FINISHED - 2014 09 02 - Opening Ceremony/Opening Session - Anadolu Auditorium

FINISHED COPY

 

NINTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE

INTERNET GOVERNANCE FORUM 2014

ISTANBUL, TURKEY

"CONNECTING CONTINENTS FOR ENHANCED

MULTI‑STAKEHOLDER INTERNET GOVERNANCE"

 

02 SEPTEMBER 2014

15:00

ANADOLU AUDITORIUM

OPENING CEREMONY/OPENING SESSION

 

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The following is the output of the real‑time captioning taken during the IGF 2014 Istanbul, Turkey, meetings.  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 session, but should not be treated as an authoritative record.  

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>> CHENGETAI MASSANGO:  Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seat.  We would like to start in five minutes by the way.

  Please begin with the announcements.

Ladies and gentlemen, can you please take the seats?  We are about to start.  Thank you very much.

 Ladies and gentlemen, can you finally take your seats.

Thank you. 

Ladies and gentlemen, the minister is about to enter the room.  Can we please kindly take our seats.

 Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.  I'd like to invite His Excellency Lutfi Elvan and Assistant Secretary General Thomas Gass to take their seats for the opening ceremony.

(Applause).

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the opening ceremony of the Ninth Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum.  It is now my pleasure to give the floor to Mr. Thomas Gass, Assistant Secretary General for Public Coordination and Interagency Affairs of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.  Mr. Gass, please.

>> THOMAS GASS:  Thank you very much.  I'm very honored to be at this important event, and to deliver the following message on behalf of the Under Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs, Mr. Wu Hongbo.  Excellencies, distinguished participants, welcome to the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum.  On behalf of the United Nations, I thank the Government of Turkey, the Ministery of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications and Information Technologies Authority for hosting this meeting. 

I also acknowledge the valuable leadership of the IGF Multi‑stakeholder Advisory Group under the leadership of its Chair Ambassador Janis Karklins for their guidance in preparing this year's IGF.  I also extend a warm thanks to all of the volunteers, the technical assistance teams and others who have worked and will work tirelessly behind the scenes over the next few days to make this meeting a success, and I wish to acknowledge the important role of the more than 30 multi‑stakeholder national and regional IGF initiatives.

They expand the dialogue of the global IGF by addressing unique local, national and regional Internet Governance challenges and opportunities.  This year's main theme, Connecting Continents for Enhanced Multi‑stakeholder Internet Governance reflects the collective mission of the IGF community to foster an accessible, open, secure and trustworthy Internet.  Since Turkey is often described as a bridge between Europe and Asia, it is an apt host for discussing this theme.  We can and we must use this week to connect all continents through sharing best practices, lessons learned and capacity building activities.

The sub themes this year touch on opportunities such as the Internet's potential to be an engine for growth and development and challenges such as enhancing digital trust.  Multi‑stakeholder Internet Governance will be an important enabler for achieving internationally agreed development goals including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.  The open Working Group tasked by the General Assembly to develop these goals has just agreed on a proposed list of 17 goals and related targets.

These Sustainable Development Goals will be grounded in a new unified and universal Post 2015 Development Agenda which requires supporting Developing Countries at all stages with a transition towards sustainability.  In order to achieve such goals, we need to optimize the use of technology for development innovations, spreading knowledge and sharing the benefits of ICTs through bridging the digital divide.  Both Developing and Developed Countries can deploy ICTs to help overcome critical development obstacles such as social exclusion and growing inequality.

The IGF will continue to be an important policy space for new and continuing multi‑stakeholder public‑private partnerships for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.  Ladies and gentlemen, Excellencies, in order to fully realize the potential of the Internet for development we must also earn and build online trust of the citizens.  As more and more people come on line, we need to insure that these global citizens find a trustworthy cyberspace that promotes peace and security, enables development, and respects Human Rights.

Internet Governance should, therefore, be grounded in principles that protect Human Rights on line and ensure access for all to an interoperable globally connected and safe Internet.  This year the Multi‑stakeholder Advisory Group with the broader IGF community has once again worked vigorously on a programme that will produce tangible take‑aways for policy makers here and those participating remotely.

Best practice Forums this year will detail policy options and best practices on key Internet topics such as multi‑stakeholder governance mechanisms, regulation and mitigation of spam, establishing and supporting computer emergency response teams, developing local content, and online child safety and protection.  The main sessions will address emerging issues such as the global debate on net neutrality and the IANA stewardship transition.  With the current mandate of the IGF set to end in 2015, 2014 is proving to be an eventful year.

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the IGF community and Secretariat continue to implement the recommendations of the Working Group of the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development CSTD on improvements to the Forum.  Preparations are also already under way for the Tenth IGF.  The Government of Brazil has graciously offered to host this pivotal 2015 meeting.  Next year, Member States will convene the WSIS+10 review in consultation with all stakeholders.  The future of the IGF will be part and parcel of this high level review.

My department and the United Nations at large remains committed to supporting the IGF should Member States decide to extend its mandate beyond 2015.  Discussions at previous IGF meetings have led to many tangible initiatives.  The Forum has helped Government officials, Civil Society, the private sector, technical community representatives and intergovernmental organisations working together to better access the benefits of the Internet for all.

It has done so by providing an opportunity for all stakeholders to be included in defining policy options and debating programme choices.  Therefore, I invite each of you regardless of country, role or status to express your views this week to make yourselves heard and understood and to understand the views of others in the spirit of inclusive, respectful and open debate.  Thank you very much.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Secretary General.  I would now like to give the floor to Mr. Tayfun Acarer, Chairman of the Board and President of the Information and Communications Technologies Authority of Turkey.

(Applause).

>> TAYFUN ACARER:  Mr. Minister, distinguished Deputy Prime Minister, Ministers, delegations, members of the press, I would like to greet each and every one of you.  45 years ago in 1969, we realized two important events.  One was very popular for years and that was the first time man stepped on the moon.  For months and years this was discussed.  And the second event was something that nobody realized as important, that is the discovery or the invention, the invention of the Internet.  That was not really noted at the time.  It became more important over the years because the Internet became a part of our lives and it started being our lives.  Today Internet is not used by individuals only.  Institutions and the State are using it.

So life without the Internet, our business relations, communications, public relations cannot be carried out, and together with the Internet becoming so widespread, the need for governance of the Internet became important over the years.  And as the Turkish Republic, we are honored and happy to be the host to the Ninth Annual Meeting of the IGF.  And now I would like to welcome each and every one of you to Istanbul to this Forum.

As you well know, governance and Internet is a part of our lives in a very serious way.  According to IQ statistics, there are 7 billion Internet users, and at the end of this year it's going to be much more.  The model subscribers increased by 1 billion, and the users first reached 1 billion in 2004.  It took 30 years.  The second billion was realized in 6 years in 2010 and the third billion will be reached this year.  And the fourth billion will be reached much faster, maybe in two years' time.

In the first 1 billion more technical issues were taken up and later billions brought with them social issues.  In 2007 mobile wide band subscribers were only 268 million, and in seven years it increased eightfold and it became 2.1 billion.  This 2.1 billion wide band reports were first introduced with the Internet and the number was 1.1 billion.

And the digital divide is getting narrower.  People, machines, states and Governments are more reachable.  First, we used to call these subscribers, but we are now talking about things.  Out of 71 million subscribers, 65 million is people and 2.5 are machines, so machines subscribers will probably reach at least 5 million.  In 2013 the Turkish Economic Forum also stated that the quality of the digital divide also changed.  The new digital divide is not based on communication systems only, whether or not IT ecosystems can be fully reached or not.

Another evaluation is that by 2018 mobile wide band subscribers will be 7 billion, subscribers 4 billion, and stage subscribers will be even higher.  So more ‑‑ and a variety of things will be subscribers.  10 billion pieces of equipment are talking to each other, and 10 years from now, in 2025, this figure will be in the trillions.  And the spectrum which is much more restricted needs to be planned to be much encompassing and IT has to do a lot in that.

The Radio Telephone Conference is very important, the coming up Conference.  And the mobile systems, and we may have difficulty finding frequency for the Internet, especially for the further generations.  The fiber lines will become petroleum pipelines and they will be even more valuable than petroleum pipelines.

So content is also very, very important, and knowledge and information that is so valuable are now accessible at any location at any time, and this needs to be very properly evaluated.  And according to a study in the European Union, in the coming five years, fixed and mobile companies will be losing income.  And in order to compensate their loss is to develop the Internet service as the content of Internet services.  And I find that very important, so I believe it's very important that in all languages content needs to be further developed.

The infrastructure capacity needs to be increased, and content needs to be enriched, and I believe these topics are among the most important for IGF.  And I certainly wish very successful meeting for IGF Ninth Annual Meeting.  Thank you.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much.  I would now like to give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Lutfi Elvan, Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications and Information Technologies Authority of Turkey. 

>> LUTFI ELVAN:  Mr. Deputy Prime Minister, distinguished Ministers, Deputy Ministers, representatives of the United Nations, the esteemed Deputy General Secretary, and one of the two people who invented the Internet, Mr. Vint Cerf, ITU Deputy General Secretary, and participants coming from 135 countries, I would like to welcome you all as well as all of the academics and scientists participating from Turkey, and also everyone, all of the participants who are interested in the Internet.  

I would like to heartily greet you all.  Now, between 2nd and 5th of September, we are having this Ninth Internet Governance Forum here in Istanbul, and it is a great honour and presence to be hosting you here throughout this week.  Istanbul is a significant city in the history of the world.  It brings continents together.  It binds continents together.

And from a historical and geographical point of view as well, Istanbul presents one of the unique beauties in the world and has been home to ancient civilizations, has been their capital throughout history, it is the apple of the eye of Turkey and it is the catalyst of Turkey's development.  Istanbul also is home to people of different faiths and currently 15 million people live in Istanbul.

Istanbul is a significant hub, and I believe that it is, it is important for Istanbul as well as the world of the Internet that this event is being organized here in Istanbul.  As the host country yesterday we held a series of conferences on capacity building.  There was a high level meeting of several leaders.  Many ministers and many influential names from the world of the Internet gathered and we had the opportunity to share our perspectives on the Internet.

But a new cabinet is now in place in Turkey, and yesterday at the National Assembly, the programme of the new Government was about to be announced.  That's why we were not, and I was not able to be here yesterday, but today I take great pleasure in the fact that I have been able to join you finally.

Now, today we are altogether kick starting the Ninth Internet Governance Forum and we will be discussing many different issues, and we will be creating a roadmap for the future all together.  Of course, we have representation from Governments, from private sector and NGOs, from many countries in the world.  We have representation from technical institutions.  We have wide representation from all across the globe.

