Background ICC BASIS submission to enhanced cooperation consultation The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Tunis, November 2005, Tunis Agenda outlines the establishment of an Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and enhanced cooperation amongst existing organizations that address Internet related issues. International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and its BASIS initiative, Business Action to Support the Information Society have consistently urged that any process towards enhanced cooperation between existing organizations should be consistent with the Geneva Declaration and the Tunis Agenda which are consistent with the key principles described below. Governments already agreed in the Tunis Agenda that any enhanced cooperation will involve all stakeholders in their respective roles. Such cooperation must, of course, also be fully consistent with the WSIS mandate that Internet governance be multilateral, transparent and democratic, with the full involvement of governments, the private sector, civil society and international organizations. 1 ICC and its BASIS initiative include companies and business associations from across sectors and geographies and of all sizes. A special effort has been made to outreach to small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) or organizations that represent SMEs for this submission, which reflects the views of a wide range of business interests. 1 Enhanced cooperation WSIS Tunis Agenda text Paragraphs 69-71 69. We further recognize the need for enhanced cooperation in the future, to enable governments, on an equal footing, to carry out their roles and responsibilities, in international public policy issues pertaining to the Internet, but not in the day-to-day technical and operational matters, that do not impact on international public policy issues. 70. Using relevant international organizations, such cooperation should include the development of globallyapplicable principles on public policy issues associated with the coordination and management of critical Internet resources. In this regard, we call upon the organizations responsible for essential tasks associated with the Internet to contribute to creating an environment that facilitates this development of public policy principles. 71. The process towards enhanced cooperation, to be started by the UN Secretary-General, involving all relevant organizations by the end of the first quarter of 2006, will involve all stakeholders in their respective roles, will proceed as quickly as possible consistent with legal process, and will be responsive to innovation. Relevant organizations should commence a process towards enhanced cooperation involving all stakeholders, proceeding as quickly as possible and responsive to innovation. The same relevant organizations shall be requested to provide annual performance reports. 4 November 2010
4 November 2010 This submission serves as ICC-BASIS input ahead of the consultation which will be held on 14 December 2010. While we recognize the practical constraints that may exist for that consultation, and appreciate the fact that as an organization with consultative status to the UN ECOSOC, ICC will be present at this consultation, we note that this is not an open consultation which includes all non-governmental stakeholders from business, civil society and the Internet technical community. The key business priorities regarding enhanced cooperation are outlined below. Key business priorities regarding enhanced cooperation Paragraph 71 of the Tunis Agenda clearly states that all stakeholders and all relevant organizations should be involved in the enhanced cooperation process. This principle of inclusiveness is critically important to success in achieving enhanced cooperation. We assert that enhanced cooperation refers to greater cooperation among existing organizations, not the creation of new entities or processes. Enhanced cooperation amongst the relevant organizations that address Internet related issues is guided by the objective of information sharing, creating more awareness and where appropriate, coherence in work programmes and collaboration. Enhanced cooperation is being facilitated across the spectrum of all relevant organizations including those that are private sector-led, those that are intergovernmental (IGOs) and those that are multistakeholder. The dynamic nature of the Information Society and the Internet are such that new or additional groups have emerged and will constantly emerge. These groups should be allowed to be part of this enhanced cooperation process. In keeping with the Tunis Agenda principle of inclusiveness, (A)ll relevant organizations should not be interpreted as a snapshot in time, but the relevance of organizations should be considered in the present. The fact that many of the organizations that are addressing Internet-related issues and their decision-making processes are already multistakeholder should be recognized and welcomed as an important foundation for enhanced cooperation. Business, given its expertise, expects to be involved on an equal footing, in any discussions or decisions regarding enhanced cooperation. Note: The ICC interprets paragraph 69 which says We further recognize the need for enhanced cooperation in the future, to enable governments, on an equal footing, to carry out their roles and responsibilities, in international public policy issues pertaining to the Internet, (...) as meaning that multistakeholder enhanced cooperation processes also assist governments in performing their duties, individually and collectively. The ICC does not interpret paragraph 69 as limiting enhanced cooperation to be related to cooperation among governments. 2
