society and technical people working together to build trust. We need the IGF and we need spaces like the IGF to continue building this trust. So from this will rise the mechanisms, the rules, the institutions, whatever it takes, so that we can govern what is on the Internet as well as we have governed what is in the Internet. I wish us all luck. Build trust. Reach out across the aisle. Talk to people that you normally don't talk to. But we are all here together, no decisions need to be made. But trust should be built right here.
>> MODERATOR: the next speaker is Joana Varon Ferraz.
>> JOANA VARON FERRAZ: Hello. All protocols have been addressed. I would like to extend my general greetings for all the participants, and correct my affiliation. I'm actually researcher and human rights advocate, and founder director of Coding Rights which is a female organization focused in advancing the enforcement of human rights in the digital world by integrating usages and understandings of technology into policymaking process.
I have to say a few weeks ago, we were surprised by a E‑mail saying that I've been nominated by my colleagues for this Opening Session. When I got the news, the first thing that crossed my mind were memories from when I attended my first IGF back in 2007, here in Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro.
It was just nine years ago, but as much as I changed, I got some trust from Civil Society colleagues that nominated me to be here today, the Internet has also changed a lot. And we have great innovations, more people connected, indeed, different kind of smart devices, but I'm concerned. The Internet was built with the core value of connectivity to be open, interoperable.
But our Internet is becoming more and more centralized, sometimes, by the action of governments, but mostly by market powers. That aspect poses problems to those core values that were originally embedded in the architecture of the Internet poses problems, protection and promotion of human rights, and also represents challenges to the Internet Governance processes.
Particularly concerning, how we address our endless search for the beloved utopia of a Democratic multistakeholder participation.
Mostly considering this from the mental power imbalances within the various stakeholder groups, some concerns, human rights and from the mental technical values for the Internet architecture, like end‑to‑end interoperability, confidentiality and many others are being solved, in this progressively more centralized Internet, coined by profit and control.
I give some examples of such centralization trends. In terms of connectivity, for instance, at least in developing countries or emerging economies, connectivities are still centralized in the hands of very few telecommunication companies. We need to discuss alternatives to this such as public regime for Internet services, discuss free spectrum, usage of cognitive radios. We have technologies for that. And I was glad that there was a particular plenary addressing this issue in this edition of IGF already.
Furthermore, we need to understand that Zero‑Rating practices are not the solution to the digital divide. There are people, particularly from developing countries, that practically only access one service and think it's Internet.
Imagine if this perception would escalate. So, please let's not sell donkeys pretending they are horses. Internet org is not Internet, free basics is not free; we are paying for it.
It is more like ‑‑
(applause).
It's more like you are basically getting free of your rights, the right to access global and free Internet.
So, we not only need open connectivity. We also really need implementable net neutrality. And in particular the representatives, Brazilian Government representatives that are here, I'd like to ask for them to please consider that there is a urgency to have a regulation of Marco Civil that decree that hopefully would set the tone about that.
Marco Civil was an example in terms of process and content worldwide, but without regulation, it is in danger, mostly by market practices.
Another example of decentralization is related to freedom of expression and privacy. As Special Rapporteur David Kaye said today and I find appealing, while we are reading a newspaper, the newspapers today, the newspapers is also reading us. All this data, data, our digital shadow, our powerful tool, that can be used against us, either by framing us, framing our will, or to be used for pressure or clashing groups of descent.
So while we have never been more connected, we have also never been so exposed as in the digital world, and pervasive surveillance, weak enforcement for data protection or discourse of Cybersecurity and terrorism does not make the perspectives very good. We need strong and enforceable data protection views, and here I call attention again to the situation in Brazil, we need to deliver our data protection bill. There was a result of a public consultation to the legislative, they have to approve as soon as possible so we have coherence with national and international agenda in the protection of digital rights or privacy rights.
We also need to understand and ensure that encryption and anonymity can and should be preserved. We need to solve jurisdictional conflicts to ensure that protection of freedom of expression and privacy are not dependent on companies. We need to move forward with transparent and accountable IANA transition towards a global system.
And beyond policy approaches to human rights, we need to inform these principles for the development of technology. Technology is not neutral. We need to consider that what does it mean to have human rights considerations for standards and protocols.
We need to foster free software; as it has been said in sessions here, if we cannot see, we cannot trust it.
We need to work more closely to technical community to understand or at least expose the implications about what they do, and human rights.
Finally, we need more women and more diversity within those who develop technologies.
(applause).
And create policies for technologies. This imbalance is already very expressive in this Opening Session, in which you can count four women.
So to wrap my points, all this list of issues that can be developed further and further represent the challenges that are increasing, to protect and promote human rights and the core values of the architecture of the Internet in face of decentralization.