And my colleagues have informed me that 3,000 participants are with us during this week, and more and more people will be tuning in online from the Internet.  And the main theme of IGF is multi‑stakeholder, is a multi‑stakeholder approach and enhanced multi‑stakeholder Internet Governance, and also this has to do with Human Rights, this has to do with governance.  We have eight different themes that we will discuss this week.

And we will also be focusing on critical Internet resources, cybersecurity, international copyright issues, and developing nations and capacity building in emerging nations.  All of these issues will be dealt with throughout this week in 12 different halls.  We will have 120 sessions, and workshops that will take place simultaneously.  And also, all of the main sessions and workshops will have remote access functionality.

These sessions will be broadcast online and transcriptions will be made available, and people will also have the opportunity to watch these sessions at a later stage.  Since 2006 every year the Internet Governance Forum has been organized and in a transparent manner many issues have been discussed with wide participation and voluntary input.

Since the first IGF Forum many things have changed in our sector, many strides have been made.  Let me briefly touch upon a couple of figures just to illustrate how big a progress we have made.  Today the world population is about 7.2 billion, and mobile subscribers stand at 7 billion.  Internet users, the total number is about 3 billion, and currently in one single minute, 5 million videos are being watched and 2.7 million calls are made per minute, and 4,000 Tweets are being sent, domain names are being registered, new websites are being opened, and a vast number of emails are sent.  This is the world that we are living in today.  Our world of the Internet is evolving fast.

So how has Turkey faired in the IT sector?  In Turkey in the IT sector up until now 1,015 authorizations have been made and the second quarter of '14 broadband Internet subscribers stand at 38 million.  The first quarter of, between the first quarter and second quarter of 2014, we see 6%, more than 6% growth in many areas, and the annual, annual growth rate is two digits.  The total number of mobile Internet users is currently 30 million.  The total number of Internet users 61 million, mobile subscribers 71 million in Turkey, and machine use, machine to machine use is currently 2.5 million in our country.

Annual per subscriber traffic and SMS in terms of this volume, we are the first in social gaming.  We rank the first in the world in terms of duration of the games played.  Although this is not necessarily a positive thing, I still wanted to share this with you.  The importance that we attach to the Internet is enhanced every day.  At first we saw this as a mere convenience, and, yes, we were highly interested in the Internet, but now the Internet has become the centre of a new economics and a new progression of democracy.  We also believe that the Internet also creates new needs and also is reshaping the existing needs.  In the last couple of years even the definition of nuclear family changed.

In the past, the nuclear family was defined as mother, father, kids; whereas today, mother, father, kids, plus the Internet.  That's how we have come to define the nuclear family.  So all of these great developments are being made in the IT sector.  So what have the implications been in Turkey?  As you know, equilibrium of the global economy is shifting from the west to the east and Turkey has made great progress in terms of economy in the last couple of years.  

ICANN's headquarters are now three, and one of their new offices were opened in Istanbul.  So one out of three offices of ICANN is now in Istanbul, also SAP is doing R and D work here in Istanbul, and they were followed by Mercedes, IT Hawaii, Erickson, Lucent and other major companies.  So Turkey, based on its geographic situation and its high level product is a very important, is a very important country in terms of IT and presents many advantages.  Turkey also has well‑educated human capital, which further increases Turkey's competitive edge.

We also offer R and D funds to several companies.  We under pin R and D work, we allocate resources to R and D work, and I believe that we have started seeing the fruits of these efforts.  Now, in terms of the monthly use of the Internet in Turkey is 36 hours, and this is one of the highest ‑‑ this is per person, and this is one of the highest rates in Europe.  Turkey is a big country, but despite that, we have been able to take mobile communications and the Internet all across the nation.

We have brought broadband Internet to all of our schools and we take pride in this accomplishment.  As many of you know, we have also initiated the Faith project, the conqueror project which is worth 10 billion U.S. dollars.  And within the framework of this project we are providing smart boards and tablets, computers to more than 16 million students.  So from now on, all of the homework or all of the research will be done online in an interactive manner.

In IT and communications we also need to offer equal opportunities to the generations of the future.  That's why we are hoping to implement the Fatih project in three years.  Dear Ministers, dear participants, the Internet plays a very important role in today's world and the Internet offers advantages as well as disadvantages.  On the one hand, our kids use the Internet to do their homework, patients use the Internet for healthcare reasons, taxpayers use the Internet for their communications with the tax authority, and that's all well and good, but the use of the Internet may not be as innocuous all of the time because the Internet is abused by crime networks, by terrorist organisations, by drug smugglers and child abusers as well.

And sadly, the rampant abuse of the Internet has reached undesirable heights, and it is incumbent on all of us to be a part of the struggle against the misuse of the Internet.  As the States, as international organisations, we all need to do what we can.  But most importantly, service providers and content providers, NGOs and Internet users also need to assume responsibility and provide oversight.

The Internet has a universal power, but that depends on the universal cooperation.  Either we are going to draw forces and contribute towards a brighter future or we will create a platform where crime networks will proliferate.  So I believe that the Internet Universal Declaration should without delay be prepared and signed by all relevant parties because the citizens of all countries, NGOs, private and public institutions need to, need to establish a mechanism to provide oversight on the Internet.  Yet another issue that I would like to highlight has to do with cybersecurity.

Cyber attacks have increased in number and volume in the last couple of years, and the states have also started working on to counter attack these.  According to Semantic 2013 report, 556 million people, 1.5 million per day, and 18 people per second fall victim to cybercrimes.  Cybercrimes have a detrimental effect on the global economy.  It ranges from 3 million to 1 trillion U.S. dollars per annum according to estimates.  The total number of viruses on computers, on mobiles according to 2012 data between all of '12 and all of '13 increased by 216%.  Also in terms of cyber attacks have become more and more belligerent.  In 2013, the bandwidth compared to 2012 increased tenfold.  And every 3.5 seconds a cyber threat occurs.

In the last couple of years access to broadband access and with the use of Smart Phones, sadly the number of cyber attacks has also been increasing.  What is worse with the increase in the number of Smart Phones, malware is becoming more and more widespread and we have reason to believe that the wars of the future will not be waged in the battlefield, but will be waged on line as facility that is worth billions of dollars will probably be damaged by a Trojan, by a virus that is worth a couple of hundred dollars.  And we have witnessed many unfortunate incidents.  In 2012, the cybersecurity products, the total value was surpassed actually, 52 billion and between all of '11 and '14 the damage caused by cybercrimes, year on year there was a 6% increase between these years.  That's why we need to strictly engage in close cooperation.

In terms of cybersecurity, what we need is a global approach and we need warning systems and mechanisms in place.  The Internet belongs to us all.  We all ponder about the Internet, and we all try to make it better.  And IGF is one of the most important steps in this direction.  I would like to reiterate the main theme of this year, enhanced multi‑stakeholder Internet Governance, and it is auspicious that we are having this meeting in Istanbul this year with these sentiments.  

I would like to conclude my remarks and I would like to wish you a pleasant time during your stay in Istanbul, and I hope that this Forum is a success.  I greet you once again with my deepest regards and I thank you once again for honouring us with your presence.  Welcome to Istanbul once again.  Thank you.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, (No English translation).

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, in accordance with the customs of the Internet Governance Forum, I now have the honour to invite His Excellency Lutfi Elvan to assume the Chair of the 2014 IGF on behalf of the host country.

(Applause).

>> LUTFI ELVAN:  Thank you very much, Assistant Secretary General.  I would like to open the Forum, and we will proceed our meetings today and we will discuss all of the issues that have to be raised, and that seems to be a problem for our countries, for the world and I guess we will invite some guests.  Okay.  Please.

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much.  Can we please remain seated while the minister leaves the stage.  Thank you, and then we will continue immediately into our Opening Session.  Thank you.

(Applause).

 I would like to ask the rest of the audience to please remain in your seats while we prepare for the next session.  Thank you.  Ladies and gentlemen, we are now starting the Opening Session of the Ninth Annual Internet Governance Forum meeting.  I would like to give the floor to the Chair.  Thank you very much.

>> LUTFI ELVAN:  Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Opening Session of the Ninth Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum with the theme of Connecting Continents for Enhanced Multi‑stakeholder Internet Governance.  We have a very busy agenda with hot topics.  It is my sincere belief we will have very interesting and active discussion in all sessions during the meeting.

Now, I give the floor to Mr. Chengetai.

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.  We will now proceed with the welcome remarks by representatives of all stakeholder groups.  We have 20 people who will speak for a maximum of five minutes each.  We will begin with a message from Mr. Houlin Zhao, Deputy Secretary‑General of the International Telecommunication Union, ITU.  Thank you very much. 

(Applause).

>> HOULIN ZHAO:  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.  Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, it's a great pressure for me to be here with you in Istanbul for this opening of this year's meeting of the Internet Governance Forum.  On behalf of ITU Secretary General Dr. Hamadoun Toure, I would like to express our gratitude to Turkey for hosting this meeting and to acknowledge with appreciation the work of UNDESA as the organizer.

Let me take this opportunity to congratulate the President Tayyip Erdogen for his election and to the new Government.  I also congratulate Minister Elvan for his continued commitment towards the Information Society.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Internet will have appeared on a set of globally agreed standards contributed by many, including ITU.  I think I don't need to give you too much details, but my colleagues advised me it would be useful to mention a few.  When you use your Smart Phone to access the Internet, for example, voice and a video are enabled by ITU standardization sectors codecs.  The optical fiber connection technologies, the radio spectrum in which it operates are defined by the ITU.

The Wi‑Fi standards come from TCP, IP and ISTDP come from IETF and HTML and XML come from W3C, just to name a few.  My friends, next year, 2015, marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of ITU.  Our history offers clear evidence that progress can only be achieved through collaboration.  In ITU's case between our 193 Member States together with 700 private sector members and associates, nearly 70 academia members from universities across the world and other stakeholders.  The associations that have joined ITU in recent years also enrich their work with their grassroots unique perspectives.  Distinguished colleagues under the leadership the ITU's collaborative force has seen renewed vigor.  Let me highlight a few events and activities in 2014 that we actively participated in in addition to this IGF meeting.

Together with the UNDESA and other UN agencies, we delivered a common UN message on the future of Internet Governance at NETmundial.  The WSIS+10 high level event in Geneva in June this year, co‑organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNTAC and others brought together the multi‑stakeholder community came to a common view on the right range of aspects of Information Society.  The Commission for Digital Development set up by ITU and UNESCO has been highly praised by the international community.  The commission we are having is next meeting in New York later this month.

