Welcome – 2011

30 May 2011 | 11:15-12:00
Programme overview 2011

People

• Jasna Matić, State Secretary for Digital Agenda, Republic of Serbia (Chair)
• Mirko Cvetković, Prime Minister, Republic of Serbia
• Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General, Council of Europe
• Ilya I. Massukh, Deputy Minister for Telecommunications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation
• Philipp Metzger, Vice-Director, Head Telecom Services Division, Federal Office of Communications, Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, Switzerland
• Kjell Morten Johnsen, CEO, Telenor Serbia
• Jovan Kurbalija, Director and Founder, DiploFoundation
• Aleksandar Tijanić, Director, Radio Television of Serbia (EBU)
• Wolf Ludwig, EURALO Chair
• Brahima Sanou, Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, ITU
• Vujica Lazović, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Information Society and Telecommunication, Republic of Montenegro
• Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission, Commissioner for the Digital Agenda (video message)

Transcript

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This text is being provided in a rough draft format. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings.

>> MODERATOR: Please. Please. We will proceed in two minutes. Please be seated. We will proceed in two minutes.

The next session will start in two minutes. Welcoming session will start in one minute. Please be seated.

>> Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. The session is starting right now. Thank you.

>> Ladies and gentlemen, let me welcome you to this very important conference about the Internet Governance. This is the European Dialogue on Internet Governance. This is the fourth ever forum of this kind, and Belgrade is very proud to be the host after Geneva, Madrid, and Strasbourg. The next host of the EuroDIG will be Stockholm.

So I welcome you on behalf of the Digital Agenda Administration of the Republic of Serbia. And I’m very glad that we could add to this very interesting topic which has gathered a lot of international attention. And that after the G8, who have discussed this topic last time in Paris, Belgrade can host around 400 people from academia, governments, businesses, nongovernment institutions, to discuss this very interesting and very intriguing topic, which recently because of the things that happened in northern Africa and the Middle East have become one of the hottest topics in the world. Let us not forget also the WikiLeaks, which has posed the question of public information and access in a very new way to everybody.

In this light, during the two days of the EuroDIG in Belgrade, over 400 representatives who are present here and over 100 who will be having remote access, from the business sector, academia, civil society, international organisations and governments will engage in an open discussion on a range of topics including:

Preserving openness, neutrality and decentralized architecture of the network in order to provide for more innovation, while encouraging roll out of the new generation broadband infrastructures.

Using the information and communication technologies for planning and organizing response to natural disasters and other incidents.

Making a safe environment for children in cyberspace. And improving security of electronic business.

Redefining the concept of privacy under influence of social network, mobile platforms, location services and cloud computing.

Accessing multi-lingual content using the internationalized top level domains.

And managing the transition from IPv4 to IPv6.

Improving functioning of the government using openly available data and more involved interaction with the citizens.

Ensuring the Internet stays the most Democratic medium, the means for giving everybody an equal voice and the possibility for creating and spreading information, particularly having in mind the recent events in the world.

Results of these debates, which are in the agenda of the EuroDIG as well as the Internet Governance Forum and the World Summit on the Information Society, will significantly influence how we and our children use the Internet, how quickly the remaining two-thirds of the world’s population gets online, and if the Internet will continue to bring new policies into the lives of everybody at the same pace as it has done before.

I hope that the conference contributes to more understanding among numerous stakeholders in the Internet Governance debate and it brings more solutions to challenges for the global information society.

Let me invite you not to miss the opportunity to explore and enjoy the vibrant life and culture of Belgrade, Serbia, and the hospitality of our people.

And now to formally open the conference, I invite the Prime Minister of Serbia, Mr. Mirko Cvetkovic. I would like to invite the Prime minister of Serbia to open this event on behalf of the Serbian government.

(Applause)

>> MIRKO CVETKOVIC: Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, it is my honor and pleasure to welcome you on behalf of the Serbian government and in my own name and to wish you welcome to the Fourth European Dialogue on Internet Governance.

It is my great pleasure to see such a significant event being organized here after Strasbourg, Geneva, and Madrid.

The engagement of all of you who are here is of crucial importance to the development of not only new technologies, but also society as a whole, and the main characteristic of the intelligent business and building of innovation through translation of ideas into products and services.

The Internet is no longer a technological phenomenon. It’s also a social phenomenon and of essential importance to the promotion of the economy and society. We are today in a competitive world, and in order to secure our development and future progress, the joint objective should be investment in new knowledge, new skills, new technologies, as well as active participation in dialogue on Internet Governance.

The IT infrastructure becomes equally important to the development of society and the economy just as the energy infrastructure. Investment in broadband, fast Internet, digital technologies and development of new services which enable the development of e-Trade, e-Banking, e-Governance, have long-term and significant influence on the development of society as a whole.