My final consideration for us to have in mind is, what is the Internet Governance system that can address all this? What is the role of IGF facing these issues?
IGF is indeed a unique space for multistakeholder dialogue. But we need to fulfill them in data of IGF as provided in the Tunis Agenda. We are currently in the process of reviewing the WSIS+10, where this issue can be addressed.
But the renewal of IGF cannot be used as a maintenance of the status quo, in which the Internet Governance ecosystem remains the same. No one can solve the issues that I have raised so far. The Internet that we were discussing during WSIS process in 2003 and 5, and later on here in Brazil, in IGF 2017, is not the same.
The challenges to maintaining a free, open and decentralized network have never been bigger, and the solution is related to access, whether the institutional arrangements that we built are able to protect and promote human rights, and enable us to maintain technical values that inspire the creation of the Internet.
I hope in these days to come, we can discuss this and other issues further, with all the reasons they require but not only discuss really, let us also protest freely. This is also political space. I've been looking and saw some Civil Society representatives are being harassed and taken out of the venue due to attempt of silent protest around free basics. It is a bit unacceptable in a context in which we are discussing free speech.
So please, let's let people who cannot be on the stage also symbolically express their key questions regarding the future of Internet in front of high level panels like this.
I hope this issue can be solved quickly.
Finally, let us also use this space to think what institutional arrangements are needed to move forward beyond the status quo, in order to reverse the strength of centralization of the Internet. Let us try to put at least many of the beautiful words that were said here and look good in paper, in practice, towards a real people‑centered, open, free, global and inclusive Internet.
Thank you so much.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next speaker is Mr. Lawrence Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, of the United States Department of Commerce.
You have the floor.
>> LAWRENCE STRICKLING: Thank you. At the outset, I want to congratulate our host nation, Brazil, as the first country to have hosted two meetings of the Internet Governance Forum. I think it is fitting that Brazil with its strong tradition of supporting multistakeholder Internet Governance be the first country to earn this honor.
Over the past ten years, the IGF has proven itself to be an indispensable platform for addressing Internet issues. Each year I look forward to attending the IGF and meeting with this very diverse collection of stakeholders to tackle the challenges facing the Internet. This year I am pleased to see important innovations in the IGF intersessional work on items such as the best practices forums, and the IGF policy options document on connecting the next billion to the Internet. These and other innovations will definitely enrich our conversations this week.
As we mark the ten‑year anniversaries of WSIS and the IGF, it's important to take stock of where we have come, and the challenges ahead.
There is much to celebrate in how the Internet has evolved into a platform for global economic growth, innovation and free speech. The open Internet is helping the economies and societies of both developed and developing nations. Not only has it created a dynamic and growing digital economy it has transformed just about every facet of our day‑to‑day lives.
Every one of us has a stake in ensuring the continued growth, job formation and wealth creation that an open Internet brings. In the United States we attribute that success in large part to the bottom‑up multistakeholder approach to resolving technical and policy challenges facing the Internet. This is why we are such strong supporters of the IGF, one of the preeminent international examples of this approach, and have called for an extension of the IGF that is consistent with its original mandate.
We are pleased that so many countries have echoed this call, and if collectively we continue to support multistakeholder Internet Governance, if we make it more inclusive of developing countries and more responsive to all stakeholders, then we can truly achieve the information society we envisioned ten years ago.
In the United States we are committed to multistakeholder Internet Governance as convincingly evidenced by our announcement in March of 2014 that the U.S. Government would transition its historical stewardship role over the Internet Domain Name System to the global multistakeholder community. Since that time the response from the community of technical experts, academics, Civil Society and industry has been nothing short of inspiring.
Over the past year and a half stakeholders have worked hundreds of hours to complete a transition proposal that meets the criteria we have outlined and we are hopeful that working groups will complete their work in the coming weeks.
This work has been tiring, sometimes contentious and perhaps exasperating. It's no doubt not an easy task, but it is an important one. And all of us should appreciate the effort and level of commitment demonstrated by all of the participants in the process. Most importantly, this process is working. I am confident it will be successful and it will be a testament to the strength of the multistakeholder process when the transition is completed.
But even with the growth of international support for multistakeholder governance, there is continued cause for concern. Freedom House's newest report on Internet freedom finds Internet freedom around the world is in decline for a fifth consecutive year. More governments are censoring information from their citizens in attempting to put up barriers to the open Internet within their borders.
The growth of sophisticated malware and other Cybersecurity threats, the need to protect the privacy of Internet users and the online theft of intellectual property on line have challenged Government's ability to balance important interests with the equally important need for openness. Governments increasingly feel compelled to do something they see as meaningful to protect their citizens and their businesses from these threats.