Concerning our cooperation with other partners, we are pleased with improving the relationship we have with other organisations from the Internet community, in particular ICANN.  And I'm grateful for the personal efforts made by the General Secretary for ITU, Mr. Fadi Chehade, CEO of ICANN and the other faces of the organisation concerned in this regard.  My own experiences have taught me that there is no substitute to working together.

In my previous role as Director of TSP from 1999 to 2006, I enjoyed excellent relationship with other technical bodies including ICANN, ISOC, IETF and the Internet registers, and these are relationships that continue to flourish over the years.  In 2006 I participated in the first IGF meeting in my role as Director of ITU Standardization Bureau.  I am very pleased to attend this IGF meeting eight years later.

I'm also very pleased to see many older friends, older not means by age, older means long‑time friends in this room, and to make new ones.  Next month we will be holding our ITU Conference in the Republic of Korea where our membership and other activities determine the overall direction and the priorities of the union for the next four years and also elect its new management team.  As we move beyond the PP14, I can confidently state that ITU will be ever more agile, ever more collaborative, and ever more inclusive both as a contributor to a force to bring ICTs to everyone worldwide and in providing competent platform for discussions on issues and ITU's mandate.  So, ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion, I would like to reaffirm our message that we can only succeed if we work together.  And ITU stands ready to continue playing its part.  I thank you very much for your attention.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much.  It is my pleasure to invite His Excellency Tifatul Sembiring, Minister of Communication and Information Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, host of the 2013 IGF.

>> TIFATUL SEMBIRING:  Excellencies, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, once again, I would like to thank the Turkish Government as well as UNDESA for giving me opportunity to speak at the Opening Session of the IGF held in Istanbul today.  As I mentioned yesterday, beliefs that should be based on multi‑stakeholder  platform.  The 8th IGF in Bali was a showcase as how this platform can be successfully implemented.  Prior to the Eighth IGF, or ID IGF was formed and this organisation that mainly carried out the Eighth IGF activities. It consists of Internet stakeholders in Indonesia including the Government.

Excellencies, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, since the information era in Indonesia in 1998, many things have changed in the way the country is governed.  Basically democracy has been flourishing and people have the right not only to elect their leaders freely, but also to get more involved in the national governance.  In 2002 the forecasting sector was formed.  Again, the Civil Society was given a very important position since the Indonesian broadcasting committee that looked after the broadcasting content in Indonesia was set up independently by the law.

The committee was formed with the approval of the Parliament and the members of the committee from broadcasting communities.  When the Internet law was finalized in 2008, the Civil Society is given a very important role, the domain name management institution is carried out by another organisation called PANDI, domain name administrator.  The IP numbering is also arranged by the Internet Service Providers Association in cooperation with other Internet stakeholders.  From the brief description above, I hope it is clear that multi‑stakeholder platform has been the basis of many Indonesian activities notably in the ICT sectors.

Excellencies, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, so it is natural that when the proposal for Internet to be operated by multi‑stakeholders was discussed, Indonesia is in the view to support this idea.  I would like to mention here the fact that after the information era, people in Indonesia may express their opinions freely to the Government or Parliament.  Internet certainly helps this flow of information.  Again, the Government is working with other stakeholders supported by ICT to promote a programme called Healthy in Self Internet to make sure that Internet is used productively.

Excellencies, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to close my speech with the full commitment from Indonesia to support the international plan to enhance multi‑stakeholders Internet Governance.  Thank you.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Minister Tifatul Sembiring.  Now, the rest of the speakers were chosen, the order was chosen by public ballot drawn yesterday at 1:00 p.m. in this room.  I would like to call His Excellency Ivo Ivanovski, Minister of Information Society and Administration from The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.  Minister.

>> IVO IVANOVSKI:  Thank you.  It's pronounced Ivo Ivanovski.  Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon, everybody.  Again, thanks to the organizer for arranging this wonderful event, that we can all talk about the Internet Governance.  It is my first time that I have been to the Internet Governance Forum, and I would like to share with you my experience about it.

I have to admit that looking at the list of participants of colleagues and ministers from around the world, I was very surprised to see that the countries that are represented here, they have been represented only by the ministers of ICT or the ministers in charge of telecommunications or the body that represents that institution or covers that sector.

Does that mean that the Internet is only telecommunications?  Where are the ministers of economy?  Boston Consulting Group said that 8 trillion U.S. dollars pretty soon will be the eCommerce by 2018.  Where is the Minister of Education?  How much the Internet has helped to improve the educational systems around the world?  Where are the ministers of healthcare where the Internet has tremendously helped to lower the cost of the healthcare around the world, or the Minister of Agriculture, industry, et cetera?

Does this mean that the Internet is not interesting for them?  I beg the difference.  They all know it and they all appreciate the power of the Internet, and they all use it to the maximum of the capabilities to improve their sectors.  They are just not well aware of what is at stake these days.  As long as the Internet is functioning the way that it is today, they don't have to bother getting involved.  They leave it to their colleagues, the ministers of telecommunications.

But what will happen if the Internet becomes fragmented?  I bet all of these Government officials would raise their eyebrows and start wondering what to do, because it will severely impact their work.  As the saying goes, "If it's not broken, don't fix it."  Well, if the Internet gets to be broken, fixing it will not bring it back.  It will not be back to the same point.  It will not be feasible.  It will be like buying a car by spare parts.

It will cost you ten times more than buying a new car.  In the past 24 months we have witnessed many organisations talking about the multi‑stakeholder model for Internet Governance.  I'm very pleased and I'm very much looking forward to the first Forum event Conference where the topics that were left out of the NETmundial to be further discussed will be really discussed.  That is why I congratulate to the Ninth IGF for having discussed the net neutrality in such details such as happened in the past few days.  This is a very good start.

This is where we should continue and we should continue with the rest of the items that were left out of the NETmundial or the high level panel for Internet Governance mechanism.  The World Economic Forum last week had a great event where four pilot projects were presented in order to further involve the first sector, Civil Society, academia to start and to continue working on these issues.  We need to continue this passion and we need to involve every person that cares and everyone that doesn't care or is not informed that what is at stake, what is at risk when it comes to Internet Governance.

If the Internet Governance was only about telecommunication, then it would be more natural to be under the ITU, not under the UNDESA.  So I urge every one of you to inform your fellow ministers, your fellow parliamentarians, Congressmen, representatives, to put the Internet Governance on their agenda of their meetings where they gather around the world.  This involves everybody.  Internet Governance is not only about telecommunication.  It is about everyone.

Ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion, I would like to restate the Republic of Macedonia is fully supporting the multi‑stakeholder Internet Governance under the equal footing and I hope so will you.  Thank you for your attention.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Minister.  The next speaker on the list is Mr. Fadi Chehade, President and CEO of the Internet Cooperation of Assigned Names and Numbers.

>> FADI CHEHADE:  Mr. Chairman, Mr. Secretary, Assistant Secretary Gass, thank you very much for the opportunity.  Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.  And welcome to this beautiful  city of Istanbul.  We signed the agreement for Istanbul .city of Istanbul got its own Top Level Domain and it was a beautiful day, and he shared with me the plans of his great city ,a city that was special for me.  

I did well in school  when I was eight and my dad drove me by car from Beirut to Istanbul and I got to see this great city and I told him, dad, I think this is the world.  It's all here.  He said, no, there is more to it, but that's how impressed I was then and frankly, still impressed today.

So thank you for inviting us to this great city.  We are happy to be here with you.  I want to share two messages.  A couple of years ago, we all met in Dubai at the WCIT, and we left the WCIT polarized and a little bit divided.  It seemed like Internet Governance in the multi‑stakeholder way was in question.  I must tell you that today that's no longer the case.  Look around you.  Look at the "buzz," look at the meetings, look at the energy around multi‑stakeholder Internet Governance.

Today we should all look at it and declare it alive and well.  No one will show up and say where is the multi‑stakeholder Internet Governance place to be.  I think it's pretty clear.  And at the heart of this resurging multi‑stakeholder Internet Governance space lies one platform, and it's called the IGF.  It's a critical platform.  It is where we come and make history to manage the Internet all together just like it was created in a decentralized completely open way.

So let's celebrate this IGF, this Ninth IGF hosted by Turkey as a point where no one will ever look back and say where is the multi‑stakeholder community?  Where is multi‑stakeholder Internet Governance?  It is here.  It is working, and it is prepared for the future to make the Internet what we all want it to be, civil, secure, and empowering.

My second message is about my organisation, ICANN.  ICANN is responsible for the critical technical coordination of the unique identifiers of the Internet.  Now, for many years, ICANN has done this job with a contract with the U.S. Government.  On March 14th of this year, the U.S. Government announced that it plans to let go of this contract.

This is historic decision.  This is a decision that validates that we as a community are now ready to go without this particular unique role that the United States has played, the stewardship that the U.S. has provided to our function.  We salute the U.S. Government for its decision, and we assure them that as a community all of us, we are ready, we are ready to go, and we have within us the strength, the accountability, the knowledge to carry the important functions of ICANN forward together.

As the president of ICANN, I want to assure you today that we will do everything in our power to make sure the ICANN organisation and the ICANN community are accountable to the public interest now and for the future ,and we will do everything in our power to strengthen and keep this accountability in check so that the world can see us as an organisation that is committed to serve you, the public.  Have a wonderful week at the IGF.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Mr. Virgilio Fernandes Almeida National Secretary for Information Technology Policies, Ministry of Science and Technology, Brazil.

>> VIRGILIO FERNANDES ALMEIDA:  Mr. Chairman, Your Excellence, distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to begin this short talk by quoting the president of Brazil, USEF, in her speech at the United Nations General Assembly last September.  She drew a vision for the future of the cyberspace.  She said the Internet should guarantee the freedom of expression, privacy of the individual and respect for Human Rights as well as be guided only by technical ethical criteria hindering and to restrict it for political, commercial religious or any other purposes.

I could not agree more with her statement.  There are plenty of challenges ahead, however.  Cybercrime, security threats, attacks on freedom of expression and Human Rights, invasion of privacy, espionage interest and economic interest and international legal disputes are just a few of the issues at stake that demand better understanding, further discussion and immediate action from the Internet community.

The dynamic nature of the Internet does not lend itself to traditional top down processes.  Flexibility, innovation, and bottom up solutions are the name of the game.  Internet cannot be a higher ecosystem with just a few decision makers.  Traditional approaches have to be embedded into the broader multi‑stakeholder environment to thrive.  In Brazil for over 20 years now, we have been coordinating and integrating all Internet initiatives as well as promoting technical quality, innovation and the dissemination of the services available.