The development of new services is of great importance to the economy, particularly to the development of SMEs. However, for successful development of infrastructure and services, it is necessary to establish suitable regulatory and political environments, which will secure space for innovation and investment and enable the openness of the Internet to everybody, and its accessibility and security.

From the beginning of its term in office, the government of Serbia worked on the promotion of the regulatory framework in the field of Telecommunications and Information Society, and I can note with pleasure that the regulatory framework with all the legislation and strategies in place in Serbia is fully harmonised with the regulatory framework of the European Union. Bearing in mind the speedy development of technology and impact on society, we are aware of the importance of investment into capacities by official institutions in order for all European countries to participate in the Internet Governance dialogue on an equal footing. I believe that will be one of the messages from this event.

In conclusion, I would like to remind you that the so-called Internet generation is long shaping our economy and participating in the creation of the digital era that we are living in. Therefore, investment in new technologies means investment in the future.

I wish you a lot of success in your future work in this event. And to our guests, I also wish you a nice and pleasant stay in our country and in Belgrade.

Thank you.

(Applause)

>> CHAIR: Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister. It is a great pleasure to have the support and presence of the Prime Minister of the government of Serbia at this meeting on the Internet, which is one of the most interesting international phenomenon and one that is changing the society and the world. As you can see, we have a high ranking assembly of keynote speakers, and they will hold speeches on the importance of this topic and how they see it.

This comes from the Council of Europe, one of the European institutions that Serbia has been a member of for several years. And I’m especially honored to present to you Ms. Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, who has been the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe for 8 years now. The first woman ever to be elected to such a post, and who has put a lot of effort into promoting the role of women and children and protecting their rights and to empowering them. Please.

>> MAUD de BOER-BUQUICCHIO: Prime Minister, the State Secretary, excellency, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to start by thanking the Prime Minister and the State Secretary for the digital agenda of Serbia, for hosting this fourth edition of the European Dialogue on Internet Governance. In particular, I would like to thank you for supporting the multi-stakeholder dialogue in Europe upon which EuroDIG is built, and which serves as a model in the way we innovate, invest, and build the Internet together.

I would also like to welcome the more than 500 participants meeting in Belgrade and in particular the youth representatives whose presence has been possible thanks to the effort of the New Media Summer School and the European Youth Forum. A warm welcome as well to those connecting to EuroDIG via the 12 remote hubs in and beyond Europe. And a special thanks to the many supporters and sponsors of this year’s EuroDIG.

For an increasing number of reasons, we are encouraged to go online to accomplish an array of professional and personal tasks. Several European countries already offer their citizens a legal right to access broadband Internet. Social networking is becoming an essential part of people’s rights to communicate and assembly. It is thus not surprising that time spent on the Internet is ever increasing.

Moreover, we are discovering the enabling effects that ICTs can have on democracy as demonstrated by the Arab spring. And we are beginning to understand that access to the Internet contributes to the achievement of the UN’s millenium development goals, while creating better chances for employment, education, and general well-being.

I do not need to convince you of the interest of the Internet for our progress and advancement. We all feel part of the Internet community and want to participate in the development of its potential. And rightly so. But how?

For the Council of Europe, the key to a successful and sustainable process is trust. Trust in the governments, the business community, and other forces influencing the net. Trust in the system, the technologies and the services. And trust in the capacity of all stakeholders to address the challenges together. Trust implies adhering to a community of values which serve to achieve the necessary checks and balances, protecting individuals and communities from wrongdoings. Online as off line, tensions between freedoms and rights have to be resolved following a series of principles.

Criminal behavior and abuses need to be prevented, reported, and punished.

Vulnerable users need to be empowered and protected.

Positive action is needed to avoid a digital exclusion of some categories of population.

Building trust in the Internet means understanding and respecting Human Rights and fundamental freedom in the design and provision of Internet services and technologies. It implies reinforcing the ability of the authorities and the Internet users to protect and control personal data. It also means investing in children’s empowerment, protection, and safety. It requires cooperation to prevent cybercrime.

The confidence to do business online and the ability to complain and seek redress are also key elements of trust in using the Internet with confidence.

For the Council of Europe, trust is first and foremost about ensuring a maximum of rights, a minimum of restrictions, and a level of security and dignity for Internet users.

It is on this basis that the Council of Europe is making work on the Internet governance a priority starting with the law of the Council of Europe’s strategy on Internet Governance for the period 2012-2015.

As you have just recalled, State Secretary, last Friday, the G8 leaders closed their meeting in Deauville with a declaration called renewed commitment for freedom and democracy. Not surprisingly, it contains a complete chapter on Internet in which the G8 leaders confirmed their commitment to Human Rights for the Internet. They reiterate the need to protect freedom from censorship, to guarantee openness, to secure the protection of personal data, preserve Net Neutrality and promote transborder data flow.

The Council of Europe welcomes this declaration and confirms its readiness to continue translating these values into concrete guidance and tools together with its partners.