But regrettably in their attempts to do something, governments sometimes rush to put up digital walls between their countries and the rest of the world, between their citizens and people abroad, and in recent years we have seen governments institute data localization laws as well as limitations on data storage and data transfer. Historically, these kinds of restrictive policies have tended to be pursued by authoritarian governments that want to try to control information and monitor the activities of their citizens but in recent years, even Democratic countries have considered restrictions on data flows.
Such proposals do far more harm than good. Restricting data flows and competition between firms increased costs for Internet users in businesses, retard technological innovation. This may seem like common sense to us in this room but it is not accepted by everyone, and that is why it is imperative that we continue multistakeholder venues like the IGF. They allow us as representatives of diverse stakeholder communities to come together to offer our unique perspectives and to work through our difficult problems and make a case for policies and practices that encourage the development of an open and innovative Internet.
In closing I urge all nations to step up and support of the free and open Internet and the multistakeholder process that has led to its success. If we want to maintain a vibrant and growing Internet, we must all take action to assure that the multistakeholder approach continues to define the future of Internet Governance.
Thank you for listening.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you. The next speaker on my list is His Excellency Hasanul Haq Inu, Minister of Information, Ministry of Information of Bangladesh. Your Excellency, you have the floor.
>> HASANUL HAQ INU: Thank you very much. Good afternoon to you all, the Chair, Virgilio Almeida, the secretary of the IGF, Mr. Chengetai Masango and ministers, dignitaries, private sectors. Today I'm here in this IGF. I have been here several times. At this time it is a unique one, because a decision is going to be taken about the future of IGF. All the speakers by now have said that IGF should continue. I on behalf of Bangladesh support the idea that IGF should continue.
I greet you on behalf of 160 million in Bangladesh who are using mobiles, 120 million people are using mobiles and 46 million people are using Internet. I don't want to go to the details of this digitization process in Bangladesh. Ladies and gentlemen, today, in 1992 I was attending the summit of international in Rio de Janeiro where sustainable development was floated and agenda 21 was adopted.
To set the social and planetary boundaries of the world, over the years there is a parallel shift and the concept of development is put forward to strengthen the concept of sustainable development. Then when the world took the ICT evolution, the concept of digital development came to the forefront, because ICT became an enabling technology, and can be applied in all sectors of political and economic life, and also can be used to enhance the process of adaptation and mitigation to climate change.
Now, if we want to achieve sustainability, then we have to link the whole development process within development and also be linked with the digital development. Ladies and gentlemen, Internet has become still a policy of inclusion is not totally followed, and there exists a democracy deficit in the governance of Internet. That is a problem of empowering sustainable development.
Another problem is that the issue of sustainable and green development is being addressed, but the world has not yet developed a common approach, so still the social and planetary boundaries of the world are under threat from climate change phenomenon.
Another problem exists in the economic and political process of the countries. The policy of inclusion is not yet practiced totally across the world. Ladies and gentlemen, so at the end of 2015, the world is still bogged down with three literacies language in information in ICT and there exists a digital divide, gender divide, disadvantage and advantage divide, urban and rural divide, economic divide.
Cyber criminals are chattering cyber press and cyberspace seems to be militarized. Affordability, accessibility is still a problem. The challenge of the world is to connect the unconnected, and for that we will have to address and welcome the carry over problems of 2015 and then empowering sustainable development can be achieved by 2030. But the magic tool is Internet and policy of inclusion. Ladies and gentlemen, NETMundial multistakeholder statement on development states that all people have a right to development and Internet has a vital role to play in helping to achieve the full realization of internationally agreed SDGs. It is a vital tool for giving people living in poverty the means to participate in development process.
Having said that, ladies and gentlemen, Internet helps empowerment of people, that paves the path towards a inclusive policy which is a precondition for sustainable development process. Let this Forum take the lead in ensuring secure, trustworthy, economy friendly, inclusive, diversified, right based and open Internet for all.
UN has already chartered the roadmap of to 2030, we to follow by adopting policies that helps in fostering sustainable development. For that we have one option, the policy of exclusion shall have to be abandoned, and we should follow the policy of inclusion, policy of inclusion for Internet Governance, for political governance, for economic process, for social empowerment, for global political management, for the policy of inclusion, to succeed we need to say no to militarization. To conclude let us agree to hold a umbrella of a global Cybersecurity treaty, and under that umbrella, let us agree to a roadmap, multistakeholder governance of Internet, two, common approach for climate change, three, to follow participatory economic model at the national level, four, agreed to the right of freedom, right to Internet, yes to human rights, no to Cybercrime. Five, ensure accessibility and affordability to technology, harmonize ICTs with SDGs.