We have developed the initiatives and actions to strengthen the Internet Ecosystem with the participation of the Brazilian Civil Society, the technical community and business in a democratic and transparent way.  The Brazilian Internet steering committee also known as CGI.BR has become a global reference for the multi‑stakeholder model in which different sectors work well together.  Our positive experience in Brazil with a bottom up approach to Internet Governance led us to true successful initiatives, the Marco Review.  The Marco Review law as the Internet Civil Framework Act sanctioned by the president earlier this year established principles, guarantees and user rights, clearly assigning duties and responsibilities to different stakeholder and Government agencies in cyberspace. 

It is the product of a wide ranging consultation with many stakeholders over nearly a decade.  The framework contains language on the protection of people's privacy as well as clear rules governed with the Internet.  It provides every Brazilian with strong enforceable guarantees of freedom of expression, net neutrality, due process, the right to privacy, and the right to connect.

NETmundial for its part illustrates a very practical application of the multi‑stakeholder model and demonstrates it can produce tangible results.  The two‑day conferences last April brought together different stakeholders in a spirit of open and transparent participation in an effort that resulted in a common set of principles and the roadmap for the future evolution of Internet Governance.  NETmundial puts on the right track, but this does not mean the work is over.  In order to achieve the goals that were outlined in NETmundial, further work is needed and this brings us to this fascinating City of Istanbul.

The Internet Governance, IGF continues to serve as a unique and invaluable platform for discussing both long standing and emerging Internet Governance issues.  We urgently need to strengthen the Internet Governance Forum and provide it with financial and political sustainability.  There is no Forum such as the IGF.  Even as a decision‑making body the Internet Governance Forum has identified its usefulness by providing policy questions that attention in future Internet Governance.  Let us bring the spirit of Sao Paulo to the discussions of the Internet Governance Forum this year.  I welcome all of you to IGF 2015 in Brazil next year to continue the work that you will carry out here in this City of Istanbul.  Thank you all.   

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much.  Our next speaker is Ms. Catherine Novelli, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment from the U.S. State Department.

>> CATHERINE NOVELLI:  Good afternoon.  It is a great pleasure to be here today.  I'm sure some of you know that I was supposed to be here yesterday, but I had an arduous trip here and I'm so grateful to be here finally.  I'm also grateful to our gracious Turkish hosts, the IGF Secretariat and the Multi‑stakeholder Advisory Group for organising this years Internet Governance Forum .for centuries, Istanbul connected continents, people and cultures through ancient networks of trading routes and cultural exchanges.

This week I am pleased that we are here to discuss the future of our newest network of networks, the Internet.  This year, the international community celebrates the 45th anniversary of the first Internet log on and the 25th birthday of the worldwide web.  In this short span of time, the Internet has proven to be a revolutionary force for economic growth, but also a fragile one that all of us must work to preserve.

Across the world, the Internet bridges the gap between talent and opportunity.  For example, three Nigerian university students have already helped tens of thousands of Africans secure jobs by creating a job search website called joberman.com as West Africa's most popular online career resource, jobberman connects talented individuals with job opportunities.  Today the Internet's economic benefits are increasingly shifting to the developing world.  In fact, in Turkey, small and medium enterprises that use the Web experienced revenue growth 22% higher than those that did not.

Overall, the Internet economy contributes 5% to 9% to total economic growth in developing markets.  And in developing markets, the Internet economy is growing at 15% to 25% per year.  The Internet's enormous impact on economic growth makes it critical that we adopt policies and practices to insure its future viability.

We have a shared responsibility to be good stewards of the Internet.  I believe complacency is one of the biggest threats to the Internet as we know it.  I see three critical challenges ahead.  First is broadband access.  As a community, our shared challenge is to promote global policies and practices that increase everyone's access to broadband, particularly in the developing world.

Second is insuring an open Internet.  We must strengthen the ability of citizens to access information on the Internet regardless of where they live so that people can freely obtain information and express their opinions.  Third is misuse of the Internet, such as cyber attacks, identity and intellectual property theft.  We have many tools to address misuse including technology.  However, we must use these tools with precision, so that they address the misuse while preserving Internet openness to the greatest degree possible.

Because of these formidable challenges, there are some that advocate for replacing the multi‑stakeholder system with centralized intergovernmental regulation.  Ideas range from Governments imposing international taxes on the transmission of content, mandates on how information has to be routed or stored, and regulated pricing between networks.

This type of regulation would only result in a cumbersome and more expensive Internet that would not be capable of driving positive change in education, healthcare, and the overall economy.  Think about the consequences of taxing every Skype call or regulating the types of information that flow across the Internet through multilateral governmental mandates.  This could cripple the user experience and greatly diminish the Internet's effectiveness as an engine of growth.  We must continue to demonstrate to the world that only the multi‑stakeholder approach that brings together Government policy makers, businesses, NGOs, and Internet experts on an equal footing can effectively overcome today's challenges and preserve the Internet's future.

The first step for the continued success of the IGF is to support it's long‑term sustainability beyond 2015.  The United States strongly supports the continuation of the IGF and I encourage all participants here to join us in supporting extension of the IGF's mandate at the UN General Assembly this fall.  In conclusion, as I mentioned at the outset, I urge all stakeholders to work together to fulfill our shared responsibility to preserve the Internet's future.  I am excited to engage with all of you to insure that the Internet remains vibrant and continues to be a conduit to better the lives of people worldwide.  Thank you.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Under Secretary.  The next speaker is His Excellency Yasuo Sakamoto,Vice Minister for Policy Coordination, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan.

>> YASUO SAKAMOTO:  Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am Sakamoto Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan.  First of all, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the government of Turkey, United Nations, IGF MAG members and IGF secretariat for holding the 9th IGF. When we think about Internet governance, one of the most important principles is to secure the free flow of information across borders. The Internet is consist of various stakeholders, who are obeying their respective roles. 

In order to maximize the benefit from the Internet globally, regionally or nationally, public-private partnerships and international cooperation are essential. From these points of view, we support the Multistakeholder approach, and we also believe that it is not wise to let the government strictly regulate the Internet. We should go ahead with multistakeholder approach practically and concretely.

Japan has experienced the Multistakeholder approach. For example, in 2001, Japan established the IT strategic Headquarters headed by the then Prime Minister and consisting of Multistakeholders and based on our domestic law. With participation from CEOs of private companies, representatives from Academia, and relevant communities, this headquarters decides Japanese ICT strategic policy. This helped us to build one of the most advanced broadband ICT infrastructures in the world in 2003. Apart from this example, we experienced the great east Japan earthquake in 2011. I’d like to express my sincere appreciation again for your supports. At the time of disaster, cloud services and SNS were utilized effectively. Information from victims and support workers was shared, and wisdom and knowhow of various stakeholders were brought together. It was the Multistakeholder approach that worked effectively to solve problems.

What is important when we think about the Multistakeholder approach in Internet Governance is not the abstract notion but the concrete action. In other words, the ways to implement Multistakeholder process differ from each area and each issue, therefore, it is extremely important to make clear where and how this process should be applied and implemented. Japan has best practices, as many countries have. The problem is how to apply them to global issues. We can build global models through bringing each country’s best practices together.

One of the most important issues in Internet governance at this time is the transition process of the IANA functions stewardship triggered by NTIA’s brave decision. How can we apply the Multistakeholder approach to this issue? It is our duty to bring our wisdom together and develop a proposal, which meets the criteria. NETmundial was truly the practice of the Multistakeholder approach and produced beneficial outcomes. Japan supports NETmundial. The momentum of NETmundial is worth to keeping and further evolving. Linked with these initiatives and fora, IGF itself should publish clearer messages in order to practice strengthened IGF which was NETmundial consensus. Japan will continue to support IGF and constructively contributes to such emerging initiatives.  Thank you very much for your kind attention.

 (Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Mr. Yasuo Sakamoto.  The next speaker on the list is His Excellency Mr. Elmir Valizada, Deputy Minister of Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

>> ELMIR VALIZADA:  Chairman, distinguished Ministers, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank our host, Turkey, for hosting and organising this meeting.  It is my great honour today to be invited to deliver remarks on behalf of the Delegation of Azerbaijan at the opening ceremony of Ninth Internet Governance Forum.  Also I express our thanks to the IGF Secretariat and to UNDESA and all other stakeholders making their huge contribution to the IGF as a transparent, open and inclusive even on Internet Governance.

This pleasant fact for us that after IGF 2012 meeting in Baku, Istanbul became the next host from our region.  We can see a number of achievements made during this period on efforts trying to find appropriate solution for new mechanisms on Internet Governance.  European Union has defined its principle of Internet Governance.  United States has expressed to transfer IANA functions.  Countries agree to the general principles at NETmundial in Brazil.  It gives grounds for considering IGF in Istanbul will be very fruitful and useful for discussions and development for achieving decisions.

The Internet Governance Forum has entered its ninth year now, and it has become an essential platform for Internet Governance stakeholder groups providing the great opportunity and place to share important and significant information to discuss all relevant problems and concerns.  IGF provides enormous capacity building opportunities for all stakeholders.  This year, IGF Connecting Continents for Enhancing Multi‑stakeholder Internet Governance shows the enormous scale and power of today's Internet connecting continents.  It is of use for everybody that Internet is a universal heritage.  Nowadays, Internet has become an integral part of everyday life for more than 2 billion peoples worldwide.

Therefore, we are all aware of the fact of Internet is more than just space for information exchange.  Internet has become the best way to cover state Governments, education, health, business, banking and much more.  One could even say that it has become ideal for creating new values.  I would like to note that Azerbaijan pays special attention to grow ICT sectors and the development of the Internet.  We are utilizing basic knowledges for delivering public services electronically, organize business and for development society.  Azerbaijan is both at regional and international level for promotion of Information Society as a national development prerogative.  This is exactly the reason why it's important that we are here today.

