The 2014 and 9th Internet Governance Forum (IGF) meeting will be held in Istanbul, Turkey from 2 to 5 September 2014.. The overarching theme of the Istanbul meeting is: Connecting Continents for Enhanced Multistakeholder Internet Governance.
This year’s meeting will build on previous IGFs and further the dialogue on Internet governance and emerging Internet issues. It will also build on the success of NETmundial and promote its outcomes. ICANN believes that the IGF plays an effective role in fostering global multistakeholder cooperation in Internet governance and strongly supports its continuation beyond its 2015 mandate.
This year’s IGF will build upon past achievements of being a ‘router’ of knowledge on Internet governance issues within the wider ecosystem. It will aim at improving the outputs of the meeting and increasing the linkages between the discussions, recommendations and possible solutions coming from the various IGF sessions and the rest of the Internet governance ecosystem. As in previous years, relevant Internet governance bodies, institutions and organizations are encouraged to take forward the key ideas raised during the IGF discussions. Said Wu Hongbo, Under-Secretary-General,Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) in his invitational speech
He added that “I expect the IGF to continue to be as open and inclusive as possible. I would therefore like to strongly encourage all stakeholders — representing Governments, private sector, civil society and the technical community — who have not participated in past IGFs to join us in Turkey to bring new voices and ideas to our annual discussions. Those who are unable to be present in Istanbul can join us through remote participation.
More about the IGF Quick Links below
IGF Istanbul 2014 Forum Venue Information (İstanbul Lütfi Kırdar – ICEC)
About the IGF (from the IGF website)
The IGF is an open forum for multistakeholder dialogue on public policy issues related to key elements of Internet governance aimed at promoting the multistakeholder Internet governance approach to ensure sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of the Internet. The United Nations Secretary-General formally announced the establishment of the IGF in July 2006 and the first meeting was convened in October/November 2006.