Let me conclude by saying the challenge of the day is not technological or financial. The challenge of the day is to have the necessary political will, so it is a matter of political decision. I hope we will rise to the occasion to take the politicalization on the policy of inclusion for our mother earth and for our children to develop the policy of inclusion, Bangladesh supports the continuous of IGF.
There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: Not going all the way, and not starting. We have already started. So let us go all the way to 2030.
Thank you very much.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you, Your Excellency. Our next speaker is Mr. Malcolm Johnson, Deputy Secretary General of International Telecommunication Union, the ITU. Mr. Johnson, you have the floor.
>> MALCOLM JOHNSON: Thank you very much. Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, it's a great pleasure to be here at the Opening Session of the 10th IGF. Many thanks to Brazil for hosting this meeting in this beautiful part of the country. And congratulations to my colleagues in UN DESA for their excellent work in organizing this meeting.
This is a significant year with the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, the SDGs, and the review of the WSIS process. It's clear that ICTs and the Internet in particular are essential for the implementation of the SDGs.
I was very pleased that ICANN and the Internet Society joined ITU in a series of events recently to drive home this message. ITU plays its part in bringing the benefits of secure and trustworthy ICTs to all through the global coordination of the spectrum and the satellite orbits, through the adoption of international technical standards, and developmental support and providing a platform for convening policy dialogue. Approximately 85 percent of international traffic runs over fiberoptic cables complying to ITU standards, and the critical access to the Internet is from modems is based on ITU standards.
We have recently in ITU adopted a new standard called G.fast which provides up to one gigabits over the traditional telephone copper lines.
Currently in Geneva we are hosting the ITU World Radio Communication conference. This is reviewing the international treaty on the spectrum and satellite orbits and the main objective is to harmonize the use of the spectrum, so that it increases and provides for interoperability, and reduces cost through economies of scale.
These are highly complex and technical conferences and we have over 3,000 delegates there in Geneva from 160 countries, representing a multitude of stakeholders. With a tradition of striving for consensus through compromise, these conferences have proved to be successful. I'm sure this WRC will be equally successful.
One of the main items on the wide ranging agenda for the conference is the provision of more spectrum for mobile communications in the future.
There are now more mobile phone subscriptions than there are people in the world. And with mobile broadband penetration now reaching 32 percent compared to just 10 percent by fixed, radio spectrum is vital to extend Internet access to the four billion people still off‑line.
This is particularly important in the developing world, where mobile broadband penetration rates are just 21 percent compared to 84 percent in developed countries.
Connecting the unconnected is the core of ITU's mission. And at last year's ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, the connect 2020 agenda for global telecommunications ICT development was adopted, setting out ambitious goals as well as measurable targets, including bringing the next 1.5 billion people online by 2020.
Achieving these goals will only be possible through the concerted efforts of everyone, and I'd like to invite you to join us at a workshop on the connect 2020 agenda on day 4, where we can discuss how we can all work together to bring the power of ICTs, especially the Internet to everyone, wherever they live, regardless of their income, gender or disability.
One of ITU's goals is to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. Many national governments have taken initiatives such as innovation hubs to encourage this, but a huge gap remains in skills, funding, tools, and knowledge. To help bridge the gap, ITU together with eight other organizations has launched an initiative to support and promote small and medium enterprises, in particular those in emerging markets and with social impact.
In ITU, an open Forum was held this morning on this initiative. I would like to encourage you all to join us in this effort.
This is the 150th anniversary of the ITU. Our history shows that progress can only be achieved through collaboration. In the case of ITU's membership, 193 member states, over 700 private sector entities, 100 universities and Civil Society, all working together on an increasingly diverse range of issues. With ICTs becoming pervasive in all walks of life and business, ITU membership is attracting many new players, and we are constantly increasing our collaboration with a wide range of organizations and making ITU more accessible, open and transparent.
A new low membership fee for universities proved particularly successful and we hope to be soon introducing a similar low fee for small and medium enterprises and nonprofit making bodies.
Good collaboration with the Internet community is essential for ITU to meet its goals, and we hope that these developments will facilitate this collaboration.
There is no single entity that can alone address all the challenges that the ICT sector is facing. These are complex global issues requiring global dialogue, cooperation and collaboration.
It is imperative that we all work together, and ITU is ready and willing to do so. Thank you for your attention. I wish you a very enjoyable and productive IGF.
Thank you.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you, Mr. Johnson. The next speaker is Mr. Vint Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist of Google, Incorporated. You have the floor.
>> VINT CERF: Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, those of you who are still left in the room anyway, I am very grateful for an opportunity to address you briefly.
First of all, I have to say that when Bob Khan and I started designing Internet 40 years ago we did not imagine the IGF, and certainly did not imagine the level of global attention that this architecture was going to stimulate.