We are keeping contributing to the values which IGF delivers.  We will contribute ideas and approach for evolution of current situation on Internet Governance to define new mechanisms for transparent accountability and multi‑stakeholders model of Government.  I believe our common commitment will be served to safe, reliable, and transparent Internet.  Use great potential of Internet for individual, society and the state, and protecting privacy, Human Rights, and land environment.  At the end of my speech I would like to thank you on behalf of the delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan.  I am sure this Forum will contribute to global development significantly.  Thank you for your attention.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  The speaker is His Excellency Mr. Edward Vaizey, Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

>> EDWARD VAIZEY:  Thank you very much.  It's a pleasure to be here.  We had the ICANN meeting in London in June.  You may remember at that meeting I invited everyone to tell the audience what they thought of London and what their favorite thing was about London.  This is my fourth IGF but my second visit to Istanbul, and it is a great pleasure to be in this incredible city which I last visited ten years ago, and I should really talk about the heritage of Istanbul or its aspect, but my fondest memory of Istanbul was the food that I enjoyed ten years ago.  And we will see whether the same thing applies this year.

But, of course, Istanbul is in many ways a metaphor for what we are going to be talking about over the next few days because it sits at a cross roads.  It's a city sufficiently fused with cultures.  It's a great city for coming together and that is what the IGF is about, and that, of course, is what the Internet is about.  The Internet is about connecting people all over the world, about connecting different cultures and about a greater understanding of humanity.  And what we do when we come to these meetings is we talk about the importance of something called the multi‑stakeholder model.  And it's important for us to remind ourselves what that means.

What it means is that the explosion of the Internet over the last 20 years, the incredible innovation, the coming together of, from Google to You Tube to Twitter to Facebook, to Ali Baba to companies all over the world and dial up all over the world is because of people and individuals making the Internet work and Government not getting in the way, which is what Governments often do.

And in the U.K. when we look at our Internet policy, we see that we can only make progress by participation, either by participating with telecoms companies in the rollout of digital infrastructure which we are doing at the moment to bring about some of the best broadband speeds in the world, but also on some of the big issues to do with the Internet, the protection of children.  You can't pass a law and wish into existence the protection of our children on the Internet.  You have to work with Civil Society and you have to work with companies to make that happen.  And that's what we have done.

And we have done it as well on issues like net neutrality where we have worked with companies and with Civil Society to work out what it is that people should subscribe to because the Internet moves fast and legislation even if it were the right solution, moves very slow.  And the way we can maintain innovation is by working together with a multi‑stakeholder approach.

As I said earlier, this is my fourth IGF given that there have only been nine IGFs I can claim to be a veteran attender.  I don't know whether I will be with you in Brazil next year.  We have elections in the U.K. in May.  I'm sure my party will obviously win that election, but you never know what will happen in terms of my job at least, so let me say that when you go to Brazil next year, I hope that we will be talking about not what the IGF should be doing, but about what the IGF has done and has achieved because sometimes we spend a lot of time talking and not a lot of time actually making real progress.  And we know that the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development has made a series of recommendations from previews of the IGF and it's important that these are taken on board.  We know that the multi‑stakeholder NETmundial meeting on the future of Internet Governance in Sao Paulo in April called for the strengthening of the IGF and the IGF model has worked well so far and it must be extended to the WSIS+10 review.

And we also need to see more private sector involvement, more involvement from the technical community, and more involvement from Civil Society and more financial support both from Governments and from the private sector.  There is a lot to talk about over the next few days, not least the future of ICANN which Fadi Chehade is leading its transformation so ably.  And I hope that you have an enjoyable time, but let us all remember, again, the huge achievements the Internet has brought about and why, and how those achievements came to be.  The Internet is not a creation of Government or treaty.  It is a creation of people and civic society, and long may it remain that way.  Thank you very much.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Minister Edward Vaizey.  The next speaker is Alan Marcus, Senior Director, Head of IT and Telecommunications Industries, World Economic Forum.

>> ALAN MARCUS:  Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen of the Internet community, the MAG, friends, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today on the opening of the Ninth IGF.  As you heard, I am from the World Economic Forum.  But as some of you had suggested it may also be known as the evil, at least that's what's on some of the lists out there.  It is true we are a member supported organisation and we are funded through membership dues from some of the largest businesses in the world.

But it is equally true that all of our communities, activities, summits, events, and substantive work include voices from all parts of society including Government, academia, and Civil Society.  All positions, proposals, directions that we take are consensus driven by all those who participate, but we do not represent business or their positions.  We have no mechanism to accept funds from members for specific initiatives.

We are neutral, non‑partisan institutions focused on public‑private cooperation.  I say this because my role at the World Economic Forum is to put issues related to information communication, technologies and the Internet on the agenda of business leaders from all sectors, government leaders from all portfolios, including heads of state and Government, and leaders of non‑governmental institutions including academic public interests, development and humanitarian affairs.  And in this regard last week, with our partners, we announced our intent to develop an initiative to bring our grass tops community to the issues of Internet Governance and the opportunities to bring their resources and identifying solutions and convening coalitions around those solutions to move some of our collective challenges forward.

The IGF is a good model, a multi‑stakeholder process, but there are no perfect models, which is part of the reason why this initiative we launched last week is so urgent.  What each stakeholder can do is make best effort to communicate from their own perspective within their community, listen to voices from other communities and engage in a true multi‑stakeholder effort at collaboration and problem solving.

Our effort can be a successful multi‑stakeholder initiative if participants start listening and talking to each other and turn attention to creative problem solving.  Now, the World Economic Forum, we first participated in the IGF in Nairobi, and it was an eye opening experience.  The inclusiveness and innovative approach to insure all voices are heard across a number of key issues, and the depth of discussions on those issues really took us by surprise.

And we come back year and year again.  And what we have heard over the last three years is the need to increase visibility to leaders who make decisions, to leaders who set policy.  And those are the very communities that we convene.  We need to continue to be a part of this incredible gathering that all of you have built.  Our desire is to continue to listen and learn, and as we have heard, to build bridges, bridges between grassroots communities, and the grasstops communities.

Safeguarding the progress that has been made and creating an ecosystem where the Internet can go on flourishing in the future is vital, but as it becomes more ubiquitous, so it has become more complex.  Issues such as privacy, data protection, fragmentation, privacy of Human Rights and universal access increasingly are touching all of our lives.  Because the Internet is a shared global resource, we must continue to have and to improve upon mechanisms to debate and address these challenges so we can be confident that its positive benefits continue to outweigh the negative.  These debates should not be confined to the agendas of Governments or Civil Society alone, and they certainly do not belong solely in the board rooms of business either, only true multi‑stakeholder processes that bring together all actors will build trust in the Internet and deepen the faith in the governance ecosystem.  

Our aim is to build upon the outcomes of the NETmundial in Sao Paulo by bringing together the leaders necessary to enhance trust and identity areas of common ground upon which broader economic, social and security related discussions can be had and solutions to specific problems can be found, and to galvanize support for building capacity in two respects, helping countries to enhance their access to, and governance of the Internet, and to strengthen the decentralized Internet Governance ecosystem so it is better able to progress towards solutions when broader policy issues arise.

This is crucial.  Breadth of issues facing the Internet require a wider set of stakeholders than ever before and this is where we believe the World Economic Forum and our new focus has a role to play, bringing leaders from all disciplines together on the same platform so contributions can be felt most.  Thank you.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Mr. Alan Marcus. Our next speaker is Mr. Ilham Habibie, the Chairman of ICC BASIS.

>> ILHAM HABIBIE:  Ladies and gentlemen, Excellencies, on behalf of the international Chamber of Commerce and its BASIS initiative, I would first like to take a moment to thank our host country Turkey, the secretariat and UNDESA to address you today.  I would like to extend thanks to everyone in attendance today and those joining us remotely at this Ninth IGF.  The many stakeholders participating in discussions over the next few days are playing an invaluable role in contributing to the strength of the IGF as an open representative Forum for debate and sharing experiences regarding Internet Governance.

It's inclusive nature makes IGF an ideal venue for enriching discussion on policy creation, conversations that can contribute to bringing economic and social benefits to more people around the world.  As the new Chair of BASIS I thought it might be appropriate to provide a little bit of my background which will offer a getter context to my remarks.

I am as businessman being also active in NGOs to which I am promoting a concept called meaningful broadband for Indonesia which I will explain later.  Perhaps linked to that in January 2014 I was appointed by the Indonesian president to head the working team of the ICT council as its Chairman.  Let me now comment a little bit to the multi‑stakeholder model.

The unique IGF global public policy Forum provides important opportunity for much needed multi‑stakeholder dialogue.  It is crucial that they continue to invest in the value that the IGF delivers, that means insuring the multi‑stakeholder model of which the IGF is a prime example is continually evaluated and strengthened to remain relevant and effective in the evolving Internet Governance landscape.  Many of you will have closely followed this year's NETmundial meeting in Brazil which marked important moment in the discussion of Internet Governance.  One of the take-aways was NETmundial's emphasis on importance and validity of existing mechanisms including the IGF, but equally the need for constructive dialogue on how to strengthen the existing mechanisms.

The IGF is indeed unique, because it enables an exchange of ideas and best practices not tied to a negotiation of text.  While trying to find ways for the IGF to be more useful and adapted to those needs, this essential and unique element of the IGF DNA must be preserved. Improving multi‑stakeholder accountability and effectiveness of the IGF should have at its core the goal of enhancing the security, stability, privacy, resilience and interoperability of the global Internet and the ability to obtain its economic and social benefits while insuring compliance with the rule of law.

A few words now about economic equality.  ICC BASIS recognizes that businesses today whether small or large depend on thriving Internet to operate in a variety of industries, sectors and markets throughout the world.  Henceforth we must not lose sight of the continued need to focus on creating pro growth socially proactive policies designed to keep the Internet open for future generations.  However, growth is only one economic parameter to be measured.  As important is whether there is an opportunity for broad sharing of the economic and social benefit.  How do various members of an economic community benefit from economic growth?  As already indicated in introductory remarks, in Indonesia we are using meaningful broadbrand, which was through Digital Divide Institute.  This concept insures that all members of our nation are not only well connected, but can also use broadband in a meaningful, which should be a useable, affordable and empowering way.

Only the right Internet Governance principles and the right design of the national broadband ecosystem that needs infrastructure, tools, content, et cetera, insures that the already existing economic disparity in our country is not amplified by broadband gap, meaning that citizens benefit from the Internet in a different way which was decreased economic equality.  At the same time the right design of that very broadband ecosystem also enabled Governments to deliver services in a better, faster and more coast efficient way.

What about enhanced global and local cooperation?  Any discussion about Internet Governance principles, frameworks or processes must be conducted in a multi‑stakeholder format with all stakeholders appropriately represented in a transparent and accountable decision making process.  It is fundamental that we promote greater cooperation among existing organisations including private sector, multi‑stakeholder and intergovernmental organisations to strengthen our existing Internet Governance processes.