To conclude, in wishing you a successful EuroDIG, I would add that this is not a typical conference event. It’s a rather – it’s rather a common endeavor, an experience. It is a process which culminates in sending inspiring messages to the global, regional and national communities. It is a space which is appropriated and shared by you as individuals, organisations, experts, and other buddies that organize and drive EuroDIG forward. Rest assured that your voices are being heard especially by the Council of Europe.

Ladies and gentlemen, our societies face many important challenges and there is little chance we can address them if we fail to build trust. Trust in our institutions, in our communities, in our neighbors, in our future. I encourage you all and in particular to the people of Serbia to remain confident and keep promoting the values that will make this trust take roots and help society as a whole to move towards economic and social progress.

I thank you for your attention.

(Applause)

>> MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Deputy Secretary General. I think this opening speech has very well set the scene for our discussions that we hope will be fruitful.

The next speaker is from Russia, the Deputy for Telecommunications and Mass Media. He brings to the table experience in the private sector and the government, and I present to you Mr. Ilya Massukh.

>> ILYA MASSUKH: Thank you, Deputy, State Secretary. I’m proud to be here and really thank you for the invitation, because the importace of the Internet is raising. As you said, the G8 is discussing this. We have been in Geneva in ITU meetings, also. The major discussions were about the Internet and its deviation toward real life.

Well, the Russian Federation has long recognized the priority of having free access and democratic access to the Internet, and to have the ability to every nation and every country to provide its citizens and, let’s say, and protected access to these global services.

Well, Russians, in terms of Russian economy, we are quite – we have about 25 percent in recent years, it’s dividing toward the Internet. And Russians were the first nation that was capitalized in social networking. And the Internet company like Yondix recently had beat all expectations in IPO in NASDAQ. By the way, it’s competing with global Internet giants like Google.

The position of the Russian government regarding the Internet is to keep multilingual and multi-stakeholder, multi-cultural access to the environment where every country, every nation should have their own voice in governance.

Let me take the opportunity to congratulate our Serbian colleagues with the launch of .srb for Serbia. We have been in this position about two years ago, and we successfully launched .rf. You know, in our languages, we have special letters like G, Ya, which is quite difficult to transcript in English. And sometimes in transcription, you lose the idea.

So, we have positive and negative experience of launching .RF in Russia and we are ready to provide our Serbian friends with some advice on how to do it.

Regarding the electronic government, about two years ago Russia started to launch a big programme called Information Society. And we succeeded in providing our citizens electronic services. We have more than 100 Techtronic services available online to Russian citizens, and without any advertisement it’s been over – we – we underestimated the popularity of such service, which is very surprising to us. Russia is a big country, and from the Far East to Ca Leningrad, people use the services online. And we see the demand for moving to electronic government. It’s clear it’s breaking the barriers in bureaucracy and fighting corruption, which we unfortunately have there. But with interaction with citizens and computer systems, fortunately there is no point for corruption. And we see it and we will continue these developments in Russia. And we established the single point of entry for citizens called electronic services. In Russian it’s called Gosus login, I think in Serbian it’s the same.

We also are ready to provide the Internet community, because the Internet is a transborder. And success in one country can be easily shared in another. And this is I think one of the major tasks we can discuss here is how to expand the global Internet presence to success in the one single country, and that is what governments should do.

Some governments right now are afraid of the Internet, of the freedom, but I think that new governments should look on the Internet like a tool for – that can communicate with its citizens more – in new way, more freely, and more convenient to them. And I agree with the Deputy Secretary that a new generation of young people, well, one of the important addresses that we should take into account.

And in the end, well, I’d like to conclude first of all in welcoming you, as there are points on the Internet that sometimes people are describing cybercrimes, illegal content there. But there are areas where everybody’s come to conclusions. It’s an area like child pornography, drug information on the Internet. And I think this small step to prevent child pornography from, well, to be that transparent like it is right now, that you can just go on Google and you will get some information.

Such areas can be good starting points in global cooperation, in preventing our children, our nations, from illegal and unlawful content.

So thank you.

(Applause)

>> MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Deputy Minister. And special thanks for mentioning our newly established national alphabet domain srb in Cyrillic, which is following Russian’s suit as well as the other countries that established their own Internet domains in their own alphabets. I know that our national Internet domain registry will be cooperating with the Russian counterparts in order to exchange experiences on this topic.

The next speaker comes from Switzerland, that is Philipp Metzger. Vice Director, head of the Telecom Services Division at the Federal Office of Communication, the Swiss OFCOM. He brings experience from media and the regulators, and I present to you Mr. Philipp Metzger.

>> PHILIPP METZGER: Prime Minister, State Secretary, excellency, ladies and gentlemen. I’m very honored to have the opportunity to address you at this fourth meeting of the European Dialogue on Internet Governance, the European IGF, here in Belgrade.

