Message from the MAG Chair

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Message from the MAG Chair

The first face-to-face Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Open Consultation and MAG Meeting of 2019 ‎has just concluded in Geneva. The community and the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (IGF-MAG) ‎reviewed activities across the IGF ecosystem and began advancing plans for IGF 2019 and ‎associated intersessional activities.‎

Planning for 2019 is well advanced having begun last November immediately following the ‎Secretary-General’s announcement of the MAG, reflecting the MAG’s deep appreciation for the timely ‎appointment.‎

The French Government’s efforts to ensure a successful IGF 2018 were noted with great ‎appreciation, in particular, the efforts of Ambassador Martinon who along with his team worked ‎tirelessly to make IGF 2018 a success.‎

Dr. Daniela Brönstrup, Deputy Director General German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and ‎Energy was warmly welcomed as the Honorary Host Country Co-Chair and was present throughout ‎the meeting.‎

Particular attention was paid by the MAG to advancing improvements across the IGF ecosystem.  ‎Traditional review processes such as the CSTD WG on IGF Improvements were noted, along with the ‎many suggestions coming from the annual IGF Taking Stock activities, the IGF Retreat organized by ‎DESA in 2016, and of course more recent suggestions such as those from the UN Secretary-General ‎Guterres’ speech and Pres. Macron’s speech, both at IGF 2018, as well as comments from the ‎European Commission’s High Level on Internet Governance (HLIG) to name only a few. ‎

Building on improvements put in place last year the MAG redoubled their efforts to deliver a ‎cohesive, focused programme of work, including Best Practice Forums (BPFs) and the programme ‎of the Annual Meeting, while expressly signalling interest in greater collaboration between the ‎Dynamic Coalitions (DCs), and National, Regional and Youth IGF Initiatives (NRIs) as key activities ‎in the IGF ecosystem.‎

After much deliberation, the MAG decided to focus on three Main themes this year 1) Cybersecurity ‎& Safety, 2) Inclusion, and 3) Data Governance (final names to be agreed over the coming weeks but ‎the categories are expected to remain the same). These themes are supported by the results of the ‎recent community Call for Issues, and it is hoped will create a programme that will help advance the ‎most consequential areas, and for which we will need everyone’s support.  ‎

The MAG will create a short narrative (or shared reference) for each of the themes above and using ‎information from the ‘Call for Issues’ as well as other strategic input suggest some policy areas that ‎the community will be invited to address in their workshop submissions. It is believed that these ‎shared references will launch work – distributed and global - that combined will make a substantial ‎contribution and help advance the most challenging issues.‎

These changes are part of the MAG’s efforts to step up activities in light of developments in many ‎areas:  Artificial Intelligence, Data, Trust, IoT, Cybersecurity, etc., and many of these areas will be ‎captured in the Themes above.  The MAG and the IGF secretariat are working to finalize the process ‎and the ‘Call for Workshops’ and we will be back soon with more information.  In the meantime, ‎please send us your suggestions/questions and together we look forward to having the most ‎impactful year yet.‎

 

Lynn St.Amour

IGF-MAG Chair