I'm an engineer. I'm going to look at this from the engineering point of view. Our job is to connect the next billions on the network, and from the technological point of view we appear to be making some good progress. For example, what we want, what the theme as you heard repeatedly over and over again is an open, accessible affordable and fully connected Internet for all. That's our target.
On the technology side, we have new lower cost, higher speed, fixed and mobile access technologies. Outside this building, I hope you will visit a tent that is labeled, O3B for other three billion, that is a satellite system that went into operation a couple of years ago. It's delivering 400 megabits on the down link and a hundred megabits on the up link. There is wi‑fi there available. Please try it out.
You will see what is possible to deliver high‑speed service anywhere in the world, 40 degrees north and south of the equator.
Google has its own fantasies. We are putting balloons up at 60,000 feet and we intend to let them cycle around the world at the same latitude and deliver high‑speed Internet service. There are drones available, there are people working on small sats. There are new terrestrial unreceived fiber cables going into operation and there is LTE and 5G in the mobile world.
We have more than a handful of new technologies to try to achieve that objective of a fully connected widely accessible Internet.
However, we have some other work to do. One of them is to make sure that the IP version 6 part of the Internet is implemented everywhere. We are going to need it because the Internet of things demands it, and the population of the Internet demands it.
I think we have also discovered how important this inclusive multistakeholder policy formulation process is. We especially need to bring the developing world into this conversation more fully than it has been before.
I think you would all agree that all the speakers in the preceding me would agree that another target for us is the provision of safety or provision for safety, security and privacy for all users, so as to enhance the trust in the use of the Internet. The word "trust" has come up repeatedly in this conversation and in others. I assure you that this has to be one of our most important targets.
Finally, after talking about all this technology and everything else, I think it's important that we recognize that there are other elements of infrastructure that have to be in place if we are going to be successful, not the least of which is reliable provision of electrical power, increased education in the implementation, use and application of the Internet, increased local content in local languages, and finally, other tools like open source software that will enable more people to make use of the Internet as it continues to evolve.
Obrigado.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next speaker is Kathryn Brown, President and CEO of Internet Society. You have the floor.
>> KATHRYN BROWN: Good evening, everyone. I want to thank our wonderful Brazilian hosts and to the IGF volunteers and Secretariat who have put together this wonderful meeting.
I'm with the Internet Society. We are a global organization with 112 volunteer chapters in 96 countries around the world, 146 organizational members, and almost 80,000 members all who are dedicated to an open, global open trusted Internet, everywhere for everyone.
The Internet has always been about the future, and the IGF has always been about the future. At its inception, it was charged with organizing itself to think about how to think about this thing called the Internet. It was going to be the future, one that was neither clear nor guaranteed.
For ten years, this Forum has been like a bazaar for ideas, for trading experiences, for learning about the implications of a global network of networks, that at first allowed us to communicate instantly across oceans and continents, and have since evolved to do so much more.
We have come a very long way in finding common ground and learning how to learn from and share with each other. Our best practices session widely attended today, I'm happy to say, are one of our most recent innovations. We have heard in the past two days very good news, that the mandate of the IGF is likely to be renewed for ten years.
So, again, we are tasked with thinking about the future. Today, we understand that the Internet has grown and evolved to a global knowledge network. It is now a dynamic marketplace, and it is a service delivery network that has no boundaries. Knowing what we now know, we have an extraordinary opportunity to use this powerful tool to do what humankind has been struggling to do for ages, alleviate poverty, provide essential human services and connect all parts of the global economies one with the many.
These achievable goals are only achievable if everyone everywhere has access to the Internet. Thus we believe at the Internet Society and clearly many speakers who spoke before me believe the same, that the imperative of our time is to connect the unconnected, and to ensure that this open global Internet is safe and trusted.
The IGF has an important responsibility as the premier bottom‑up cross community multistakeholder Forum, to offer principled input into how we govern ourselves in this new world, a world that is changing once again.
As the Internet becomes essential to education, healthcare, transportation, banking and more, in every part of the world, we must open the doors of our Forum to new stakeholders, to a different group of stakeholders, with expanding expertise and passions.
How do we use the Internet in medicine? In healthcare, across ‑‑ have healthcare delivery, in education, who are those people who are going to help us think about how we do that? We must renew ourselves by acknowledging and nurturing the next generation of IGF leaders. I want to thank you, Joana, for your remarks.
Let me point out that there are over a hundred women and men between the ages of 18 and 25, digital natives from around the world and around this region, who are here at IGF now, as CGI and ISOC fellows. They are here this week. Where are you guys? (applause) They are ready to bring new levels of energy to innovate, build and use the Internet in ways that will shape their future. I look forward to important week. We should celebrate our success. We should pat ourselves on the back for the work we have done in the last ten years.
