I would like to thank my host APC and also everyone for contributing to the success of the ninth annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Istanbul, Turkey. This was the first time that I joined the IGF, the multi-stakeholder policy dialogue. More than 2,400 onsite participants and 1,100 remote participants discussed internet governance matters under the theme "Connecting Continents for Enhanced Multistakeholder Internet Governance".
Since this is a multi-stakeholder policy dialogue, there were experts in relevant fields and representatives of civil society, academia, NGOs, governments and regulatory authorities from all over the world (over 180 countries) who gathered at the IGF to share their interests, leading to many rich discussions.
I was very much pleased to find a large number of high-level government representatives including ministers and secretaries from various countries participating in the event. There were roundtable meetings and workshops which enabled me to get some basic ideas about what is going on in the IGF and how it works to improve the future internet ecosystem. There was a great deal of discussion about net neutrality and why it is important for the future of the internet. There were also booths of different organisations including APC, Microsoft, ICANN, etc. I spoke with all of them and learned about their services. The most critical issue I found was ICANN’s accountability and governance process.
The IGF venue was excellent, although unfortunately I did not see any disability access or any assistance for people with disabilities. I hope that next year in Brazil the IGF can overcome those problems.
Regarding partnerships with other organisations, participation in the IGF was really lucrative. There are many opportunities to become partners with other organisations, where we can share knowledge and experience with each other and strongly benefit. As an example, I can say that every organisation that is working with the IGF should be a partner of the newly founded IGF Support Association to achieve a stable and sustainable funding mechanism to contribute to the United Nations IGF Trust Fund and support related activities. I think it is especially important for APC to be involved with the youth IGF and regional IGF initiatives.
APC actively participated in the 2014 IGF and highlighted some crucial issues through different important workshops. One of the most attractive APC sessions that I attended was the release of the 2014 GISWatch report, "Communications surveillance in the digital age", focused on mass surveillance.