From the outset, Switzerland and in particular our office of communications has been among those who found it useful and indeed even necessary for a multi-stakeholder dialogue to be established not only globally, but also at the European level for two reasons.

First, we believe that it’s crucial for all stakeholders throughout Europe to meet, regardless of their geographical or cultural origin, be they from civil society, the business sector, academic, and technical communities or governments.

It is crucial for us to exchange our points of view in a pan-European context, to better understand our respective situations, to identify the challenges that we must face together, and to identify ways to use the Internet successfully in the future.

Secondly, this type of gathering helps us to better present and promote our European values and experiences at a global level.

For several years now, we have been applying a multi-stakeholder approach. We all agree that such an approach is necessary, especially when it comes to a subject such as Internet Governance, where the private sector has from the outset played a decisive role, to help the different actors understand their responsibilities in the management and the use of the Internet.

As a representative of a country who is rooted in direct democracy, I actually share the opinion that the inclusion of all stakeholders in the debates and where possible in the decision-making processes on matters of public policy helps find the best solutions for developing an Information Society, which corresponds to the division outlined by the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva in 2003, that having been said, it is essential not to forget one thing. Like our direct democracy, a serious multi-stakeholder process which is worth its name is not for free. On the one hand, all inclusive or shall we say bottom up dialogue processes demand human and financial resources. On the other hand, and more importantly, this type of process is complicated. It takes time. Time to listen. Time to try to understand and learn to respect each other. And finally time to identify sustainable solutions.

The task before us is therefore huge. But we believe it is worthwhile. By applying such inclusive processes thoroughly, the gains for society as a whole far outweigh the costs. And when I say costs, I mean costs in quotation marks.

It is for this very reason that the Swiss government has, from the outset, supported not only IGF but also EuroDIG, contributing significant human and financial resources in various forms, either by organizing conferences, contributing to strategic planning, preparing and managing debates or by widening the inclusion and convincing other European players to invest in turn resources in this process.

We are committed to this because mere statements of support are insufficient. The circle of those who are willing to actively commit and make resources available must constantly expand. Otherwise, we run the risk of running out of steam.

To ensure the sustainable and resolute development of the multi-stakeholder approach in Europe and throughout the world, it is imperative that everyone participates not only intellectually, but also in practical terms.

In this spirit, my colleagues and I from the Swiss government look very much forward to fruitful and inspiring exchanges over the next two days. And I thank you very much for your attention.

(Applause)

>> MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Mr. Metzger. I think it is extremely valuable to have a perspective from a country that has been practicing direct democracy for so long, since all of us now are getting closer to that concept, due to the Internet.

Our next speaker and it is my special pleasure to introduce kjell Morten Johnsen of Telenor Serbia. He is the senior Vice President and head of Telenor Russia and Telenor central eastern Europe as well as President of the Buena Vista council in Serbia. Please.

>> KJELL MORTEN JOHNSEN: Mr. Prime Minister, State Secretary, and representatives of the Serbian and international governments and institutions, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to Belgrade. Welcome to the EuroDIG. And I have to say that the State Secretary almost made me blush. But it’s always nice with nice words.

On that note I would like to say a special thank you for the Prime Minister for devoting time to come here today. We all know that the issues that we are addressing today, they are not going to turn into something tangible tomorrow or next week. There are many things that we need to deal with now that go about building up society, in the medium and longer term. And it is often tempting to always be occupied with the near, like the next road, the next bridge, the next tunnel, the next tangible thing that shows that something is really happening. So we need people in government who see the longer term effects of the work we’re doing. It’s extremely important. Because big change is happening around us every day. And if we don’t take that into the highest levels of the government, we will be too slow. So I think that is an important note to make.

When it comes to why am I standing here? I mean, we have a lot of very smart people sitting on this panel and they know these things very, very well. But as a company, Telenor wants to participate in these arenas because we are shaping the future. We want to do the mundane and simple work of building the base stations and having the ducts and cables and all these kinds of things, but shaping the regulatory agenda is important and we want to participate in that and do some of that work. That gives us the opportunity to build a better future.

That’s why also we’re working with some of our partners in here. We have, for example, UOA, Internet for Democracy. Wow. That is some title. That is really a serious title. Those are big words. And looking into it, some of the foundations of democracy, what are they? And I’m not going to list them all, but in case there is someone from political science here, because then they will laugh at me, but some are freedom of speech, assembly, open communication and protection of individual rights.

And we all remember or should remember what happened when newspapers came around some centuries ago. The reactions to that, the risk that people – the fear that people felt when information flows freely. Now we have it again but at a different level. So looking at this new so-called digital world, it gives us enormous possibilities. It also includes some threats. And I’ll get back to some of the possibilities. But, it was mentioned by my colleagues here the North African leader, they probably have the same view, some of them, on what is happening in the mobile communication world, Internet world, as the Catholic church had a couple centuries ago about newspapers. Why else should people read newspapers where they should tell them they should not work 16 hours a day 7 days a week. Maybe we should push ourselves about it.