And then, we should quickly turn to building the future. Thank you.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you. The next speaker on my list is Mr. Joseph Cannataci, Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy of the United Nations. You have the floor.
>> JOSEPH CANNATACI: Thank you very much. I'd like to first of all thank the Brazilian Government for its invitation for me to be here. This is the first time that UN Special Rapporteur on privacy is speaking at IGF, because it is the first time that there is a U.N. Special Rapporteur for privacy.
The good thing about speaking after so many other speakers who have spoken about how valuable IGF is, means that I can agree with most of the speakers who have come before me, agree how valuable it is. And then I can remember that I only have six minutes, and then I can focus on what some people have been asking me, so what exactly are we going to do about the privacy that we seek to protect and promote?
In fact, there are a number of things which I can talk about. I can talk about the need to improve our understanding of privacy across countries. I could talk about our need to improve existing legal instruments. I could talk about encouraging the use of technical means such as encryption to protect privacy.
But I would be talking in general, and here we are at the Internet Governance Forum, so I'd like to focus on the Internet.
As we celebrate all that is good about IGF, we should I think remember that there was, there were some things that IGF was not designed to do. I think that it's important to keep that in mind in order to see some of the things that people on the Internet expect. By that, when we are talking about an Internet without borders, many citizens today, users of the Internet, expect to find safeguards without borders. And added to that, added to safeguards, they also expect to find remedies which go across borders.
And IGF is an ideal place to identify this in a multistakeholder environment. But I'd like to take you back ten years quickly, to see just as IGF was being born, what two people, Jonathan Mathias and Milton Miller talked about it, and thought about other parts of Internet Governance which we need to think about.
What they had to say ten years ago was this: Still, global governance must be based on authoritative agreements among governments, and this is where I joined the Minister from Bangladesh in talking about for example the value of agreements such as treaties. And I would make exactly the same kind of parallels that he has drawn on international agreements about climate change.
Climate change agreements are difficult to achieve but we are still trying to do it anyway. What about agreements about the Internet? Let me go back quickly to what Jonathan Mathias and Milton Miller said. Authoritative agreements not only have to be legitimate, they have to be justiceable.
In international law, justiceable agreements are those that are included in conventions, legally binding international treaties. Thus, if Internet Governance is to be obtained, it must be treaty‑based. The treaties must have universal adherence to be fully effective.
The next part which I'm going to read out on what they said was written ten years ago, but I think you will agree that it could have been yet written yesterday. We acknowledge the widespread reluctance of almost all parties in this process to take up the burden of a new international convention. We realize that everyone is looking for short cuts. We are convinced the shortcuts don't really exist and won't work. They will simply defray the day of reckoning and prolong the current state of tension and lack of resolution of outstanding governance problems.
Ladies and gentlemen, Your Excellencies, I put it to you, ten years down the line, the day of reckoning has come. As other speakers have said, it's time to look towards the future. There are many things we need to do in the future and perhaps discussing the value of international agreements is one of them.
When we talk about international agreements, we don't necessarily mean one treaty. We could have more than one treaty dealing, one part of one issue of the things that we need to fix on the Internet. But ultimately, nothing can substitute international agreement between governments acting on the advice and in the spirit of multistakeholder agreements.
This once again is where one echoes the vision of our colleague from Bangladesh who spoke about political will. Political will is also largely what is required here in a very difficult environment. We should look forward to IGF 2015 being a force for good by contributing to the discussions that can take place about Internet Governance in the future, in such a way as identifying those means which can help take us forward in the realistic way. Thank you very much for your attention, ladies and gentlemen. I look forward to the discussions we are going to have this week and hopefully in the future editions of Internet Governance. Thank you.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you. The next speaker on my list is Mr. David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expressions of the United Nations. You have the floor.
>> DAVID KAYE: Excellencies, Mr. Chair, participants, I'd like to begin by thanking the Government of Brazil and the organizers of this 10N Internet Governance Forum and thanks also to you hardy souls out there who are making it this far into the Opening Session, and thanks also to those who have preceded me on the dais for your sharp insights.
It is an honor to address this Opening Session. As the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, I enjoy mandate created by the United Nations Human Rights Council to gather information and report to the UN and to governments on developments related to the freedom of opinion and expression, whether highlighting challenges to freedom of opinion and expression or providing guidance on norms and laws.
I want to begin in part where my predecessor, Mr. Joseph Cannataci, Special Rapporteur on privacy left off, which is to talk about law. And I'll talk about existing law, existing treaty law.
First, of course, for nearly 70 years the Universal Declaration of Human Rights has guaranteed everyone under article 19 the right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds regardless of frontiers and through any kind of media. For nearly 40 years, that same guarantee has been part of the global standard under article 19 of the international covenant on civil and political rights.
