lighting, Diplomacy

Engaging digital actors – fostering effective digital policy – monitoring digital governance

02 May 2016 -

Geneva, Switzerland

Event description

DiploFoundation and the Geneva Internet Platform will host a session on digital policies during the WSIS Forum. The session will dissect the complex picture of Internet governance and discuss avenues for navigating this dense policy space. With representatives from the diplomatic community, private sector, and civil society, it will discuss the needs of various communities when it comes to policy information, monitoring and action.

The discussion, which will explore centre on finding concrete solutions for enhancing cross-sectoral dialogue and bridging policy silos at the GIP, will be held at the ITU Headquarters, Geneva, in Room L, from 11:00 to 13:00 CEST (10:00-12:00 UTC). Remote participation will be provided during the WSIS Forum.

The panelists include:

  • Jovan Kurbalija, Director, DiploFoundation; Head, Geneva Internet Platform
  • Constance Bommelaer, Senior Director of Global Internet Policy, Internet Society
  • Tomas Lamanauskas, Group Director Public Policy, VipelCom
  • Miguel Candia Ibarra, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Paraguay to the UN
  • Jean-Henry Morin, Institute for Information Service Science, University of Geneva

The discussion will be moderated by Tereza Horejsova, Project Development Director at DiploFoundation, and Coordinator of the Geneva Internet Platform.

The WSIS Forum represents the world’s largest annual gathering of the ICT for development community. The forum, co-organised by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP, and UNCTAD, in close collaboration with all WSIS Action Line Facilitators/Co-Facilitators (UNDESA, FAO, UNEP, WHO, UN Women, WIPO, WFP, ILO, WMO, UN, ITC, UPU, UNODC, UNICEF, and UN Regional Commissions) has proven to be an efficient mechanism for coordination of multistakeholder implementation activities, information exchange, creation of knowledge, sharing of best practices and continues to provide assistance in developing multistakeholder and public/private partnerships to advance development goals.

The GIP, an initiative supported by the Swiss authorities and operated by DiploFoundation, offers a physical platform in Geneva, an online platform and observatory and an innovation lab to keep up to date with dynamic Internet policy developments.