SAMENA Recommends Key Principles for Global Internet Governance at the NETMundial Conference

AMMAN, Jordan - April 24, 2014 - PRLog -- In line with its continuing efforts to contribute towards improving and advancing a global Internet Governance model based on a multi-stakeholder approach, the SAMENA Council shared its recommendations to the NETMundial conference, Sao Paulo, Brazil, from April 23 to April 24, 2014, in terms of five key principles to navigate the path of global Internet Governance as the Internet celebrates 25 years of existence this year.

The conference is organized by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br) and /1Net, a forum that gathers international entities of the various stakeholders involved with Internet governance. The NETMundial conference provides an excellent platform to initiate discussions on crafting Internet governance principles as well as proposing a roadmap for the further evolution of the Internet governance ecosystem.The meeting aims to promote healthy discussions based on inputs by civil society, private sector, academia and technical community from around the globe to establish strategic guidelines related to the use and development of the global Internet. The focus of the conference is to be on two major themes: ‘Internet Governance Principles’ and ‘Roadmap for the Further Evolution of the Internet Governance Ecosystem’.

According to Bocar A. BA, CEO, SAMENA Telecommunications Council, “We are looking forward to using our regional expertise to provide our inputs at the NETMundial conference by contributing a set of principles which take into account the safety, security and sustainability of the Internet while maintaining its decentralized structure. This is important as a global consensus on Internet Governance Principles is integral to retaining user trust and confidence and sustaining the healthy growth of the Internet.”

SAMENA Council’s recommendations revolve around five principles, including the involvement of all stakeholders on equal grounds to advance successful liberalized policies and focus on maintaining consistent pro-competitive commercial regulatory regimes, the establishment of transparent, participatory and readily available governance principles based on accountability and responsibility, the recognition of the Internet as a divergent ecosystem with social and economic benefits worldwide, the engagement of all members and key stakeholders in addressing safety, security and privacy issues in order to safeguard the internet’s wellbeing, volatility and interoperability and the protection of online user rights based on fundamental human rights through the same rule of law to promote efficiency and innovation.

“Moving forward, we believe that discussions like those to be held at NETMundial meeting, play a pivotal role in fostering the solid conservation and healthy development of an open internet. To achieve the results we want, we recommend defining the roles and responsibilities of all the participating stakeholders in the governance process. Also, we are of the belief that the private sector can assume a more active role in setting standards, developing technical protocols and providing further support on other Internet-related issues. In totality, SAMENA Council affirms that it is vital to consider and analyze all decision-making processes, with a multistakeholder approach, to achieve higher levels of growth in the industry” he concluded.