These protections conceived at a time when radio and print dominated communication, nonetheless apply to any media regardless of frontiers. They refer in effect to the Internet before it was even born.
In the years since the Internet has come to dominate communications worldwide, resolutions of the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly have repeated this foundational point that off‑line rights apply online. To a certain extent we here should or we here should ensure that these protections apply in fact, not merely in aspiration.
What are the challenges to freedom of expression online today? Let me begin by noting that international law, indeed article 19 of the ICCPR acknowledges the responsibilities of states to protect the right to life, national security, public order and health, and the rights of others. States may impose narrow restrictions on expression, but only where provided by clear and pre‑existing law and when strictly necessary and proportionate to achieve a legitimate objective. Restrictions on holding an opinion by contrast may not be subject to any kind of restriction.
The challenges, I don't have time to list them all, as I'm sure you know. But given our focus on governance I'd like to highlight in brief the following five. First, challenges to the legal norm that article 19 freedoms apply, quote, regardless of frontiers, end quote. This is indeed an unusual provision of human rights law, emphasizing how the freedom of expressions a transboundary right. It is a challenge to traditional notions of Government control of territorial space, but it is a provision to be celebrated and put at the very center of Internet Governance, tying together people otherwise far removed from one another, in a chance to encourage understanding and the sharing of knowledge.
Second, legal uncertainty. Who in this room can say what common rules apply in the corporate ICT sector when it comes to freedom of opinion and expression? If you can, please see me afterwards. While diversity in approaches and platforms is to be encouraged, I believe that the lack of legal certainty, substantive jurisdictional, procedural, allows many around the world to perceive gaps in the application of human rights law online.
Third, online surveillance, mass and targeted, pose a direct threat to the ability of the media, NGOs, academics and activists to seek and receive information. Encryption and anonymity serve as protection, and they mainly exist to empower individuals to browse, read, develop and share opinions and information without interference, and they enable journalists, Civil Society organizations and many others to create the space necessary for Democratic participation and accountability.
Fourth, there is the challenge of connecting the next four billion users. This is just as much a question of governance as it is a question of resources, and I urge that we not merely seek connection, but connection based on rights, true and full access, and protection.
Finally, an overriding challenge is censorship. Whether in the form of content filtering, throttling, take downs of infrastructure, platforms, posts or tweets, or digital attacks on Civil Society organizations, censorship today is rampant, and a viral threat to freedom of expression. Challenges in the physical world also exist online. Attacks on those sharing information include attacks on print and broadcast journalists, but also bloggers, those who post on social media, academics, sharing research, activists and many others operating in an online environment.
It is critical that we not consider those using relatively new media online as somehow subject to less protection than provided by article 19 and understood to apply only to journalists.
Internet Governance must remain multistakeholder and take into account a vast array of interests, state and nonstate. Human rights law recognizes and incorporates this principle. I urge all those working on governance at the international, regional, national, and even local levels, to recall the basic human rights principles that should be baked into governance going forward.
Thank you very much.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next speaker is Mr. Jean‑Paul Philippot, President of the European Broadcasting Union. You have the floor.
>> JEAN-PAUL PHILIPPOT: First of all, on behalf of World Broadcasting Union, I would like to warmly thank our Brazilian host and the IGF organization for this important meeting.
To make a growing Internet sustainable, the answer to this question, quality representative of the broadcasting and media world at the IGF, is that this goal can be reached not only through investment and through more infrastructure, but also through education, some rules and content of, when you invest in new cars it is not enough to invest in model vehicles but you need to train people to use it or to drive the machine, with older person in cars, in order to do so. One of the ways is to use traditional media, radio and TV that still cover more than 90 percent of the population, even in the most remote areas, and are the most trusted source of information.
Media in Europe, after World War II, take part at the construction of inclusive, diverse and Democratic society. Something similar could be imagined now when new billions of people arrive to the meeting with the Internet without any preparation.
Radio and TV are the two most trusted sources of information. Independence, pluralism and diversity are crucial for citizens and society. They are view of Democratic society, they are part of our common remit. Protect user of Internet, children and privacy. Guarantee freedom of journalists and freedom of expression. Guarantee for the journalists' capacity to investigate, are crucial to safeguard, trust media for the society.
Coming back, to the form of a car, not only a rule is needed and a road, but you also need to think of the fuel that moves the car. This fuel in 90 percent of the case is what you call content, and what we call movies, TV programs, news, books; in other words, intellectual properties. The Internet Governance cannot intervene also on that. It is not a question of regulating pipelines, but also mainly to guarantee a fair treatment for other rides, to produce, to ensure the financing of local production contents.
