Morning Session Panelists Biography Presentation * Mr. Giovanni Seppia, General Manager, Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries (CENTR)     * Ms. Emily Taylor, Director of Legal and Policy, Nominet UK and Mr Martin Boyle, Assistant Director, International Information Economy Policy, Department of Tade and Industry, UK   * Mr. François Maurer, Head of Section, Telecom, Naming and Adressing Division, Federal Office of Communications        * Mr. Marcel Schneider, Manager Special Operations and International Relations, Swiss Education and Research Network (SWITCH), Switzerland           * Dr. Ibraheem Al-Furaih, Assistant Director for Technical Affairs, Internet Services Unit of Saudi Arabia       * Mr. Michael Katundu, Assistant Director, Information Technology, Communications Commission of Kenya       * Ms. Theresa Swinehart, General Manager for Global Partnerships, ICANN   * Mr Chris Disspain, Chairman of the ccNSO (The Country Code Name Supporting Organization) and Chief Executive Officer of auDA, .au Domain Registration Ltd.  Afternoon Session Panelists Biography Presentation   * Ms. Valerie D'Costa, Director of International Affairs, InfoComm Development Authority of Singapore   * Ms. Thu Hue Nguyen, Global Internet Policy Initiative (GIPI) Country Coordinator, Vietnam   * Mr. Rishi Chawla, President, ISOC New Delhi and Global Internet Policy Initiative (GIPI) Country Coordinator, India   * Mr. Marcelo Lopes, Secretary of IT Policy, Ministry of Science and Technology, Brazil   * Mr. Baher Esmat, Telecom Planning Manager, Ministry of ICT, Egypt       * Mr. Keith Davidson, Executive Director, InternetNZ

Background

The WGIG Report notes that “international coordination needs to build on policy coordination at the national level” and that “global Internet governance can only be effective if there is coherence with regional, subregional and national-level policies”. The WGIG recommends “that coordination be established among all stakeholders at the national level and a multi-stakeholder national Internet governance steering committee or similar body be set up” (paragraph 73 of the WGIG Report.)

This provided the rationale for the one-day workshop, which focused on national policies related to Internet governance and highlighted the importance of a coordinated multi-stakeholder approach at the national level.  

Purpose and content

The Meeting brought together people with a broad range of backgrounds in national Internet governance from different parts of the globe, representing different stakeholder groups.

The workshop presented various case studies, looking at different models and representing a wide range of experiences. The aim of this workshop was to learn from each other’s experiences, share best practices and solutions and identify problems and pitfalls.

The morning session was a panel discussion focusing on country code top level domain names (ccTLDs) and their relationships to national authorities, illustrating different models of cooperation between Governments and their local Internet community. It started with a presentation from the Council of European National TLD Registries (CENTR), who gave an overview of the ccTLD name space. It was followed by presentations of national ccTLD management by representatives from the UK, Switzerland, Kenya and Saudi Arabia, also examining questions related to Internationalized Domain Names (IDN). Representatives from ICANN and the Country Code Name Supporting Organization (ccNSO) explained the relationship between ccTLDs and ICANN.  The presentations was followed by a question and answer session and open discussion.

The afternoon session focused on broader aspects of national Internet governance. Panellists from Brazil, Egypt, India, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam gave presentations of national policies and multi-stakeholder cooperation in their respective countries. The panel examined among other things the legal and policy frameworks as well as principles commonly viewed as conducive to the development and growth of the Internet.