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# IGF 2018 WS #65 East-West Commitment as Multi-stakeholders

Format:

Debate - 90 Min

Theme:

Evolution of Internet Governance

Subtheme:

MULTISTAKEHOLDERISM

Organizer 1: Xingdong Fang, Center for Internet and Society, Zhejiang University of Media and Communications
Organizer 2: Bu Zhong, Pennsylvania State University
Organizer 3: Baoguo CUI, Journalism and Comunication Scool, Tsinghua University

Speaker 1:
Speaker 2: Xingdong Fang, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 3: Anita Gurumurthy, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 4: Anriette Esterhuysen, Civil Society, African Group

Additional Speakers:

Louis Pouzin, Civil Society, consultant, EUROLINC

Wolfgang Kleinwächter, academic community, European Group

Wolfgang Kleinwächter is a Professor Emeritus for International Communication Policy and Regulation from the University of Aarhus in Denmark and since 2016 a Commissioner in the Global Commission on Stability in Cyberspace (GCSC).

He is involved in Internet Governance issues since the early 1990s. He was member of the UN Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG/2003-2005), Special Adviser to the chair of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF/2005-2010) and member of the UNCSTD IGF Improvement Working Group (2010-2012). He is involved in ICANN since 1998 where he was a member of the ICANN Board of Directors (2013 – 2015), chaired the Nominating Committee (NomCom) and represented the Non-Commercial User Constituency (NCUC) in the GNSO Council (2011- 2013). He is also a co-founder of the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EURODIG), the Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GIGANET) and the ICANN Studienkreis.

In 2009, the Council of Europe appointed him to chair the Cross-Border Internet Expert Group. In the EU, he chaired the Coordination Committee of the European Interregional Information Society Initiative/IRIS (1994-1998), the Internet Governance Sub-Group of the EU Task Force on the Internet of Things/IOT (2010-2012)) and the evaluation team of EUs Safer Internet Action Program/SIAP 2005-2007). From 2007 to 2012 he was a member of the Steering Board of the EU-FP7 research project “Next Generation Internet/EURO-NF”. He was also the Special Ambassador of the NetMundial Initiative (NMI) from 2014 – 2016.

In the academic world, Wolfgang Kleinwächter served from 1988 to 2012 as a voting member of the International Council of the “International Association for Media and Communication Research” (IAMCR), where he chaired for more than ten years the IAMCR Law Section. He is the founder and chair of the “European Summer School on Internet Governance” (EURO-SSIG), is member of various Editorial Boards of academic journals, has testified in hearings in the Deutsche Bundestag and the European Parliament and has published and edited more than 200 articles and 12 books. In 2012, he got the “Internet Award” from the German Internet Economy Association (eco).

Relevance:

The workshop is planning to discuss the best practices and trends in terms of East-West commitment as multi-stakeholders, plus the historical lessons and future development.

Session Content:

In the area of Internet governance, the multi-stakeholder approach has been widely accepted in the international community and is reflected in the declarations, resolutions and work practices of international organizations. Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized that Internet governance should adhere to multilateral participation and multiple parties participation, in which governments, international organizations, Internet companies, technical communities, private institutions, citizens, etc. should play their roles. In both the East and West, people have realized that it is necessary to avoid politicizing concepts and terms. Internet governance is a complicated and dynamic debate, should seek power balance of related parties in each specific case. The multi-stakeholder approach as a problem-solving principle is indeed conducive to promoting the discussion and understanding of Internet public policies among different actors. However, it is worth noting that its effectiveness on policy-making and implementation need continuous improvement. It is not just the adoption of the popular term of “multi-stakeholders,” but also the principles and standards of engagement, diversity, transparency, and accountability in the process of stakeholder governance. With these global consensuses, there is still a lot of controversy between the East and West on the framework design and implementation of the multi-stakeholder approach, such as how to guarantee equality and fairness in different parties` rights, what role the government should play, how policy advices could be effectively put into decision-making and implementation. In this regard, we intend to invite representatives from companies, governments, civil society and other stakeholders of Internet governance from the East and West to participate in the discussion of multi-stakeholder comparisons, and share ideas and best practices about multi-stakeholders approach in different countries and regions to promote mutual understanding between the East and the West, and try to reach a consensus that go beyond concept conflicts and effectively carry forward the global multi-stakeholder governance process.

Interventions:

The participants from emerging countries like China, South Africa, India, and developed countries like France, British and the United States will share their countries` multi-stakeholders systems and best practices, and then they will discuss and debate on the differences between these countries for a better understanding of the systems, and more importantly, what they may learn from each other. After the discussion, the moderator will summarize ideas and results and help participants to understand the strengths and shortcomings in their multi-stakeholders’ system, and try to improve it according to what they gain from the workshop.

Diversity:

The participants reflect diversity in gender, geography, and stakeholder groups (civil society, technical community, companies and research centers at universities), half of them from developed countries and the other half from developing countries.

Online Participation:

The whole debate can be broadcast online through the IGF website or Facebook Live, which will be managed by the organizer of the panel.

Discussion Facilitation:

The moderator will first ask speakers to introduce their own countries multi-stakeholder system, and then invite all participants on-site and online to involve in the debate by the lead of speakers. Then divide the participants into two, the two group will have a 10 min discussion within the group, and then debate between groups to clear out the similarities and differences among countries and try to let everyone understand these different systems.

Onsite Moderator:

Bu Zhong

Online Moderator:

Bo Han

Rapporteur:

Bu Zhong

Agenda:

1. Moderator’s opening remarks (2mins)

2. Speeches

Subject: East-West Multi-stakeholder Model: Experience, Practice and Global Consensus for the Future.

Speaking Time Limits: 5 mins /per speaker. (25 min)

3. Discussion: among speakers 30 (mins)

4. Discussion: among speakers and participants (30 mins)

5. Conclusion: 3 mins.

Session Time:
Tuesday, 13 November, 2018 - 10:10 to 11:40
Room:
Salle X

## Archived Content

- 2017 IGF: Geneva
- 2016 IGF: Jalisco
- 2015 IGF: João Pessoa
- 2014 IGF: Istanbul
- 2013 IGF: Bali
- 2012 IGF: Baku
- 2011 IGF: Nairobi
- 2010 IGF: Vilnius
- 2009 IGF: Sharm El Sheikh
- 2008 IGF: Hyderabad
- 2007 IGF: Rio de Janeiro
- 2006 IGF: Athens

## Resources

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## Additional Information

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## Contact Information

United Nations
Secretariat of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF)

Villa Le Bocage
Palais des Nations,
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland

igf [at] un [dot] org
+41 (0) 229 173 678