[governance] My personal intervention at the CSTD meeting

[Avri Doria]

Thank you Mr Chairman,

My name its Avri Doria. I have been a network software engineer and protocol designer for over 30 years and am an active civil society participant involved in the process of Internet governance.

With the resolution on the mandate of the IGF, the UN General Assembly unfortunately tore apart what the text of the Tunis agenda had put together.  Paragraphs 67 through 78 had described a forum that included the special task of enhanced cooperation as well as other topics within the broader subject of Internet governance.

Over the years, and despite the insistence of many that the IGF was not responsible for Enhanced Cooperation, Enhanced Cooperation occurred nonetheless. In many cases with the benefit of the environment provided by the IGF and the voluntary cooperation of the major institutions responsible for managing critical Internet resources, forward steps were taken in Enhancing Cooperation - Governments are developing a strong and active voice in the existing Internet governance institutions. Unfortunately many of the interventions today have been nearly identical to interventions given before 2006, in that they do not recognize the progress that has been made. The drive to create yet another mechanism for Enhanced Cooperation risks being a distraction to the progress currently being made, while everyone works one more time on the correct methods for the new mechanisms, opportunities for Enhanced Cooperation will be lost.

The IGF might not have been ready for EC in the beginning, but over the years it has handled many issues once thought too hot to handle, e.g. critical Internet resources has been discussed in the IGF in an open and productive way. It is ready to handle EC now. The optimal solution would be to refer the subject of enhanced cooperation to the IGF, thus leveraging the capabilities that the forum has developed in Multistakeholder Cooperation. I believe that if we wish to succeed in making further progress in Enhanced Cooperation, no better mechanism could be found than the maturity the IGF has attained at bringing together stakeholders on an equal footing.

If a working group on enhanced cooperation is formed, it should be done in the context of the IGF or at the very least in close collaboration with the IGF and its MAG. In any case it is critical that any working group that is be formed be one where all stakeholders participate on equal footing.

Thank you.

avri

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