I would like to point out that recent discussion events have been properly emerging country, Indonesia, Brazil and Turkey, these have been described as political swing states and can be categorized as having similar economic and political systems.  Business applauds the growing number of national initiatives that have stemmed  from the IGF, the strength of the bottom up Internet Governance process is not only in its open and inclusive model but in its ability to rapidly change with technology and issues.  If both are delivered well, all visions and missions of all stakeholders can be achieved with higher quality, faster delivery and more cost efficient to reach a higher standard of life in the world.  Thank you very much.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Mr. Ilham Habibie.  The next speaker is His Excellency Mr. Rashid Ismailov, Deputy Minister of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation.

>> RASHID ISMAILOV:  Mr. Chairman, ministers, ladies and gentlemen, first and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to the Government of the Republic of Turkey for hosting the IGF.  I would also like to welcome all of the participants to the Forum.  The theme of which is very important, Connecting Continents for Enhanced Multi‑stakeholder Internet Governance the Internet in the Russian Federation is one of the dynamically growing sectors of the economy.  At the end of 2013 broadband services penetration in Russia was around 55%.  The number of Internet users in Russia has reached 69 million people.

And the Internet economy employs about 1.5 million people and there are about 7 million people employed in internet dependent sectors.  Our Government has made serious efforts to build its infrastructure, to create networks, to provide computer literacy training to the population and to implement an eGovernment system.  Currently the Russian Federation is developing broadband Internet access infrastructure for the majority of the members of the population.

And by 2018 about 97% of the population should have high speed access to the Internet.  We are working on a transition to eGovernment and building up arrays of open data for greater openness.  Now, all of this means that the Internet is not only a key element of the, for the development of important sectors of the economy, but it's also a key system of public administration, and we want this environment to be safe, stable and predictable.

We consider the use of the Internet for mass violations of Human Rights and fundamental freedoms as unacceptable.  We emphasize the need to strike a balance between the protection of Human Rights and security on the Internet through the implementation of, say, restrictions imposed by international political and civil rights.  This could only come about through close cooperation by all states.  Ladies and gentlemen, the protection of personal data of citizens is really the sovereign right and responsibility of Government.

Therefore, it is necessary to adapt the multi‑stakeholder model to current reality, and step up the role of states and all interested parties including those from the private sector.  This is how we are developing our system as are others.  We are taking into account international requirements and best practices.  I would like to point out that Russia considers Civil Society an important player in all matters concerning the Internet.  In the past few years many forms of this kind of cooperation has produced good results.  The Russian Federation believes that the Internet should remain an open resource, which should be transparent and should in general entrust equal opportunities for economic development.  We welcome all steps aimed at enhancing international cooperation in this area.

We have always been advocating the WSIS process, and we have been promoting the appropriate decisions taken by the United Nations General Assembly, things that will play foundation and general direction for the next decade to develop the information space.  We are also for the internalization of the Internet Governance and the global policy in this area under the auspices of such organisations as the UN and the ITU.

I would like to note the importance of a new paradigm of the Information Society.  The shift towards an information society.  From our perspective, one cannot simply develop technologies and forget about personal development.  Learning computers, learning about Smart Phones is not enough.

People also have to learn how to use the data.  Ladies and gentlemen, Russia is taking an active part in Internet Governance and a wide and various international and regional fora.  We were at Brazil, and we would like to highlight understanding of NETmundial.  We understand Brazil had to show some flexibility as host of this meeting.

Nevertheless, we must not forget the fact that the final documents of NETmundial cannot be considered as an alternative to ITU.  And we must note that the outcome document of Sao Paulo was taken without consensus and I would like to say that Russia is ready to discuss any ideas to help the international community create safe and effective model of governance of the Internet based on international standards agreed in international fora.  Thank you.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Deputy Minister.  Our next speaker is Mr. Janis Karklins Chair of the Multi‑stakeholder Advisory Group and Ambassador at large for Latvia.

>> JANIS KARKLINS:  Honorable ministers, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, welcome 3,000 on site registered participants from 135 countries, and the remote participants from more than 40 hubs that are following the work of IGF.  Welcome to Istanbul, city that lies on both size of Bosphorus and unites Europe and Asia.  Welcome to IGF 2014.  At the outset, I would like to thank our hosts, the Turkish Government for hospitality and outstanding effort in organising the ninth Internet Governance Forum.  Together with the large multi‑stakeholder community of volunteers.  This so far hasn't been mentioned here as well as IGF, MAG, IGF Secretariat and UNDESA.  This was a huge team effort and here in Istanbul, we can enjoy kind of a family celebration.

The IGF started as an offspring of the WSIS and for the past nine years has served as multi‑stakeholder discussion platform on a wide range of Internet Governance issues.  The IGF was shaped to play that role since its inception and has served a purpose to date.  The multiplication of national and regional IGF initiatives, more than 30 to date, is a testimony of the usefulness of the IGF concept.

However, clearly discussions are not enough to advance the Internet Governance agenda.  Actions and decisions are needed.  With that in mind, a few months ago, the MAG launched a call to stakeholders to provide on a voluntary basis information regarding what decisions have been made or actions taken as a result of engagement at the IGFs.  I would like to introduce a synthesis document that provides the essence of the information the Secretariat has received.

Let me list a few examples from the document.  The creation of the self school of Internet Governance in the lack region, signing the cooperation agreement between the regional organisations, the development of the global Internet policy observatory, the creation of the Council of Digitization in Poland and Security Incident Response Team in Indonesia.  The establishment of the Online Freedom Coalition.  The development of school online safety curricula by Disney in Latin America.  Fostering of parliamentary context and Internet Governance issues continues.  As of this morning the synthesis document can be consulted on IGF website alongside with the documents of all contributions.

If you find this information useful, the Secretariat will continue this exercise also in the future.  At the same time, many voices are asking for future improvements in IGF in terms of organisation, execution, and the IGF concept itself.  The Internet Governance ecosystem has evolved and the IGF should adjust to these ongoing changes in order to remain relevant to all stakeholders.

What will differ the 2014 IGF from previous editions?  The MAG has introduced some novelties in the programme.  The best practice Forum stream has been introduced to capture and document existing experiences.  The Forum will strive to establish a link between different events in order to cross fertilize discussions at NETmundial, national and regional IGFs, UN events like CSTD, UN General Assembly and processes within ICANN, et cetera.  A number of initiatives have been launched in order to directly or indirectly support and strengthen IGF.

The groundbreaking NETmundial Conference in Brazil last April underlined the need to strengthen the IGF.  The IGF support association that was established yesterday, the friends of the IGF initiative to preserve audio visual heritage of the IGF meetings through maintaining and online platform, the Tide Foundation support to IGF Trust Fund.  IGF has longstanding supporters from all stakeholder groups and I'm grateful to those of you who have supported the IGF through different means, and I can assure you that your support is absolutely needed and highly valued.

In closing, ladies and gentlemen, let me wish all of you, all of us a frank and constructive discussion.  Please enjoy the Forum, and use the time fully, including the receptions, as the informal part of the Internet Governance Forum is as important as the formal part.  Thank you for your attention.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Ambassador Janis Karklins the next speaker is His Excellency Diego Molano Vega, Minister of Information Technologies and Communications of Colombia.

>> DIEGO MOLANO VEGA:  Thank you very much.  Good afternoon, everybody.  Thank you, Chairman, and thanks to the Turkish Government for organising this event.  Thank you for hosting us.  I really have a speech, but I decided not to read it because I woke up this morning realizing that today is a very special day in my life.  30 years ago, exactly 30 years ago, I graduated from high school.  Do you remember that day in your life?  That was very important, wasn't it?

But 30 years ago exactly, and I realized that because many friends wrote to me this morning saying let's go celebrate.  I was about to choose, I was about to make the most important decision of my life, what was my career.  And I decided to become a telecommunications engineer.  Why was that?  Because I had the belief that with telecommunications, I could help my country to reduce poverty.

I had that belief.  And I became a telecommunication engineer as many of you here.  And I have delivered on that.  I have delivered on that.  I have seen how my country has changed a lot thanks to telecommunications.  And the Ministry of Turkey today gave some examples of the impact of technology in reducing poverty.  And today it is a special day why?  Because 30 years later I'm at this crossroads.  We are here discussing what the future of the Internet economy is thanks to governance framework.  And I have to bring this story up to tell you that I still have that belief that technology is a fantastic tool to reduce poverty which is the single most important problem of the world.

But you know what?  That is at stake.  That is at stake if we don't make the right decisions.  If the whole world, if this multi‑stakeholder organisations do not do the right things, that dream is going to be at stake.  And we are seeing that now.  Look at the Internet economy, very positive.  But you know what?  The gaps are growing between the haves and the have-nots.  Jobs are being destroyed everywhere.  And we discussed that in the Forum this morning about jobs.

We all have to focus on that.  How we keep that dream alive, alive, how we keep fighting poverty with technology, how we reduce inequalities with technology, and the Chairman said that today.  Look at how the economy is, this Internet economy is bringing more inequality.

So it is our responsibility, ladies and gentlemen, at the IGF to work hard on making sure that this tool is working properly to reduce poverty.  And I have to join the British minister when he says let's go to action, when he says next year in Brazil, we will have to be talking about what we did, not what we are going to do.  We have to deliver because consumers and citizens are expecting that from us, results.  We have to focus on giving results.  We have to work on short term wins in terms of Internet Governance.  For example, we have to work on consumer protection internationally, or child protection.  We have to take measures to deliver resource on Internet Governance, but we have to go beyond rules and regulations.

And I fully agree with most of you and I have to quote my president, President Santos, in one of his principles in terms of the role of the Government, "The market as far as possible; the Government as far as needed" and that's what we want to do in this multi‑stakeholder environment.  The Government just as far as needed, but we have to go beyond rules and regulations, and we have to help all countries to also build capabilities to compete in this Internet economy.  So thank you very much for being here.  Thank you very much, Turkey, for the organisation, and please, please, help me, help me deliver this dream that with technology we can reduce poverty.  Thank you very much.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much.  Our next speaker today is Hasanul Haq Inu, Minister of Information, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. 

>> HASANUL HAQ INU:  Thank you very much, good afternoon.  Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, for emancipation we need now a harmonious society internally, a harmonious world externally, security, lasting peace globally, digitized society for all, remove all of the barriers immediately, connect the continents quickly, connect the stakeholders effectively.  Many of the countries of the world are in developing states.  The people are handicapped by illiteracy, language illiteracy, ICT illiteracy. What does discussion of the world mean?  It means flat world of Internet and communications, but really reality is we are not properly connected.

