Dear colleagues, One of the outcomes of last year’s 10-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was the formation of a Working Group on Enhanced Cooperation on Public Policy Issues Pertaining to the Internet (WGEC). Established under the United Nations’ Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD), the Working Group was set up in response to the feeling expressed by some UN Member States that there was a need to "develop recommendations on how to further implement enhanced cooperation as envisioned in the Tunis Agenda." More information on the Working Group is available at: http://unctad.org/en/Pages/CSTD/WGEC-2016-to-2018.aspx Coming out of the Working Group’s initial meeting in September, there was an open call for contributions in response to two questions:
- What are the high level characteristics of enhanced cooperation? - Taking into consideration the work of the previous WGEC and the Tunis Agenda, particularly paragraphs 69-71, what kind of recommendations should we consider?
Working closely with one of the technical community members of the Working Group, Nick Ashton-Hart, the RIPE NCC developed and submitted a document responding to these questions: https://www.ripe.net/participate/internet-governance/multi-stakeholder-engag... In summary, the document notes that, while cooperation amongst all stakeholders is vital in developing Internet capacity, it is important that these efforts focus on practical benefits, and that they be minimally distortive or disruptive to the shared platform that is the Internet. The Working Group will hold its next meeting on 26-27 January 2017 in Geneva, where it will consider the contributions received and the way forward for its work. Happy, as always, to discuss any questions or comments. Meanwhile, best wishes to those celebrating Christmas/New Year in the coming days and weeks! Cheers, Chris Buckridge External Relations Manager RIPE NCC