Many people have mentioned the risk of those who cannot protect themselves. Together with the government of Serbia, we are working on projects that will protect children, and I think many governments do this. This is very important. We have to be aware of what I would call the Internet illiterate. Instead of defining that, think of New York, people stepping off the boat, immigrating. They were naive, not knowing what to expect. There were people standing there to help them. To help them. But they were not always helping them. So we need to be aware of that. There are many grown ups also who need to understand this new world, these new concepts.

Having talked about some of the fears and the threats that we see, I think there is no doubt that the communication with the citizens on the part of government can improve considerably. And it’s not only about those lofty nice works, e-Government, we talk about – people talk about cloud computing, when they really want to be advanced. This is about practical things.

When I delivered my text in Norway, I can do it over the Internet. I have a small company in Norway, not as big as I would like it to be, but I can deliver my forms and tax returns over the Internet. It makes it easy and it saves time for the government. We can deploy forces to the other things, for example, answering questions from the EU, which will ask a lot of questions going forward. So we have to make it tangible for people.

Looking at some of the things happening around us, last week I participated in the announcement of a project that we are doing on a project together with UNICEF in Serbia. UNICEF does a lot of the work here. Mediators who use simple technology, who speed up, simplify their work, and we see now that never before has there been so much info about this group of people who often have suffered from a deal of neglect in the past. So we see that tangible results can be achieved by relatively simple means.

I’ll not take up the whole afternoon for you, but there are many things I would like to share. But I know that someone will club me after a few more minutes. So I’d like to say that the thing that we’re doing today is a part of an exchange and a part of a direction that we are setting. We have to take it very seriously. We have to work with governments, with companies, with institutions, internationally, to make sure that we get the right framework in place. The EuroDIG in Belgrade is important in that direction. For that reason I wish you the best of success in the work in the next couple of days. Thank you very much.

(Applause)

>> MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Mr. Johnsen. In the previous three years, Telenor has provided for a high quality and very constructive public sector and business sector dialogue in Serbia, which has resulted in a very good –

(Applause)

– so, we have had a great dialogue between the business sector sector and the government sector in Serbia, also due to Telenor’s effort in this area.

Our next speaker is Jovan Kurbalija, Director and Founder of the DiploFoundation that does research around Internet and diplomacy, which has become one of the key topics globally. Please welcome Mr. Jovan Kurbalija.

>> JOVAN KURBALIJA: Thank you, State Secretary. Good morning. I hope – I have permission to continue this presentation in English.

I would like to thank you for this invitation. I would like to thank the State Secretary, honorable guests for joining us today, but particularly I want to thank all of you who, according to this morning’s survey, seems to be digital natives. Some of us are advanced digital migrants, users of Facebook and Twitter and other ICT tools. And this event, EuroDIG, will help me in this introduction to explain two concepts which I usually have difficulties to explain to everybody. One is capacity development. And the other is multi-stakeholderism. And this event by itself is the best example of both capacity development and multi-stakeholderism.

Six years ago we started a capacity development programme in Serbia on Internet Governance. And among the participants were people who are today driving forces behind EuroDIG, people who suggested the organisation of the EuroDIG, and who made it possible, like Vladamir and others. I’m sure that I will miss some of them.

But what basically happened, they started an online course. They did policy research. They attended events worldwide. They became well-known people in the IG field, a reference point, and then somehow naturally it became possible to organize it in Serbia. And they proposed it last year during the Madrid EuroDIG meeting. This is a good example of capacity development, which is sometimes a vague political term which people cannot explain. But here we have concrete capacity developed and are making very concrete impact. This is the first term.

The second term is multi-stakeholderism. What they did, they approached the State Secretary for a digital agenda, and immediately she supported the idea. And what was very impressive in the organisation, she played the role that governments, in my view, should play these days. There was concrete support. There was support in providing framework, but not necessarily micromanagement. Therefore, you had a unique combination, and this is real multi-stakeholderism of the sponsorship by government, support by government, and a lot of enthusiasm by young people who had the drive to organize it, who had the drive to make it possible, and this is the reason why we are today in this unique interplay.

The third symbolic point today while we are gathering in this room is the unique historical moment in Serbia, as you’ve been following the news. You probably noticed that Serbia is closing one difficult and extremely hard part of its history. And like every transition, in private life, in political life, in the economy, it is a stressful – it is difficult. It involves a lot of soul searching, answering difficult questions, and trying to find new ways. But in the same time, it wasn’t arranged intentionally. We are gathering today here and discussing a possible future agenda for Serbia, an agenda which is open and related to the Internet, new opportunities, innovation, creating a solid Democratic infrastructure for the Serbian society. Besides the European aspect of the Internet Governance, there is a strong even symbolic relevance of EuroDIG, and I think we should keep it in mind throughout our deliberation over the next two days.

