Internet Industry calls for open negotiations on Internet Policy

In February, EuroISPA joined forces with nine industry associations in a joint letter to the Ambassadors of Finland and Tunisia, jointly leading a key UN negotiation New York. The letter calls on the UN General Assembly to ensure that the process for reviewing the progress in implementing the international community’s policy framework for information technology takes place with all stakeholders around the table.

The industry letter also suggests that World Summit on the Information Society’s ten year review (WSIS+10) timelines and goals can be fully aligned with the concurrent review of the UN’s eight Millennium Development Goals “to ensure that the WSIS goals and accompanying measurable targets are fully connected to the outcomes of the MDG review process.”

The signatories underscored the need for “concrete, measurable targets” in pursuing the objective of a people-centred networked future and a “bottom-up-driven review process” for WSIS+10 that invites broad stakeholder involvement from governments, private sector groups, civil society and multilateral institutions.

The letter has been signed by ASUT, CCIA, EDiMA, EITESAL, EurolSPA, i2Coalition, ITIC, IDEA, and SIIA.