3rd Internet Governance Forum to be held in India

The 3rd Internet Governance Forum 2008 (IGF2008) will be held from December 3-6, 2008, in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh as announced by the Indian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

The Secretary General of the United Nations will be heading the meeting. It will bring in representatives from the government of the countries of the world; Chief

Executive Officers and Chief Technology Officers of IT industries; representations from the user communities, NGOs and advocacy groups; academicians; and members of the media.

The four-day event will include main sessions and break out sessions in the form of workshops, dynamic coalition meetings, best practice sessions and regional meetings.

The key topics of discussion for the meeting are universalisation of the Internet, low cost sustainable access, multi-lingualisation, implications for development policy, managing the Internet, critical internet resources, arrangements for Internet governance, global cooperation for Internet security and stability, taking stock and the way forward and emerging issues.

There will be an exhibition showcasing IT infrastructure prowess and issues of Internet governance by host country and other international organisations.

The past two meetings wer held at Athens in Greece and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, respectively. Approximately 1,400 delegates attend the workshops, dynamic coalition meetings and regional meetings.

The Department of Information Technology (DIT), under the Ministry has invited Conference Organisers to bid for providing Conference Organising services to the department for conducting IGF2008 meeting.