Ladies and gentlemen, Internet is a global thing.  It is global in modality, but its governance framework is not global.  Every country stakeholder has different policies that will create fragmented policy framework for global Internet which is not good for Internet.  Sadly, existing governance for the global Internet is inadequate.  There exists democracy deficit, trust deficit, and also deficit of consultation.  They suffer from an absence of legitimacy, accountability, transparency, excessive corporate influence, excessive commoditization and monetization of information and knowledge, an equitable flow of finances between poor and rich countries and evolution of cultural diversity, and too few opportunities for effective participation by people especially from the Developing Countries.

Ladies and gentlemen, having said that, Internet has become a very important tool to access information, deliver citizen services, et cetera.  It is affecting your life in a good way or sometimes in a bad way, so a proper policy development and regulated framework has become very essential to facilitate the growth of Internet.

Different stakeholders might need different policy, even we saw Government in different countries might be having different policy which sometimes doesn't compliment each other, which creates fragmentation in Internet Governance ecosystem.  This fragmentation is not good for the development of Internet.  Current Internet is having, is very global in nature.  We are now living in a global village, and no doubt Internet is one of the enablers of the globalization process, but the fragmented governance model is not very good for the development of the global village.

Connecting continents means that at present continents are not connected properly, but the necessity of the present day is to build a governance system on the multi‑stakeholder model so for that connecting continents is an objective necessity.  What we are dreaming, what we have dreamed all depends on the Internet and its management.  For our dream to come true, we do need to insure to develop sustainable net, formal net, to develop people centred information society, to develop appropriate content and also to develop a framework for jurisdiction, regulations and also to develop a cyberspace for peace and development.

It's a policy challenge.  Let us listen to a very old renowned English politician, a member of Parliament of England where I find a proverb for future.  If one very powerful person asks him five questions, what power have you have got?  What did you get it from?  In whose interest do you exercise it?  To whom are you accountable?  How can we get rid of you?  If you cannot get rid of the people who govern you, you do not live in a democratic society.  

So way forward is to address all of the emerging issues and go for democratic solutions, so govern by consent.  NETmundial outcome document is a bold effort to address the emerging scenario and boldly opted for a multi‑stakeholder model, open participation, consensus even, governance, that is with the full participation of Governments, private sector, Civil Society, technical community, and users in their respective roles and responsibilities.  So if we follow the NETmundial document and listen to Toniban, the answer is connect all of the continents, connect all of the stakeholders together, connect the Governments together, then we will lead to enhanced multi‑stakeholder Internet Governance.  So govern and manage by consent.

Lastly, I say act locally, think globally, move intelligently to touch the pocket and the heart.  In Bangladesh, we think big, start small, grow fast.  Thank you very much.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Minister.  And I would also like to thank Mr. Vint Cerf for swapping with the minister.  Thank you.  Our next speaker is Ms. Kathryn Brown, President and CEO of the Internet Society, ISOC.

>> KATHRYN BROWN:  Good afternoon.  Mr. Chairman, secretary, UNDESA, colleagues.  Thank you again to our Turkish hosts for inviting us to experience the wonder of this amazing city where the confluence of culture, religion and ideas have met and melded over the ages.  We know that there is power and progress to be derived from drawing on the mix of traditions and beliefs to forge cooperation and growth.

And isn't that what we are doing here at the IGF?  Building bridges among stakeholders, blending cultures and experiences, sharing ideas, identifying from our discussions best practices that can help guide us forward toward a goal that I believe we all share.  A global Internet which benefits all of the world's citizens.

I find that it's useful at the beginning of something important and this IGF is important, to set out what I understand are our goals so that we can calibrate our actions and measure our results.  So let me share with you what the Internet Society believes we need to accomplish in this short and busy week.  First, we need once again to demonstrate that the IGF is essential to the future of the Internet.  Since the Internet is increasingly both the foundation and the stitching that binds together world economic development and social wellbeing, the value of the IGF is greater than perhaps we even realize.

So our primary goal this week is to assure it's value, it's financial stability, and the continuance of the IGF.  Let’s stay focused and be clear headed as we work toward this goal.  Second, we need to strengthen the IGF by demonstrating again that the multi‑stakeholder model works and that we can take new steps here by producing tangible results through our innovative best practices Forum.

We need to call for the renewal of the IGF mandate.  And based on the success of the open IGF model, we need to call for WSIS 10 discussions to be open and inclusive.  Third, following the NETmundial principle, we need to be fearless in tackling the tough yet undeniably important issues.  There is no better place to have these discussions than right here.

And fourth, we need to insure that the IGF belongs to everyone through broad engagement of stakeholders in and outside of these halls.  How?  Through conversations and collaboration by the many, by the many this week, and between now and next year in Brazil, we need to continue the conversation and the work.

The intercessional time must be productive and we need to encourage strong participation in the local and regional IGFs.  These are critical elements.  In the IGF intercessional work, and in the NETmundial follow‑up.  Finally, a reminder to support and contribute to the IGF support association, which was launched yesterday.  Visit their booth.  The Internet Society board of trustees launched a plan about a year ago to create this association to help build a more solid financial base for the IGF and further support the regional IGFs.

I encourage you to become a supporter.  I just went and signed the card so that I'm on the list too.  The goals I outlined are entirely achievable.  Colleagues, we can do this.  Let's get to work.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Ms. Brown.  Our next speaker is Mr. Getachew Engida, Deputy Director General United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation, UNESCO.

>> GETACHEW ENGIDA:  Mr. Chairman, honorable Ministers, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, I wish first of all to thank the Government of Turkey for hosting the Ninth Internet Governance Forum.  Let me also express my sincere appreciation to the Chair of the IGF, the IGF secretary and the Multi‑stakeholder Advisory Group MAG as well as all other volunteers.  I wish to make this evening three core messages.

The first is to confirm the importance of the Internet Governance Forum and UNESCO's commitment to its work.  This was, message was made also during our first WSIS+10 review event convened by UNESCO in 2013 whose outcome declaration was endorsed by UNESCO's 195 Member States last November.

The Internet Governance Forum plays a vital role in addressing key issues of Internet Governance.  Together my second message is that the Internet Governance must ensure digital inclusion, drawing on universal access to information and knowledge.  Through the broadband commission for digital development, which UNESCO co‑Vice Chairs, we are working to this end across the world for accessible, affordable, and inclusive broadband.

It is a sanction for the Internet to provide access to generally diversified and quality content.  We must do everything to support local content and multilingualism online.  We must do more also to overcome the challenges of disabilities and to strengthen media and information literacy to allow every woman and man, boy and girl to become empowered Internet users.  All of this, dear friends, stands as part of UNESCO's concept of Internet universality.  This is linked to my third point.  

Internet Governance must insure promotion of Human Rights in cyberspace.  Fundamental Human Rights must be respected equally online and off line.  Member States of UNESCO have tasked us to undertake a comprehensive study of Internet related issues within the UNESCO's mandate, including on access to information and knowledge, on freedom of expression, on privacy and on the ethical dimensions of the Information Society.

This study will inform Member States' decisions on UNESCO's future work on the Internet as well as our role in Internet Governance.  I take this opportunity now to appeal to you for your contributions to shaping this report, and UNESCO plans to hold an international Conference in Paris March the 3rd and the 4th 2015 and you are all invited.  Ladies and gentlemen, the Internet has enormous potential to bring the world closer to peace and dialogue, to advance sustainable development and the eradication of poverty as the minister from Colombia has alluded to.  Our challenge is to transform this promise into reality for the benefit of all societies for every woman and man.

The stakes are very high, and this is why this Internet Governance Forum is so important to deepen our understanding of the challenges and to strengthen our commitment to cooperation and joint action.  I thank you very much.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Deputy Director General.  Our next speaker is Deirdre Williams co‑coordinator of the Civil Society Internet Governance caucus and the Caribbean ICT stakeholders virtual community CIVIC from Saint Lucia.

>> DEIRDRE WILLIAMS:  Thank you very much Turkey, for hosting the IGF for us, and thank you very much for this opportunity to speak.  Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, fellow members of Civil Society, friends, I come from a small island state called Saint Lucia in the Caribbean.  Then each of us comes from a small island state called ourselves.  We are all alone, all vulnerable in our loneliness.  Our protection from that vulnerability comes from our ability to form communities and to build society.

In the second half of the last century, we became the recipients of a very powerful tool, a tool that can build societies and can destroy them, the Internet.  Some of you will note that I'm very insistent about definitions.  I would like to offer you now a definition of we.  It's a definition that was articulated last week by Mr. Fadi Chehade at the NETmundial initiative meeting in Geneva.  We are all Civil Society, all 3 billion who use the Internet and 4 billion who don't.

Hence my salutation was for all of you, not just grasstops, but grassroots too, because the roots and the tops are organically connected and dependent on one another for life.  In many ways, April's NETmundial meeting in Brazil was a demonstration of this interdependence.  In the sense that Civil Society is branded as one among several stakeholders, however, then it is important that we should be allowed self determination, the ability to choose our own representation for the many discussions currently in progress.

Civil Society expects that these discussions be carried out in an atmosphere of respect, humility and the will to listen, that language should not be allowed to be a barrier to comprehension, that insofar as it is possible, people should stop doing their own thing, and instead try to understand one another and collaborate for the common good.

We hope for a permanent Internet Governance Forum, which is well resourced, accountable and functional.  We would like to see support for regional and national dialogues.  We would like to see all of us having open access to information and to the tools that can help to provide that access.  We would like to see all of us able to depend on the privacy of our private lives.  What all of us in this room and those joining us online as remote participants must remember is that this is our Internet.  And we must not be complicit in its abuse.

There are too many specific cases to mention each one individually.  Just yesterday I was sent an example from the very small island that I come from.  Those committing the abuses know as well as those being abused and we know, and so we become responsible.  The Internet is not a bubble.  Things that happen on the Internet resonate into the off line world as well.  There are people who because of their on line presence off line are in prison, being tortured, deprived of basic freedoms.

We at the IGF face a double challenge how not to forget about what happens off line, and how to prevent Internet policy and regulation being complicit with this kind of repression.  The English poet John Dunn says “No man is an island unto himself.  Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”  He went on to say of himself, I am involved in mankind.  Please excuse his political incorrectness.  He lived 400 years ago.

My wish is that each of us for the duration of this meeting will follow as a first principle our involvement in mankind.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Deirdre Williams. Our next speaker is Her Excellency miss Neelie Kroes Vice President of European Commission and Commissioner for the Digital Agenda.

