SAIGF Malawi
REPUBLIC OF MALAWI
SOUTHERN AFRICA INTERNET GOVERNANCE FORUM (SAIGF) :17th – 19th September, 2014
The Ministry of Information Tourism and Culture through Department of E-Government in collaboration with National ICT Working Group, NEPAD and SADC is pleased to inform the general public that Malawi will be hosting the Southern Africa Internet Governance Forum (SAIGF) from 17th to 19th September, 2014 at Golden Peacock Hotel in Lilongwe.
The SAIGF event will be held under the theme:
“Internet Governance as a Building Block of SADC Regional Integration”.
Internet Governance is defined as the development and application by Governments, the private sector, academia and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision making procedures and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet
The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was established in 2006 as an outcome of the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Phase II, held from 16th – 18th November 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia. The World Summit recognized the importance and benefits of “enhanced cooperation” in harnessing the powers of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for socio-economic development at all levels - global, regional, national and local and called for the establishment of the IGF to facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogue on the management and development of the Internet.
The Southern Africa Internet Governance Forum was inaugurated in September 2011 with the overall objective of developing a coordinated and coherent approach to dealing with Internet Governance issues in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).
The specific objectives of the SAIGF are to:
• Increase awareness of Internet Governance issues in SADC member states
• Facilitate informed dialogue on policy issues and related matters between stakeholders (government, private sector, civil society, media and academia)
• Facilitate the participation of a broad range of SADC stakeholders in regional and global IGF processes.
• Create a systematic, bottom up, national, regional and global Internet Governance policy dialogue process in SADC.
It is expected that through the SAIGF, the following outcomes will be realised:
• Creation of an Internet Governance and Internet policy dialogue space at regional level.
• Stimulation of Internet Governance and Internet policy dialogue spaces at national level
• Enhanced capacity to identify, and discuss issues relating to Internet Governance, Internet development and policy in SADC and to strategise on possible interventions for addressing such issues.
• Increased participation of SADC stakeholders at the global IGF and other related fora
The Forum is open to all interested stakeholders from government, civil society, private sector, academia and the technical ICT community. Participation is through registration, the details of which can be obtained from the contacts below.
Expressions of interest are invited from companies and organisations to mount exhibition stands during the Forum. Closing date for receiving expressions of interest is 12 noon on Friday 12th September, 2014.
For more information contact:
1. Marian Mtingwi on marian.mtingwi@opc.gov.mw or marianmtingwi@gmail.com , Cell: +265 999 916 530, +265 882 483 989
2. Denis Chirwa on dwchirwa@yahoo.co.uk or denis.chirwa@gmail.com Cell: +265 999 951 670 or +265 888 951 670
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION, TOURISM AND CULTURE,
PRIVATE BAG 310,
LILONGWE 3