Now, why the Internet Governance is important to date and what are the main reasons and main reasons where we are today and why we have a relatively full room and high attendance? It is so-called Internet Governance spring, if I can call it. Internet Governance is on diplomatic agendas. It’s on the agenda of G8, ITU, Council of Europe have been discussing it for a long time.

And there are three characteristics, three main points why today Internet Governance is important. First, the more our society depends on the Internet, the more Internet governance is relevant. It’s not just the question of the few technical people, it’s a question for society and society has to find some answers, sometimes delicate and difficult, like the balance between freedom of expression and security.

Second characteristics of the Internet Governance spring is the return of governments. Governments are back. They’re back especially after financial crises, when governments manage to save our global economy. That is not anymore, if I can call this term in inverted commas, bad players viewed with suspicion. They are good players. The image of government is better than in the past and most governments are acting very smartly. They know what they can and cannot do. And this is good news for the Internet community at large.

The third characteristic is that we have a huge diversity of players in the Internet Governance. We heard about Arab spring and you can find many examples, but not only in the political field, but in social and economic. Internet enabled people who organize themselves to help themselves solving very concrete problems. Therefore, that element of Internet Governance should be kept through multi-stakeholderism. And in this context, in the specific Serbian context of transition between two eras, and in the context of the Internet Governance going globally, we will deliberate the next two days.

I would like to invite you all to open your intellectual radar, to try to engage from colleagues from abroad, from Serbia, and also engage with colleagues from other cultures, lawyers, engineers, journalists.

With that, I would like to thank you for your attention and to invite you to utilize the two days in Belgrade as much as it is possible not only in this hall, but also outside.

Thank you.

(Applause)

>> MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Mr. Jovan Kurbalija. Thank you for introducing and defining I would say really well this term of Internet Governance spring and its underlying principles.

The next speaker is Giacomo Mazzone. He will bring the angle from the broadcasting community which also has a huge role now in the Internet Governance, with the convergence of the electronic communications that has been undergoing.

>> GIACOMO MAZZONE: Thank you very much. Honorable guests, I’m pleased to be here. If you looked at the programme, I’m filling in for another person.

Nevertheless, we will refrain from the part that he would have said about the Serbian experience, because I don’t have the experience, so I can talk from the European point of view. Because the topic of this session is Internet and democracy, I want to pinpoint that in reality if you look at Arab spring, what we have seen is not Internet causing democracy but the interaction of different media creating the democracy, the condition for the democracy.

Because we had the satellite television that had information that was not coincident with the national broadcasters on the ground. When they tried to stop this kind of flow of information, the social network took the relief and spread the information and localized the event. So the Freedom of Expression was on the satellite but the freedom of association was on the ground through the social network. And this is the interaction of the two elements.

What was the winning element was when the journalist in the national broadcasters started to say something that was different from the official information that was coming before us. So it’s the direction of the free media itself that creates the condition for democracy. And I think that sometimes when we talk of Internet Governance we forget this interaction; very crucial.

We discuss about the media. We don’t discuss about what is behind. What is the most important is the reliability of what is said, the professionalism of the people that say that. The credibility and the relations with the citizens of this media is the important thing. And I would like very much that we will have more opportunity to discuss about that.

In other terms, we are talking not only of the Internet but we are talking about the public service on the Internet, we are talking about the ontology. We are talking about the value that are shared by citizens and the obligation that exists in order to make this media fulfilling, what the citizen needs and asks,

These rules need to be harmonized. Living in the broadcasting world, we have an enormous quantity of rules that we are perfectly allowed to live with, and we are pleased with that. In the Internet world, this doesn’t exist. How the privacy is regulated and protected in the broadcasting world is totally different than how it’s protected and regulated in the Internet world. Probably we need to find a way where if these two – the same need, because it’s the same need for different media, we need to arrive to a common point. Because you cannot leave it with the broadcasting world. It’s more and more in the Internet, on a different ground of privacy and protection, on a different ground of financing original content that are the base of the identity of the culture of each country in Europe.

To make a long story short, this is the reason why the broadcasting world is present into the reflection of the Internet Governance since the beginning in the WSIS process. It’s important participation to the IGF and to EuroDIG.

And just a final note and comment. I’m really astonished to see how Europe has not reacted properly to the current dragging feet process that we are living in the IGF. I think that as Europe we need to be more proud of what have we have done, of the multi-stakeholder, of our achievements over the years, and we cannot accept simply that the process is delayed because of other problems, or because of other agenda that we don’t share. We need to be proud and to say that we want to go on in this direction. And I hope that these two days of reflection of EuroDIG and the final document will reflect this point.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)

>> MODERATOR: Thank you, Mr. Mazzone, for offering us a view of similarities and differences between the Internet and media and the synergies that will exist more in the future between those two. And especially for urging us all to be more dynamic in the process that we’re all involved in.

