Arab IGF Beirut 2015

The Fourth Annual Meeting of the Arab Internet Governance Forum (AIGF-IV) is planned to be hosted by Ogero Telecom and under the joint patronage of the Lebanese Ministry of Telecommunications, at the Movenpick Hotel in Beirut, during 17-18 December 2015.

Following the model of Internet Governance Forum (IGF) established as per the resolution issued in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis in 2005, the Arab Internet Governance Forum (Arab IGF) was established in 2012. It is worth mentioning that IGF has been embracing multi-stakeholders as it encompasses all the main actors and players operating in the field of Internet policies (governments, private sector, civil society, technical communities and all other relevant parties).

They all engage in an open dialogue on the issues of the international public policies related to the Internet. In fact, the IGF has been a model of unique success ever since its first meeting that had been held in Athens in 2006, as it has been representing a great opportunity for all the stakeholders to meet together and get within the framework that allows for the exposure to all the significant issues and discussion of their practical solutions. By virtue of this success, many regions took the initiative to create and establish regional forums, following the IGF model so that such regional forums would deal with the priorities of those regions, giving them special attention.

Within the framework of the regional roadmap initiative for Internet governance in the Arab region, and pursuant to the resolutions of the Arab ICT Council of Ministers concerning the Initiative, the Consultation Constitutional Conference on the Arab IGF was held in Beirut during the period from 31 January to 1 February 2012, with the participation of all stakeholder groups from the Arab region. It was held at the invitation of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA), in collaboration with the League of Arab States (Umbrella Organizations).

Based on the discussions held during the conference, the participants agreed to establish the Arab Internet Governance Forum (AIGF), provided that a multi-stakeholder Advisory Group (composed of all stakeholder groups) would undertake the organization thereof. The National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) in A.R.E. would host the Forum's Technical Secretariat and the Kuwait Information Technology Society would host the First Annual Meeting. The resolution of 31st meeting of the Executive Bureau of the Arab ICT Council of Ministers (Beirut, 2 February 2012) endorsed such outputs, hence AIGF became a unique forum in the Arab region, through which all stakeholders and concerned parties in the field of Internet would cooperate and work together to find effective solutions for the most important Internet issues in the region.

Visit the conference website for source and more information.