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<DIV><SPAN class=page-heading><STRONG><FONT size=5>Asia Pacific Regional
Internet Governance Forum- IGF in Hong Kong</FONT></STRONG></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><SPAN class=page-heading><A
href="http://rigf.asia">http://rigf.asia</A></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
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<P><FONT size=3>According to Internet World Stats, with over 780 Million
Internet users, Asia Pacific is already the region with the largest online
population. Yet the penetration rate for Asia is only at around 20%, which
signals continued rapid growth ahead.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3>Building on the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development
Goals, and the mandate given at the Second Phase of the World Summit on the
Information Society in Tunis in 2005, the IGF (Internet Governance Forum) is a
United Nations activity initiated in 2006 as a global platform for
multi-stakeholder policy dialogue on prevailing and emerging issues on Internet
governance so as to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability
and development of Internet. The annual Forum was previously held in Greece
(2006), Brazil (2007), India (2008), and Egypt (2009).</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3>The Internet has become an integral part of people’s life.
Despite the advantages, misuses and abuses lead to social problems, such as
digital divide, Internet addiction, information safety, security, privacy and
other evolving issues. These issues have no respect to national borders, and
therefore require collaboration between countries and territories to address.
The IGF approach is an open forum for knowledge sharing between stakeholders
across borders, which in turn inform local policy development.</FONT></P>
<P><SPAN class=page-heading><STRONG><FONT size=3>Asia Pacific Regional IGF
(APrIGF) in Hong Kong</FONT></STRONG></SPAN></P>
<P><FONT size=3>To complement and supplement the global IGF, a group of active
participants, with the OGCIO (Office of the Government Chief Information
Officer) as the advisor, have come together to organize the first Asia Pacific
Regional IGF in Hong Kong. The event will consist of 3 parts:</FONT></P>
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<LI><A title="Link to Asia Pacific Internet Government Forum Roundtable"
href="http://rigf.asia/?page_id=19#aprigf"><FONT color=#dc6300
size=3><STRONG>Asia Pacific Regional IGF
Roundtable</STRONG></FONT></A><BR><FONT size=3>(June 14-16), Cyberport
(Function Rooms 1-3, Level 3, Cyberport 3) </FONT>
<LI><A href="http://rigf.asia/?page_id=19#hkigf"><FONT color=#dc6300
size=3>Hong Kong IGF Conference</FONT></A><BR><FONT size=3>(June 17-18),
Cyberport (Function Rooms 1-3, Level 3, Cyberport 3) </FONT>
<LI><A title="Link to Youth Internet Government Forum"
href="http://rigf.asia/?page_id=19#yigf"><FONT color=#dc6300 size=3>Youth IGF
Camp</FONT></A><BR><FONT size=3>(June 12-14), Jockey Club Sai Kung Outdoor
Training Camp </FONT>
<P></P></LI></UL>
<P><FONT size=3>While the global IGF is already in its fifth and final year of
its initial charter, and Regional IGFs have been established in many other
regions, including Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, to date,
Asia has seen no parallel forum for discussing Internet governance issues at a
regional level. For the first time, the APrIGF is therefore being convened with
objectives to raise awareness and encourage participation from relevant
stakeholders around the region on Internet governance issues, as well as to
foster multi-lateral, multi-stakeholder discussion about issues pertinent to the
Internet in Asia.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3>The Hong Kong IGF Conference aims to introduce to the various
stakeholders in Hong Kong, in particular NGOs and youth, the status of internet
governance and the global IGF. The APrIGF Roundtable will bring together experts
in the region and around the world from the civil society, private sector and
public sector for an intensive discussion that should help shape the future of
the IGF. The Youth IGF Camp is organized and led by young leaders. During the
3-day (2 nights) forum, participants will role-play to represent different
stakeholders in the society and interact with international experts in the field
to discuss different social topics concerning the Internet.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3>All 3 component events combine to become a platform for regional
collaboration and, albeit organised independently of the global IGF, intends to
report its discussion to the global IGF to be held in September 14-17 in
Vilnius, Lithuania. This adds to the significance of the APrIGF in that the
ideas, recommendations and other outputs from the event will be used as inputs
for the coming global IGF meeting in September 2010. </FONT></P></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><BR>Bazlu<BR>________________________<BR>AHM. Bazlur Rahman-S21BR<BR>Chief
Executive Officer<BR>Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication
(BNNRC)<BR>&<BR>Head – Community Radio Academy<BR> <BR>House: 13/1,
Road:2, Shaymoli, Dhaka-1207 <BR>Post Box: 5095, Dhaka 1205
Bangladesh<BR> <BR>Phone: 88-02-9130750, 88-02-9138501<BR>01711881647 Fax:
88-02-9138501-105<BR> <BR>E-mail: <A
href="mailto:ceo@bnnrc.net">ceo@bnnrc.net</A>, <A
href="mailto:bnnrc@bd.drik.net">bnnrc@bd.drik.net</A><BR><A
href="http://www.bnnrc.net">www.bnnrc.net</A><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>