The importance of enhanced cooperation c ICC was accredited to participate in both phases of the WSIS, and engaged actively in the preparatory process and in the Geneva and Tunis Summits themselves. As a result we recall the ambitious goals agreed during the World Summit on Information Society and, as we explained during the WSIS process, the Internet model of development remains relevant to successfully achieving enhanced cooperation among all stakeholders. It is critical for governments, the private sector, civil society, the Internet technical community and intergovernmental organizations to continuously improve their cooperation, each in the area of their competence and mandate. Since the conclusion of the Tunis Summit, ICC BASIS and its members have been actively involved in support of implementing the targets, recommendations, and commitments of the WSIS as they pertain to the Internet, and to Internet Governance, as well as in capacity building and support to Internet standards organizations. ICC s cross-sectoral and geographically diverse membership includes businesses of all sizes. We continue to deploy efforts in a wide range of areas, working to enhance their cooperation and their contribution to the development of Internet-related public policy solutions around the world. The UN Secretary General s outreach to several organizations in the past few years to get updates on their enhanced cooperation efforts show that productive and effective activities to enhance cooperation and participation are ongoing. The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) has also motivated greater cooperation and collaboration among many organizations and stakeholders through the many opportunities at the IGF to showcase activities underway in Internet governance related organizations. This in turn has encouraged new collaborative efforts, reduced duplication and strengthened communication among stakeholders and organizations. The IGF is an excellent example of enhanced cooperation and catalyzes further enhanced cooperation efforts throughout its preparatory processes and at the IGF itself. We recognize and support the comprehensive submission by.auda on the IGF as an example of enhanced cooperation. 2 Recommendations for enhanced cooperation c ICC BASIS submission to enhanced cooperation consultation 4 November 2010 ICC would like to put forward three key recommendations to pursue enhanced cooperation. The first recommendation is that all stakeholders should be encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities ies to become more involved in the Internet technical organizations, where technical standards are developed and where public policy issues at the intersection of technology and policy are discussed. The Internet brings technology and policy issues and experts together in ways not previously experienced. New approaches, new venues and new forums have arisen to respond to the opportunities and challenges that have been created. It is vital that all stakeholders in turn take up the challenge by participating in these new forums that are so critical to the Internet s responsible development. 2 http://www.unpan.org/dpadm/wsisfollowup/ 3
4 November 2010 The second recommendation is for governments and international institutions to make their Intern ternet et policy related and decision-making activities more open and inclusive of all stakeholders. Governments, regional and international organizations that have been more open, and that have shown a commitment to enhanced cooperation have proven to be more effective in their work. ICC and its members welcome opportunities to participate in the policy development process at all levels. We suggest that the United Nations look to the OECD as an example and a case study of the benefits of increasing openness in its own organizations, and for recommending mechanisms that member states could implement locally and regionally. The third recommendation we offer applies to the process of enhanced cooperation at the broadest level. Whether speaking of enhanced cooperation in governmental, intergovernmental, non-governmental or international organizations, it is essential that efforts to advance enhanced cooperation be founded on a commitment to openness, inclusiveness and outreach, so that the entities that may be affected by decisions are able to participate in the development and implementation of those decisions. In this vein, the Internet technical community is an essential stakeholder group along with governments, business, and civil society, and should be recognized as such. 4
About the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) The International Chamber of Commerce is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its thousands of member companies in over 120 countries have interests spanning every sector of private enterprise. A world network of national committees keeps the ICC International Secretariat in Paris informed about national and regional business priorities. More than 2000 experts drawn from ICC s member companies feed their knowledge and experience into crafting the ICC stance on specific business issues. The United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and many other intergovernmental bodies, both international and regional, are kept in touch with the views of international business through ICC. For more information please visit: www.iccwbo.org About BASIS ICC BASIS submission to enhanced cooperation