Internet Governance Forum 2008

'Internet for All' will be the Overall Theme of the Meeting

Representatives of government, the private sector, civil society, the Internet community, international organizations and the media will convene in Hyderabad, India, for the third meeting of the Internet Governance Forum, to be held from 3 to 6 December 2008.

The meeting, to be held at the Hyderabad International Conference Centre (HICC), will focus on the overall issue of "Internet for all", underscoring the importance of ensuring that we include the world's 650 million people with disabilities as we move towards expanding Internet access to the next billion people.

Five main themes will be addressed: reaching the next billion; promoting cyber-security and trust; managing critical Internet resources; taking stock and the way forward; and emerging issues -- the Internet of tomorrow. In addition to plenary sessions on these themes, there will be open meetings and thematic workshops to discuss specific issues and share best practices. Some 2,000 participants from more than 100 countries are expected to attend. Presentations and debates will involve representatives from governments, the private sector, civil society and the academic community from around the world.

The Internet Governance Forum is an outcome of the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information Society, which took place in 2005. In the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, Governments asked the United Nations Secretary-General to convene a new forum for policy dialogue to discuss issues related to key elements of Internet governance in order to foster the Internet's sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development.

The two previous meetings of the Forum were held in Athens in November 2006 and in Rio de Janeiro in November 2007.

The Forum will hold its 2009 session in Egypt.

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