U.N. Internet Governance Advisory Group to Meet in Rio de Janeiro

The mandate of the U.N. Advisory Group for the Internet Governance Forum has been renewed in order to assist in preparations for the next meeting of the Internet Governance Forum. As part of this meeting, to be held in Rio de Janeiro from 12 to 15 November 2007, the Advisory Group has been asked to enhance the transparency of the preparatory process by ensuring a continuous flow of information between its members and the various interested groups. It has also been requested to make proposals on a suitable rotation among its members, based on recommendations from the various interested groups.

The group is to be chaired by Nitin Desai, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser for Internet Governance, and Hadil da Rocha Vianna, Director for Scientific and Technological Affairs in Brazil's Ministry of External Relations, representing the Host Country. The 47 Advisory Group members will serve in their personal capacity, and have been chosen from governments, the private sector and civil society, including the academic and technical communities, representing all regions.

The Secretary-General is very appreciative of the work carried out by the Advisory Group in the past and welcomes the renewal of its mandate in preparation of the November Forum.

The Internet Governance Forum is an outcome of the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society, which took place in 2005. In the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, Governments asked the Secretary-General to convene a "new forum for policy dialogue" to discuss issues related to key elements of Internet governance and set out the Forum's mandate.

The Forum's inaugural meeting took place in Athens in November 2006. It was attended by 1,350 registered participants, including 397 delegates from 97 Member States and 152 accredited journalists.

"The meeting brought people together who would not normally meet under the same roof," said Markus Kummer, the Executive Coordinator of the Forum's Secretariat. "It encouraged dialogue on issues of common interest among people who would not normally interact."

A stock-taking session in Geneva last February showed broad support for the multi-stakeholder format of the Athens meeting, which should be maintained in the preparations for the Rio de Janeiro meeting. A round of open consultations held in Geneva in May showed broad support for keeping the four themes discussed at the inaugural meeting -- access, diversity, openness and security. In addition, there was widespread support for adding a new theme -- critical internet resources -- to the agenda of the Rio de Janeiro meeting.