consultation 4 November 2010 ICC created BASIS to raise awareness among the public, governments, civil society, intergovernmental organizations and technical community of what business requires to continue contributing to the development of the Information Society. It serves as the voice of business in the global dialogue on the Information Society, following two World Summits on the Information Society (WSIS) held in Geneva (2003) and Tunis (2005). To promote the environment in which business around the world will continue to thrive as an innovator of information and communication technologies, BASIS participates in UN-linked forums set up to continue the dialogue, such as the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and the WSIS follow up and implementation processes, and the UN Global Alliance for ICTs and development (GAID). To help shape the agenda and participate in these global discussions, BASIS relies on the policies developed in the ICC Commission on E-business, IT and Telecoms as the foundation for its efforts. BASIS builds on the activities and network of the Coordinating Committee of Business Interlocutors (CCBI), which ICC formed to coordinate participation by world business in the processes leading up to and at WSIS. BASIS members include business organizations such as the TechAmerica, World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), Africa Investor, Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC), Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), and the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) as well as several ICC national committees and companies from across sectors and geographies. For further information regarding BASIS, the founding partners, members and activities, please visit: www.iccwbo.org/basis 5
Additional ICC/BASIS Comments on Enhanced Cooperation The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and its initiative Business Action in Support of the Information Society (BASIS) welcome the opportunity to continue contributing to a development-oriented, peoplecentric and increasingly inclusive Information Society by supplementing our input to the ECOSOC open consultation on enhanced cooperation with these additional comments. In particular, we would like to comment on the proposals put forward by some governments to address enhanced cooperation through an intergovernmental framework such as the ITU or a CSTD governments-only working group. These proposals raise the important issues of which stakeholder groups should participate in the process of enhanced cooperation and how the enhanced cooperation process should be structured. We have serious concerns that these proposals contravene the wording and the spirit of the WSIS, and subsequent documents and developments. The enhanced cooperation process must continue to be guided by the principles and provisions adopted in the WSIS Tunis Agenda. The ICC S members and other businesses and associations participating in BASIS believe that the record, both from the provisions of the Tunis Agenda and from practice over the past five years, is very clear with respect to requirement for the multistakeholder nature of the enhanced cooperation process, as is explained in more detail below. Moreover, enhanced cooperation initiatives should be structured to include existing multistakeholder, inter-governmental and private-sector led organizations, not create an entirely new process or institution. In particular, further enhanced cooperation processes should be conducted in a manner that is complementary to the successful Internet Governance Forum ( IGF ). 6
1. The WSIS Tunis Agenda provides that enhanced cooperation should be a multistakeholder process, not a governments-only only process. The WSIS Tunis Agenda identifies enhanced cooperation as a multistakeholder process that should include governments: o Paragraph 71 states: The process towards enhanced cooperation, to be started by the UN Secretary-General, involving all relevant organizations by the end of the first quarter of 2006, will involve all stakeholders in their respective roles, will proceed as quickly as possible consistent with legal process, and will be responsive to innovation. Relevant organizations should commence a process towards enhanced cooperation involving all stakeholders olders, proceeding as quickly as possible and responsive to innovation. The same relevant organizations shall be requested to provide annual performance reports. [emphasis added] o Paragraph 69, which is cited by a number of governments, recognizes the need for enhanced cooperation to enable governments, on an equal footing, to carry out their roles and responsibilities in international public policy issues pertaining to the Internet. o ICC/BASIS Comment: Paragraph 69 indicates that the enhanced cooperation process described above (clearly a multistakeholder process) can be helpful to governments in fulfilling their roles. But this paragraph must be read in the broader context of enhanced cooperation as a multistakeholder process, as clearly stated in Paragraph 71. ECOSOC Resolution 2010/2 3 calls for ongoing efforts related to enhanced cooperation to be based on multistakeholder participation: o Paragraph 20 on Internet Governance reaffirms paragraph 35 of the Tunis Agenda, which states that the management of the Internet encompasses both technical and public policy issues and should involve all stakeholders and relevant intergovernmental and international organizations. 3 ECOSOC Resolution 2010/2: http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/ unpan041407.pdf 7