One of our final speakers, Mr. Wolf Ludwig, coming from the ICANN European at large chair, also coming from Switzerland.

Please.

>> WOLF LUDWIG: State Secretary, excellencies, dear participants. It’s an honor to speak on behalf of civil society at this welcome session of the fourth EuroDIG in the marvelous City of Belgrade.

From a civil society point of view, the recent developments on the global IGF level are not rosy or promising. Let me put this perception into a short form of a fairy tale. There was once a baby born in 2005. Part of the fatherhood was clear governments. The rest of the parentage was an unclear liaison between business and civil society.

The baby was called IGF. There are surnames like multi-stakeholder or enhanced cooperation. Some perceived it as a bastard inside the UN system. But the baby developed well the first couple of years. There was comment about the legitimacy and the future. The good fathers wanted to give him a chance. The bad ones preferred to let the bastard die. The bad fathers demand control over the child and the good ones don’t dare to resist.

The future of this promising child is more than uncertain and I fear they will misguide and shape him into a monster that nobody wants and needs.

This is the end of the fairy tale. And unfortunately, it’s out in happy land. When the global or the big IGF won’t get a real development chance, so regional IGFs, like EuroDIG, besides the national IGFs, nieces and nephews of the said baby are getting more and more important. So EuroDIG from its name and understanding is based on dialogue – or maybe controversies from time to time. But focused on inclusiveness and equal participation of all stakeholders.

When the global perspective is not bright and promising at all, let’s concentrate on the regional version and put it into lasting best practice.

Thanks for your attention.

(Applause)

>> MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Mr. Wolf Ludwig. Thank you very much for this baby metaphor, which I’m sure will remain in everybody’s minds for a long time now, depicting our situation very aptly I would say.

And, finally, the concluding remarks, and our final speaker today, is the Director of The Telecommunication Development Bureau of the ITU, Brahimia Sanou.

Let me remind you that the International Telecommunication Union is the United Nation agency mandated and in charge of information and communication technologies, an agency that has brought change to the information and communication technologies globally and especially in the least developed countries, improving the quality of lives of people across the globe. Please, Mr. Sanou.

>> BRAHIMIA SANOU: Excellency, Secretary, State Secretary for digital agenda of Serbia, distinguished panelists, all protocol observed, it is a great pleasure and honor for me to be here today in Belgrade to address the fourth European Dialogue on Internet Governance. I am particularly proud to be here today as Serbia celebrates its 140 years of ITU membership. Serbia was therefore one of the founding fathers of ITU. Let’s applaud that.

(Applause)

At the time, my own country did not exist.

First of all, I would like to thank the excellency, the secretary for the digital agenda, for the Republic of Serbia for her kind invitation to address the meeting, and also to the government and the people of Serbia for the work, the very warm welcome and their hospitality.

As many of you know, the Internet Governance Forum, known as the IGF, was created as an outcome of the World Summit on the Information Society, known as WSIS, held in 2003 in Geneva, and 2005 in Tunis.

At the close of the summit, in November 2005, we had a breakthrough agreement on Internet Governance which acknowledged the need for enhanced global cooperation.

The IGF was therefore created as a first start to pave the way for discussions on the number of issues in order to enforce the sustainability, the robustness, security, stability, and development of the Internet.

Ladies and gentlemen, after what has been said by the other keynote speakers, I will just limit myself to what ITU has been doing so far.

And ITU, also, to reiterate the commitment of the ITU to the WSIS process, as you know, every year, ITU leads together with other UN agencies, the organisation of the WSIS forum and the last event took place in Geneva from 16 to 20th of May, just two weeks ago.

This year’s forum attracted more than 1150 participants from 140 countries, including members of Parliament, ministers, regulators, C level representatives from the private sector and the civil society. Remote participation was also an integral component of this year’s WSIS forum.

ITU and especially the development sector that I have the honor to lead plays a key role in the implementation of the outcomes of the WSIS.

In May 2007, in accordance with the WSIS action line C5, ITU launched the global cybersecurity agenda, known as GC8. A global framework for international cooperation aimed at enhancing global public confidence and security in the use of ICTs. And the other keynote speaker discussed this issue.

And this comprehensive approach to cybersecurity elaborated global cooperation and was further embellished by all the relevant stakeholders during the last WSIS forum.

ITU and the United Nations office for drugs and crime, UNODC formally agreed to collaborate globally in assisting Member States to mitigate the risks posted by the cybercrime.

So the global agenda, the global cybersecurity agenda is now at this phase. Several global initiatives have been implemented, including both ITU impact initiatives and child online protection that was talked about recently by one of the – by the deputy Minister of Russia.