We need the same level playing field for all the actors of the digital ecosystem. The second answer to this question comes from the combination of next billion users, with the concept of sustainable way. I urge everyone -- yesterday, I heard many voices saying access to a reduced Internet is always better than nothing. I'm not convinced of this simplistic assumptions.
The real value of the Internet is its openness, the ability of each individual to access whatever exists on the net with the only limitation that derive from the respect of human rights. So offer access only to a portion of it, it's a contradiction in terms. It will be denied to these latecomers, the same right, the first user, they enjoy since the invention of the Internet. The right of the first Internet user has to remain the same as the last. As Vint Cerf said yesterday, you can offer an access to Internet, restrict it in time or even in bandwidth, but you cannot restrict what an individual could access or not, once they start to be connected.
Are we imagining a two class citizenship in the brave new Internet world? Is the concept of net neutrality or open Internet a list to be reserved to the few, those that already have too much, or it's a human right that needs to be preserved and guaranteed for all?
Several countries already adapt OR in the process to set up rules to guarantee net neutrality as a right for its citizens. What about the rest of the world? In this approach, it brings me to the main reason why we are here, governance of the Internet.
The arrival of the next billion makes even more urgent to start to be effective in governing the Internet. It's complicated now to have common rules for three billion users. Let's imagine what we shall be at five or six. The magnitude of problems and their complexity will proportionally increase.
We need to seize this opportunity of renewal of the mandate of the IGF and to the WSIS at the UN General Assembly next month to give acceleration of this process, all of us, including NETMundial initiative are going to arrive to the conclusion in this next weeks and months, and so 2016 needs to become the turning point.
We are ready for it. I hope that at the next IGF, we shall meet finally to discuss all the concrete changes of governance of Internet and not yet if it's good or bad to change one day in a far-away future.
Thank you very much.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you. The next speaker and also our final speaker today is His Excellency Yasuo Sakamoto, Vice Minister for Policy Coordination, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan. Your Excellency, you have the floor.
>> YASUO SAKAMOTO: Thank you very much. Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I'm from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, Japan, Yasuo Sakamoto. IGF marks its 10th anniversary this year. Japan values highly this Forum, since it has been an effective place where thousands of stakeholders intensively having discussing and exchanging their views on timely Internet related issues, including global issues such as global warming.
As was stated in last year's Forum, and recognize that this year's Forum is much more substantial than before. For further improvement, it is important that IGF send its message worldwide, and show that concrete and practical objective for them.
I welcome the Best Practice Forum established last year to show such output as they have surely improved IGF.
I'm expecting that WSIS+10 overall review of this December will recognize the important role that IGF has played by all stakeholders, and conclude to extend IGF for ten or 15 years with the current mandate.
I'd like to mention Internet Governance. When we think about Internet Governance, the most important principle is to ensure the free flow of information across borders. Without the free flow of information, we humans cannot achieve a sound, sustainable and global ICT society, even if the digital divide is resolved, and Cybersecurity is ensured. In order to maximize the best from Internet globally, regionally or nationally, public/private partnership and international cooperation are essential. The Internet consists of various stakeholders who are playing their respective roles. ICT is a remarkable innovative field, a connected global space that every human and thing is globally connected will be achieved ten years from now.
All human beings are going to enjoy the benefit of ICT innovation. It is the private sector that has led these innovations. We should reaffirm that ICT society of today could not have been achieved without contribution from that private sector.
Consequently, the beneficial ICT society of the future could not be achieved without constructive contribution from enterprises, academia and Civil Society. It is regrettable to hear dispute over the multistakeholder approach which was concluded a decade ago.
Let us objectively evaluate the progress of the ICT society within this decade, including the activity of IGF.
Finally, I'd like to re‑emphasize the importance of the multistakeholder approach, and propose to practically implement its concept in a variety of fields. Japan has a variety of its best practices to share with international society. All stakeholders in Japan will continue to constructively contribute to the international society, so that we can understand each other on Internet‑related issues.
Let's all of us here as multistakeholder work towards a truly globally connected society. Thank you very much for your kind attention.
(applause).
>> MODERATOR: Thank you. This brings our Opening Session to a close. I would like to ask the coordinator of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee, to close the meeting.
>> VIRGILIO ALMEIDA: Excellencies, distinguished experts, and delegates, ladies and gentlemen.
I would like to thank you, to thank our speakers for providing us insightful remarks about IGF achievements in the last ten years and the challenges the Internet community will face in the future, and I'd like to thank Mr. Chengetai Masango and Mr. Koulov for their work in organizing IGF 2015. I wish you all a very successful meeting and a very pleasant stay in Joao Pessoa.
With this, I conclude the Opening Session of IGF 2015. We will resume tomorrow with our workshops and sessions and many hours of friendly and mutual dialogue. Obrigado.
(Applause).