At the start of 2005, there were an estimated 750 million Internet users worldwide and this figure is expected to continue growing at exponential rates, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region – home to over half of the world population. In fact, the Asia-Pacific region contributes a larger share of users (about one-third) than North America and Europe. Rapid growth in the use of the Internet raises questions on whether we need Internet governance and if so, in what form. Who will make these decisions and what are the processes for making these decisions?

The most fundamental rules for Internet governance are already well established or under long-term negotiation and newcomers to the Internet have had little opportunity to generate awareness across all stakeholder groups, mobilize the required policy expertise and coordinate strategies for effective engagement. The march of Internet governance threatens to leave behind developing countries.

APDIP initiated an Open Regional Dialogue on Internet Governance (ORDIG) in October 2004. This is a year-long project to increase multi-stakeholder participation in discussions of Internet governance within the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) process and, in particular, to increase participation from the Asia-Pacific region.

Internet governance was one of the two issues (the other being related to financing mechanisms) on which governments were unable to reach agreement during the first phase of WSIS in Geneva 2003. This led to the establishment of a United Nations Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) to develop a working definition of Internet governance; identify public policy issues; define roles and responsibilities; and develop proposals for action at the second WSIS meeting in Tunis 2005. Subsequently, the Tunis Agenda invited the UN Secretary-General to convene a new forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue - the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) - to discuss public policy and access issues; facilitate the exchange of information; build capacity in developing countries; and more.

ORDIG is implemented in collaboration with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) and DiploFoundation, and supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada, to provide Asia-Pacific perspectives to the WGIG and WSIS.

The ORDIG project has now ended but APDIP continues to promote capacity building for Internet governance in the Asia-Pacific region.

Download the brochure for an overview of ORDIG [PDF, 92kB]
Find out what people are saying about ORDIG at http://www.apdip.net/about/accolades/igov

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Projects

Building Capacities of Policy Makers in Internet Governance in Asia and the Pacific

APDIP teams up with UNESCAP to identify the capacity building needs of policy makers and implementers in Asia and the Pacific in the area of public policy on Internet Use for Business Development and develop appropriate training modules in order to help meet these needs. APDIP and UNESCAP will conduct training of trainers at the regional and national levels. The regional training will take place in Bangkok in the last quarter of 2006 and involve countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The national training sessions will follow the regional training. [more]

ORDIG included national surveys, online discussions and consultations that will provide the basis for an Asia-Pacific perspective on the priority issues of Internet Governance.  Focal points throughout the region were identified to carry out research, analysis, awareness raising campaigns and capacity building initiatives. ORDIG was guided by an Asia-Pacific Internet Governance Advisory Panel made of members from the public and private sectors, and civil society.

Workshops on Capacity Building in Public Policy Issues of Internet Use for Business Development in Asia and the Pacific

A regional workshop was organized on 18-20 October 2006 in Bangkok followed by two national workshops in Nepal and Bangladesh on 22-24 November 2006 and 27-29 November 2006, respectively, to conceptualize, develop and deliberate on policy issues relating to Internet use for Business Development.

APDIP Presentation at Regional Workshop, 18 October 2006 [PDF, 59.8kB]

Open Regional Dialogue on Internet Governance (ORDIG)

I. Policy Dialogue at Regional and National Levels and Participation in Global Forums

ORDIG Policy Brief and Input Paper entitled, Voices from the Asia-Pacific: Internet Governance Priorities and Recommendations are referenced in:

• The UN Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) report to WSIS
• The Tehran Declaration on Building the Information Society in Asia and the Pacific and the Regional Action Plan towards Information Society for Asia and the Pacific

The Policy Brief and Input Paper summarizes ORDIG's analysis of numerous consultations, surveys, online discussion forums, and in-depth research. They include:

• a survey on 22 key governance issues conducted in 12 major regional languages, which received over 1,200 responses from 37 countries and from all major stakeholders;
• an online discussion forum on Internet governance, which included 180 participants from 27 countries in the region; and
• one regional conference (Bangkok) and four sub-regional conferences (Bishkek, Suva, Bali and Kathmandu) organized in collaboration with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), involving 581 participants, from 50 countries and 35 regional and international organizations.

Based on the results of these activities, ORDIG commissioned a number of background papers on six key topics identified as priorities in the region. These papers, written by experts from the region, explore these priorities in greater depth and are captured in a publication entitled Internet Governance: Asia-Pacific Perspectives

Based on the findings from ORDIG, APDIP also proposed top three public policy issues that the first meeting of the Internet Governance Forum should address, as requested by Mr. Nitin Desai, the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser for the World Summit on the Information Society.

II. Asia-Pacific Internet Governance Portal

APDIP hosted a portal to not only capture the findings, activities and outputs of ORDIG but also to provide a forum for its 1,200 members to discuss issues, priorities and appropriate actions for Internet governance in the Asia-Pacific region, share information, and post announcements.

III Awareness Raising

In an effort to reach out to stakeholders in civil society, private industry, and technocrats, ORDIG organized awareness raising sessions in various conference and workshops throughout the Asia-Pacific region. These sessions also provided opportunities for ORDIG to engage diverse stakeholder groups and gather views on Internet policies. For a list of ORDIG events, please click here.

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Resources

ORDIG Resources

Internet Governance: Asia-Pacific Perspectives

This publication, with a foreword by Nitin Desai, comprises targeted research and analysis of critical issues such as spam, wireless technologies, security, multilingualism, and cultural diversity in the Asia-Pacific.  The publication also summarized all of the ORDIG findings and recommendations based on the survey, forum, select country analysis and consultation. Download full publication or by chapter here.

Internet Governance: A Primer

The primer, with a foreword by Vinton G. Cerf, explains the main public policy concepts and technical principles that are frequently used in the Internet governance debate. It is intended to help all stakeholder (government, private sector and civil society) to gain quick access to basic facts, concepts, and priority issues, in order to lay the foundations for a broader and more grounded understanding of Internet governance issues from a distinctively Asia-Pacific perspective. It also provides best and worst examples of Internet governance practices as guidance to policy-makers and other interested stakeholders. [more]

Internet Governance DVD

The DVD is a self-learning multimedia package on Internet Governance. Inside, there is a 46-minute film, an Internet governance course and Internet governance resources including APDIP's Primer on Internet Governance and other outputs from the Open Regional Dialogue on Internet Governance. The Internet Governance DVD was launched at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis. [more]

This APDIP e-note presents Asia-Pacific perspectives and priorities on Internet governance based on extensive research conducted by the Open Regional Dialogue on Internet Governance, an APDIP initiative. [more]

APDIP e-Note 9 - Internationalized Domain Names

This APDIP e-Note discusses the ongoing debate on how best to allow users to navigate the Internet in their own language. Different systems available for multilingual domain names and future scenarios are also explored. [more]

APDIP's Open Regional Dialogue on Internet Governance initiative zooms in on the Internet governance issues, priorities and challenges faced by five countries in Asia - China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Thailand  [more]

Voices from Asia-Pacific: Internet Governance Priorities and Recommendations – Policy Brief [PDF, 76kB]

Voices from Asia-Pacific: Internet Governance Priroties and Recommendations – Input Paper [PDF, 463kB]

Internet Governance Priorities for Asia-Pacific: Summary Analysis of a Regional Survey [PDF, 1.2MB]

Summary Report of the Online Forum on Internet Governance Priorities for the Asia-Pacific Region [PDF, 219kB]

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Other Resources

Click here for other useful resources on Internet governance.

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News and Events

Click here for news and events related to Internet governance

Click here for events and sessions on ORDIG (including powerpoint presentations)

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