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STATEMENT FROM THE INTERNET SOCIETY
Thank you Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and
Gentlemen,
The Internet Society, or ISOC, as we are also known, is a
not-for-profit membership organization founded 14 years ago
to provide leadership in Internet related standards,
education, and policy.
ISOC is dedicated to ensuring the open development,
evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of people
throughout the world. Our vision is a future in which
people across the world can benefit from the Internet to
improve their quality of life. Central to this is the
requirement for standards, technologies, business practices,
and government policies to sustain an open and universally
accessible platform.
ISOC has provided technical and policy education and
training to developed and developing countries across the
world in all matters related to developing, and improving
access to the Internet. Virtually all of the developing
countries that have come online in the last 15 years can be
traced to efforts by the Internet Society, our members and
our chapters. We now have nearly 80 chapters across the
world and over 20,000 members, all very passionate about our
mission and the benefits that access to the Internet and
information can bring.
Fundamental principles guide all of the Society’s
activities. These are the beliefs and commitments on which
our mission "The Internet is for Everyone" is based. I will
mention just a few of those principles here:
The quality of life for people in all parts of
the world is enhanced by their ability to enjoy the
benefits of an open and global Internet.
Well-in formed individuals and public and private
policy makers are the essential foundation of an
open and global Internet society.
The genius of the Internet is that its
decentralized architecture maximizes individual
users’ power to choose (or create) and use the
hardware, software, and services that best meet
their needs; and if the Internet is to continue to
be a platform for innovation and creativity, its
open, decentralized nature must be preserved.
We are very happy that the delegates meeting here at the
WSIS Summit in Tunis have reaffirmed the importance of ICT
and capacity building to a nations economic development and
future welfare.
Delegates have ensured the continued success of the
Internet through their commitment to build on the governance
mechanisms and organizations that have so clearly enabled
the Internet's incredibly successful growth. This is
reinforced by the proposal that the Internet Governance
forum would have no oversight function and would have no
involvement in the day-to-day operations of the Internet.
We are also delighted that there is now broad recognition
of the achievements, the effectiveness, and of course the
legitimacy of the organizations that make up the Internet
community. These organisations, along with their open,
multi-stakeholder, consensus-based processes clearly have a
vital role to play in the further development of the
Internet, as does the private sector and Civil Society.
We believe that the Internet Governance Forum’s success
depends upon the fullest participation by all stakeholders
and we will continue our efforts to facilitate increased
cooperation and information sharing amongst all parties. We
look forward to playing a central role in the new forum as
is expected of us by the global community and as supported
by many governments.
Most of all we are encouraged that the WSIS debate has
moved beyond the details of technical administration and on
to broader issues that require increased coordination by all
stakeholders, and more specifically to those issues that
will help bring the Internet to the billions of people not
yet connected.
In closing, we very much hope and expect that the Tunis
summit will lead to some real and positive outcomes that
will truly bring the benefits of the Internet to people
everywhere.
Thank you. |
