AGIP Re-elected to the IGF Advisory Group
29 Aug 2007AMMAN ---August 29, 2007--- Mr. Charles Sha’ban, Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP) Regional Office Executive Director was re-elected to the Advisory Group of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), following the renewal of its mandate.
According to the United Nations (UN), the mandate has been renewed in order to assist in preparations for the next meeting of the IGF, to be held in Rio de Janeiro, November 12-15, 2007.
The Advisory Group is to be co-chaired by Nitin Desai, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advisor for Internet Governance, and Hadil da Rocha Vianna, Director for Scientific and Technological Affairs in Brazil’s Ministry of External Relations, representing the host country.
The 47-member Group will serve in their personal capacity. They have been chosen from governments, the private sector and civil society, including the academic and technical communities, representing all regions.
“This year, the same members were re-chosen with minor amendments and/or additions. We are very proud at AGIP to be among the eight members representing the private sector worldwide and the only member representing the private sector in the Arab region,” Sha’ban said.
As part of its mandate, the Advisory Group has been asked to enhance the transparency of the preparatory process by ensuring a continuous flow of information between its members and the various interested groups. It has also been requested to make proposals on a suitable rotation among its members, based on recommendations from the various interested groups. Any decision on how to prepare subsequent meetings will be taken after the Rio de Janeiro meeting in an open, inclusive and transparent consultative process, taking into account the proposals of the Advisory Group.
The IGF’s inaugural meeting was held in Athens in November 2006, with a focus on the following four key themes -- Access, Diversity, Openness and Security.
“Along with the four themes discussed in Athens, the Advisory Group in responding to the community is adding a new theme-- Critical Internet Resources -- to the agenda of the Rio de Janeiro meeting,” he added.
The IGF is an outcome of the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which took place in 2005. In the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, governments asked the UN Secretary-General to convene a “new forum for policy dialogue” to discuss issues related to key elements of Internet governance and set out the Forum’s mandate.
To check the full list of the IGF Advisory Group members, please visit: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/pi1791.doc.htm
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