>> NEELIE KROES:  Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  Mr. Chairman, all of the interventions this afternoon were just showing that we are involved and that we are serious and that quite a number of issues are on the same page.  That gives a lot of inspiration and that is giving me the line that I indeed, I feel young, and I feel faithful but in my force IGF I realize that this will be the last IGF as a digital commissioner.

I am turning into an old timer, and by the way, I will just ‑‑ just faced with that a couple of months ago.  I do have two grandchildren, U.S. citizens, living in San Francisco, at the age of 4 and 6 years old.  And every Sunday afternoon we are Skypeing, more pleasure for the grandma than for the grandchildren, but they are still behaving.  And at a certain moment one of them was asking by the way, how old are you?

And at that time, I had to say I'm 72.  And she said, and you are still alive?  And that for me was facing reality.  So I have to speed up.  We have to speed up for we have to do it together.  And so much happens in all of those years that we are busy with those issues that we are touching upon today.  It is Internet Governance indeed involved and improved tremendously, and inclusivity, accountability, responsiveness, and so on, so forth.  In the same period, however, the Internet exploded in number of users, mobility, data volumes, economic importance, and global reach.

It is impressive in one generation, in less than one generation, and the pace and the magnitude of this development faces us all with a whole new challenges.  And against that background, those five years have been filled with too much of the same.  And that is what is worrying.

It is talking the initiatives, the sensitivities, the documents.  As the online world reaches several times this afternoon into 3 billion people's pockets bringing eCommerce to the remotest of areas connecting and empowering people, activists, start‑ups, creators across the globe, we have got ourselves caught up in endless debates and disputes between models, between approaches, and so on, so forth.  And if I say that I am an old timer, it is because I have heard it all before.  And it is just not good enough.

NETmundial, has established a solid foundation and we now need to follow through improving the multi‑stakeholder model on much sounder footing.  We need to invest and we need to build a governance structure for the Internet that people can trust.  Trust, trust, trust.  That is the key.  So many have become dependent on the Internet, and so many trust it for critically important services, in eFinance, eCommerce and democratic participation, in education, so forth, so on.  For it to continue to grow, the Internet and the way it is governed must justify this trust and prove to be resilient, reliable and fair.

And those in charge and active in the Internet Governance community must take the responsibility to do a few things.  We all know that should happen, number one, the IGF should now get a permanent status, and it should be financed to perform its function as the central Forum for identifying and discussing Internet related issues.  We are not talking about massive amounts, and considering the crucial importance of the Internet, it is simply laughable that that money could not be raised by Governments, registers, business and private wealth.

We could spend a lot of resources on many new IG reform initiatives.  Number two, IGF must move to the next level in problem solving and it should be enabled to be the main convening entity or catalyst for multi‑stakeholder problem solving.  And number three, we have the NETmundial principles and we should apply them in each of our organisations dealing with IG.  So stop talking, but act.  Number four, the existing IG organisation must be adapted to perform under new challenges.  Let us not get distracted and focus instead on a collective effort to grow legitimacy through better decisions, transparency, inclusiveness, and fair process.

And number five, in this regard, the globalization of ICANN and the transition of the IANA functions should now be actively pursued in a transparent and effective manner.  And six, the last point, build and share the tools for the world to participate and benefit from effective IG.  The commission was developed, there are others, but reinventing the wheel is timely and is inefficient.  The IGF should be the place for those initiatives to meet, agree how to collaborate, and be complimentary.  With the Internet of things on our doorstep and the next billion people waiting to get on line, now is the time to act.  We should put ourselves the challenge not to leave in Istanbul without having achieved or initiated those priorities.  There is too much at stake.

And time is not a friend of an old timer like me.  Step down from your high horses and out of the trenches to deliver what is needed to keep the Internet open, to keep the Internet unfragmented, and to keep the Internet reliable.  The time is now to insure it's developed further as a global source of empowerment, innovation, and creativity for all and really for all.  Thank you.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Commissioner.  Our next speaker is Her Excellency Gisella Kopper Arguedas, Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications from the Republic of Costa Rica.

>> GISELLA KOPPER ARGUEDAS:  Good afternoon, Chairman, Secretariat, colleagues, Ministers, people from the academia, businessmen, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honour to be invited to share some of our experiences here in this Forum, and we deeply appreciate the Government of Turkey for all of his hospitality with us.  We have listened to great remarks from very knowledgeable people, remarks that enhances and supports the importance of the Internet as a powerful tool, and that's why we are all here together right now.

I'm not going to repeat all of those important things, but I just want to share what Costa Rica has been doing.  Costa Rica is a very small country, but with a very high development in education and in health.  And in the last years when we envision how Internet and ICTs were growing, we adopted the multi‑stakeholder system or motto.  And in fact, before coming here we have that council of interstate ‑‑ the committee, they met and gave us, the Government, who were coming over here, what the position of Costa Rica is, and that is what I'm going to read.

Costa Rica, we have this Internet consulting committee is composed of representatives from the four larger universities, from Government of economy, Ministry of Science and Technology and education, regulators, judicial court, judicial investigative rural, industry chambers, ICT, service providers and consumers organisations including a representative from the Ombudsman office.

So they submitted the position for Costa Rica is the following.  Costa Rica supports multi‑stakeholder model.  Internet belongs to all and everyone shall discuss upon the rules that governs it.  Costa Rica supports the open and free Internet.  Privacy, safety, and intellectual property protections are not excuses to justify actions pursued to exert restrictive controls on the cyberspace.  We support a motto that assures privacy and safety on the universal access scheme, child protection shall be a priority in the safety issues.  And Costa Rica supports universal principles accepted as the UN countries in the Human Rights universal declaration.  So Internet Governance shall be based on and enhance such principles.

So my message goes mainly as a reflection to all of you.  And I coincide with my colleague from Colombia when he says that science and technology has a further goal, an ultimate goal to enhance mankind, well being, and sustainable development.  An Internet is a powerful technological tool that shall be used for that reason and goal.  Accessibility to the Internet shall be provided.  The contents, adequate contents of Internet shall be also enhanced, and, of course, having communications to adequate the use of all as a challenge.

So with this in mind, having Internet as a powerful team, we know we can really enhance our communities, our populations, our rural areas that are completely out of the gap getting into broader gaps that we really need to reduce.  And that's part of what we are here and that's why we need to submit important decisions in this Forum to get the governance model for Internet.  Thank you very much.  And I do extend for all of you my recommendations to participate in the Forum because all of you have something to say.  Everybody's shared experience will always enhance Internet because Internet is of all of us.  Thank you so much.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Our final speaker is Mr. Vint Cerf.

>> VINT CERF:  Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, participants, I thank you very much once again for an opportunity to address you.  I don't know about you, but my head is buzzing with many of the ideas that we heard this afternoon.  I want to begin with an observation stimulated by comments from the minister from Colombia, from Costa Rica, and Minister Ivo Ivanovski.  They reminded us that action is important.  I want to remind you of one other thing, we are not alone.  We are not the only organisation that cares about the Internet, and how it evolves.  There are other organisations whose decisions have a big impact on the Internet.

So we should take advantage of that knowledge and some of the output of the IGF should be to influence those other organisations to take actions that will preserve the qualities and features of the Internet that we know have delivered benefits.  So that's one point.  We are not alone.

Second, why has the Internet succeeded in doing what it has been doing?  It's because it's not a network, it's a network of networks.  And these networks are using many different technologies.  They operate in many different ways.  They have different characteristics.  They have different speeds, they have different error rates, they have different latencies.  The reason the network of networks called the Internet works is because there is a set of protocols that anticipate this variation.

And in fact, that's the most important thing for you to remember is the diversity and commonality together make the Internet function.  That's why it has been possible to evolve at different rates in different places.  That's why it's been possible for some of the late comers to have the latest technology.  So please don't forget that the robustness of this system comes about because of its ability to accommodate diversity.  We don't have to have a homogenous system.  We just have to have a system that has adequate commonalities.

I'm here representing the Americas Registry for Internet Numbers.  We are one of five Regional Internet Registries and together we represent the number resource organisation.  I mention this to you because the RIRs each have developed very powerful bottom up policy making process.  They are responsible to the members of their organisations, and together they form late global policy for Internet address allocation which they bring to ICANN for validation.

I bring this up to you for two reasons, first to say that diversity is okay in this environment as long as we make sure that we have sufficient commonality to make things work, and finally, I want to say that the RIRs are committed to the multi‑stakeholder model.  They are committed to serving the community that needs Internet addressing and I would be derelict if I didn't say that you all deserve and need IP version 6 address space, so will you please push your Internet service providers to adopt it and make use of it so we will be ready for the Internet of things that Neelie Kroes mentioned in her comments.

We are all committed to a better and evolving Internet that will serve all of our needs and satisfy many of the aspirations that we heard this afternoon.  I'm personally committed to the Internet Governance Forum and to its future.  Thank you very much.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, Mr. Vint Cerf. I will now hand back the floor to our Chair.

>> TAYFUN ACARER: Mr. Chengetai Masango, Excellencies, distinguished experts, ladies and gentlemen, thank you to our excellent speakers for some very insightful remarks.  The Internet Governance Forum is an evolving process.  Each year we achieve more and I hope this week we will seize opportunity for open and inclusive development and start to make progress towards resolving some of the pressing issues we face.  Turkey is very pleased to welcome you to Istanbul.  It is a pleasure for us to be able to meet with so many international experts, and stakeholder from different countries.

We have much to learn and much to share with each other.  I wish you a very successful meeting and a very enjoyable stay in Istanbul.  I would like to give some information on tonight's programme.  At 7:00 p.m. there will be the performance by Fire of Anatolia.  Fire of Anatolia is very famous folklore group in Turkey and the world.  You must according to me show to them at 7:00 p.m. 

I am sure you will all enjoy this magnificent show.  Just after the show we host gala dinner at terrace of Rumeli building of the Conference centre.  Close to here, approximately ten meters.  We invite all Internet Governance Forum participants to performance and gala dinner.  Now, I complete the Opening Session of the Internet Governance Forum 2014.  We will resume tomorrow with our workshop and sessions and many hours of mutual development.  Thank you very much.

(Applause).

>> CHENGETAI MASANGO:  Thank you very much, can we all remain in our seats while the Chair and the Assistant Secretary General Gass leave the stage.  Thank you.  Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.  I guess we will see you back here at 7:00 p.m. for the show.  Thank you.

 

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The following is the output of the real‑time captioning taken during the IGF 2014 Istanbul, Turkey, meetings.  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 session, but should not be treated as an authoritative record.  

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