To date, we have 136 countries that are part of the ITU impact operational deployment which assist the Member States in improving their sush security.

ITU launched the child online protection initiative in 2008 as a multi-stakeholder coalition and a global cybersecurity agenda framework.

The global child online protection guidelines for children, parents, industry and public, public policymakers, were developed as – by a multi-stakeholder group for child online protection. With the new pattern of child online protection, the President from Costa Rica, we are now working to transform these guidelines into concrete activities.

ITU, interstate standards facilitated the rise of the e-Commerce. Now, there is a strong focus on the identity management and building an international trust framework for digital identity because digital identity is a fundamental building block of all cybersecurity, online commerce and online protection standards.

Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, Internet and all other ICT applications cannot continue to grow without broadband infrastructure. Let us keep in mind that we are – we have only four years to achieve the targets and growth of the WSIS, and to – and we need to tap into the full potential of ICTs to facilitate attainment of the minimum development goals. Every stakeholder at national or international levels must therefore play its advantage role of facilitating affordable high quality Broadband.

At this juncture, I would like to mention the broadband Commission that was established by ITU and comprising 50 very high, very high stakeholders of the sector, including the ministers, CEOs of operators, CEOs, and manufacturers and civil society. And I would like to also commend Professor Jankovic and the body of Serbia to take the step of translating the first report of the Broadband Commission in order to ease the process of this report.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)

To conclude, I would like to say that ITU has been very committed to the IGF. ITU continues to be very committed to the IGF and to play any role as a multi-stakeholder platform that will lead us to achieve what all the world is expecting. All the world is expecting all of us here to play for Internet ICTs to become the driving force for the social and economic development of humanity. I thank you.

(Applause)

>> MODERATOR: Thank you very much, it’s an honor to have an elected official of the United Nations agency in charge of telecommunications, and especially one that Serbia was a founding member of so many years ago, recognizing the importance of this sector early on.

Thank you also for mentioning the importance of the broadband infrastructure, without which the Internet would not be possible.

We’re end our opening session with a short video message, coming from the European commissioner, Ms. Neelie Kroes, the second woman in charge of this sector, driving the ICTs in the EU with lots of energy and vision.

>> NEELIE KROES: I can’t be physically with you today but I welcome this opportunity to speak on the occasion of the 2011 EuroDIG. From the perspective of the Commission, the model of Internet Governance Forums is a defining feature of the Tunis agenda. The continuously high number of participants at each EuroDIG meeting demonstrates that regional fora like EuroDIG responded well to those expectations. You provide one of the most valuable platforms for dialogue and best practice sharing on Internet matters.

The format and agenda of the IGF and different national and regional fora has evolved during the past users. Now you take into account the emergence of new teams and the evaluation of new Internet Governance discussions. However, it is also clear that the roles around the IGF and different national and Regional Fora has changed. The EuroDIG should not change its nature as a multi-stakeholder, nonbinding Forum, where the right questions can be asked. But we also must work together to raise its profile and impact. Indeed, you showed that a multi-stakeholder model is the right way forward for Internet Governance and for many issues. It means private sector leadership working with other stakeholders to shape the future of the Internet in a way that meets the best interests of the variety of Internet communities everywhere. And at the same time, we must be careful that this initiative respects the general public interests, parameters, identified by other actors, not least governments.

Indeed, Internet users have the ability to expect that their governments participate in Internet Governance processes to protect and promote their interests. And that is why I’ve been concerned about the recent development in ICANN, where for the first time in 12 years the ICANN board has decided to take a decision despite the lack of support of the governmental advisory committee. This was in relation to the adult content top level domain XXX. And the it’s no secret that I expressed concerns of the approval by the ICANN board. I did so for two reasons.

Firstly, because I’m not convinced that this TLD makes the Internet a safer place. If the children don’t browse on XXX Web sites, they will not be exposed to adult content, it does not give parents that relief.

Second, we have to consider the risk of pushing some governments towards censorship measures at the level of the root.

>> MODERATOR: As it happens, the technology usually fails us when we need it most.

Let’s see if we can see the end of commissioner Kroes’ message. But even if not, you can tell that commissioner Kroes is a very strong leader in charge of this rapidly developing sector and she has provided direction and vision to all of the EU members as well as to the countries in the process of the EU accession, such as Serbia.

On my own behalf and on behalf of the government of Serbia, I must say at this point that we certainly look forward to becoming full EU members, and complying with the EU regulatory framework in this area as in all other areas.

As it seems that the technology has failed us, irreparably at this point, I would like to thank all the opening session speakers for their interventions and for their leadership and vision that they have offered on the topic of Internet Governance. And I would invite you to thank them all with an applause. Thank you.

(Applause)

I would also like to invite the speakers for the next session to join me and the rest of you can enjoy the event from the public.