Background: Governance
Internet as a paradigm of technological convergence and globalisation of of communications has led to an original governance model, completely different from that of telecommunications. The importance gained by the Internet means that there is a great debate on the government, or rather "governance" of the Internet, a crucial issue for the future evolution of this network.
In this sense, Internet Governance means "the development and application by governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet.” (World Summit on the Information Society. Tunisia. November 2005).
The international debate on possible changes in the management of domain names (DNS) and assignation of IP addresses, the distribution of responsibilities for paying for and correcting the digital gap between rich and poor regions, security in the Internet and other communications networks, digital
piracy or illegal distribution of multimedia content are some of the issues that point our the relevance of internet governance and control.
In recent years numerous initiatives have arisen in different international forums proposing to define new schemes and management models aimed at studying Internet Governance and promoting potential reformations using mechanisms that integrate all players involved.
As a result of this debate, governance became one of the key issues in the framework of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) celebrated in 2003, under the auspices of the United Nations and the International Telecommunications Union. Given the importance of the matter, with the express mandate of the United Nations to continue working on the ideas generated in WSIS, the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was created, an open and decentralised space for debate on policies that favour the sustainability and solidity of the Internet, which brings together governments, the private sector, academic and research collectives and civil society.
What is the Internet Governance Forum?
The Internet Governance Forum Spain (IGF Spain) has been created as an open platform for debate on the main challenges posed by the Internet in the national and international scope.
Who composes it?
The Forum is composed at the time of creation by over thirty representatives of the business sector, telecommunications and Internet users, the scientific and technical community and experts in public policy of the Information Society, such as the Asociación de Internautas (AI), Asociación de Usuarios de Internet (AUI), Coloriuris, Redtel, SETSI, AETIC, Asimelec, COITT, ISOC, Red.es, CMT and the Polytechnic University of Madrid.
What are its goals?
Among the aims of the Forum are an open and ongoing debate on the main challenges and developments taking place in the Net around the world, such as universal access, privacy, openness and critical Internet resources.
In addition to facilitating the exchange of information and best practices, the Forum aims to identify new problems, draw attention to them from users and public authorities and if possible make recommendations.
It also intends to showcase Spanish initiatives in international forums, contributing to European dialogue and preparing the Spanish intervention and national reports provided to the meetings of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), created in the United Nations on the occasion of the World Summit on the Information Society in 2005.
The support of Fundación Telefónica
Javier Nadal, executive vice-president of Fundación Telefónica, made clear the firm technical support of the Foundation for the operation of the new platform, given the pioneering experience of this organisation in the field. In this sense, Fundación Telefónica presented in September 2008, in the Menéndez Pelayo University of Santander, the report La Gobernanza de Internet (Internet Governance), which analyses the main issues raised by this interesting and controversial subject.