ITU Secretary-General launches “Open Talks”
Geneva, 15 October 2013 – ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun
I. Touré launched on 8 October 2013 a series of online and off-line ‘Open
Talks’, informal consultations with diverse stakeholders on issues of importance
to the Union. This initiative was further reinforced today with
the launch of a new ITU crowdsourcing
platform specifically developed to gather ideas and promote
collaboration and knowledge sharing:
http://ideas.itu.int/
“It is important to acknowledge that not everyone may have the opportunity to
participate in discussions at ITU,” Dr Touré wrote on
the ITU blog where he described the background to the initiative. “As the
ITU Secretary-General, I constantly seek different means to reach out and to
engage all those whose ideas could make a difference. No one person, no single
group or institution, no one country has a monopoly over good ideas. As history
has reminded us time and again, the brightest minds can be found anywhere.”
The first topic of ‘Open Talks’ deals with international internet-related
public policy issues, including the role of governments in the multi-stakeholder
model of Internet governance. In line with the objective to adopt informal, open
and inclusive formats providing opportunities for anyone, anywhere in the world
to participate, a
World Café was held at ITU headquarters on October 8, 2013
The World Café assembled some 50 representatives from different stakeholders,
including ITU’s membership, in a collaborative conversation to exchange ideas on
the following:
- What is the role of governments in the multi-stakeholder
model of Internet?
- What are the key issues that government should play an
active role in?
- How can governments improve their interaction with other
stakeholders?
In the context of the World Café, all participants engaged actively in a
fruitful conversation: exploring different perspectives, encouraging
contributions and sharing proposals and ideas. A number of different ideas were
brought to the table regarding the governments’ role in the multi-stakeholder
model of the Internet, including:
The role of governments in the multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance
is to offer an enabling framework to ensure dialogue and to stimulate
cooperation; ensure that public interest is taken into account and human rights
protected; and provide a policy and legal framework.
It was proposed that governments should play an active role in ensuring
accountability and transparency; enhancing cybersecurity; managing critical
national infrastructure resources; protecting vulnerable groups such as persons
with disabilities; and raising awareness and educating citizens in the use of
this important resource.
Furthermore, governments could improve their interaction with other
stakeholders by providing support for enabling the participation of all groups
of stakeholders (e.g., using ICTs to ensuring two-way interactions); and
ensuring transparency and openness. A full report on the outcomes of the
discussion will be made available shortly on
ITU’s new crowdsourcing platform.
In addition to the online platform, it is planned to convene a Town Hall
meeting at the forthcoming IGF 2013, Bali, Indonesia, on25 October 2013,
9:00-10:30.
The essence of the discussions during the informal consultations will inform
the Secretary-General’s ‘Information Document’ which he will submit to the ITU
Council Working Group on International Internet-related Public Policy Issues
(CWG-Internet) in November 2013.
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For more information,
please
contact: |
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Paul Conneally
Head of Communications and Partnership Promotion Division
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