RIPE NCC Report on IGF 2012

The seventh Internet Governance Forum took place in Baku, Azerbaijan from 6-9 November 2012, bringing together more than 1,600 people from 128 countries. The RIPE NCC participated in the event, working with fellow Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) and industry partners to develop the IGF program, organise workshops and contribute to discussions.

Reports and session transcripts have now been published on the IGF website for the three workshops that the RIPE NCC was involved in organising:

• Workshop 99: Moving to IPv6: Challenges for Internet Governance (Organised by the Number Resource Organization (NRO))
• Workshop 100: Internet Governance and RPKI (Organised by the NRO)
• Workshop 117: Best Common Practices for Building Internet Capacity (Organised by RIPE NCC, AFRINIC and the Arab IGF)

The RIPE NCC also contributed to workshops on Internet Exchange Point development (Workshop 159), Developing a National/Regional Framework of Principles for Internet Governance (Workshop 170), and two sessions discussing output from the Arab IGF.

The main plenary session on Managing Critical Internet Resources (CIRs) considered issues surrounding the ICANN new gTLD program, Intergovernmentalism (focusing on the ITU, WCIT and the International Telecommunications Regulations) and IPv4 markets. Each of these discussions built on work done in earlier workshops, with APNIC Chief Scientist Geoff Huston representing the RIR community perspective on the panels. A transcript of this session is available on the IGF website.

Looking ahead, APNIC Director General Paul Wilson spoke to the Closing Ceremony, highlighting the ongoing concerns regarding IGF funding and the importance of maintaining the IGF as part of a broader, multi-stakeholder, bottom-up system of Internet governance. There were also calls from many participants for the IGF to take a more active role in defining and facilitating "Enhanced Cooperation", a key concept in Internet governance processes since the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2003.

The next IGF will be held in late 2013 in Indonesia. Paul Rendek will continue in his role as a member of the Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group (MAG), which will develop the themes and working methods for the event. There will also be opportunities for members of the general public to contribute feedback and ideas through Open Consultations, the first of which will take place at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 28 February 2013.

We welcome any questions or comments regarding the RIPE NCC's participation in IGF 2013 on the RIPE Cooperation Working Group mailing list.