o Paragraph 24 clearly [i]nvites the Secretary-General to convene open and inclusive consultations involving all Member States and all other stakeholders with a view to assisting the process towards enhanced cooperation in order to enable Governments on an equal footing to carry out their roles and responsibilities in respect of international public policy issues pertaining to the Internet but not in respect of the day-to-day technical and operational matters that do not impact upon those issues, through a balanced participation of all stakeholders in their respective roles and responsibilities, as stated in paragraph 35 of the Tunis Agenda. [emphasis added] ICC/BASIS Comment: Paragraph 24 recognizes the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder group, but makes it clear that the open consultation on enhanced cooperation called for by ECOSOC also must be a multistakeholder process. Stakeholders have consistently contributed to and engaged in the processes around enhanced cooperation to date. 2. The WSIS Tunis Agenda directs that the enhanced cooperation process should include participation pation by relevant international organizations, including inter-governmental, multistakeholder and private-sector led organizations. Accordingly, the established practice of the UN Secretary General and UN DESA in promoting enhanced cooperation and conducting surveys has been to include multistakeholder and private-sector led organizations, thereby setting an important precedent. Paragraph 70 of the Tunis Agenda calls upon the organizations responsible for essential tasks associated with the Internet to contribute to creating an environment that facilitates this development of public policy principles, and Paragraph 71 requests that these same relevant organizations provide annual performance reports. Paragraph 105 of the Tunis Agenda requests that ECOSOC oversees the system-wide follow-up of the Geneva and Tunis outcomes of WSIS. To this end, we request that ECOSOC, at its substantive session of 2006, reviews the mandate, agenda and composition of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD), including considering the strengthening of 8
the Commission, taking into account the multistakeholder approach. [emphasis added] CSTD document E2009/92/CRP/1 4, which was prepared by DPADM and DESA for the May 2010 CSTD meeting, reports on the development of the enhanced cooperation practice as applied to intergovernmental, multistakeholder and private-sector led organizations: 2. On 12 March 2008, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs invited ten organizations to provide an annual performance report on the steps they had undertaken towards enhanced cooperation on Internet-related public policy issues pertaining to the Internet. A summary of the responses has been incorporated into the report of the Secretary-General on progress made in the implementation of and follow-up to the World Summit on the Information Society outcomes at the regional and international levels. On 23 December 2008, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs wrote to the same group of ten institutions, with a further request for their recommendations on how the process towards enhanced cooperation should be pursued. 3. The ten institutions are: a. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) b. International Telecommunication Union (ITU) c. World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) d. Council of Europe e. Internet Society (ISOC) f. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) g. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) h. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) i. Number Resource Organization (NRO) 4 CSTD document E2009/92/CRP/1: http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/undpadm/unpan039046.pdf 9
j. Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) (One additional organization which submitted a contribution of its own accord.) On 19 February 2010, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs through its Division for Public Administration and Development Management requested the same group of ten institutions to submit updates in preparation for the consideration of this report by the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) for its thirteenth session on 17-21 May 2010. All ten institutions responded with a written reply. ICC/BASIS Comment: The list of organizations surveyed above includes ICANN, W3C, ISOC, the NRO and the IETF. These five groups are multistakeholder or private-sector led organizations. Thus, the UN Secretary General and relevant UN Departments have acted with an understanding that enhanced cooperation is indeed a multistakeholder process requiring multistakeholder participation. Certainly, leaving non-governmental stakeholders out of discussions on enhanced cooperation would be neither consistent with the spirit of WSIS nor the letter of the relevant Tunis Agenda. Deviating now from the multistakeholder nature of the process also means a deviation from post-wsis established practice and precedent. Furthermore, the CSTD in assisting ECOSOC in performing the WSIS follow-up role offers an appropriate forum with a multistakeholder approach for WSIS follow-up discussion on enhanced cooperation along with other topics. 3. The Tunis Agenda establishes enhanced cooperation and the IGF as complementary processes, which means enhanced cooperation should not compete with the IGF or existing organizations and processes. Paragraph 71 of the Tunis Agenda calls on the UN Secretary- General to start the enhanced cooperation process with the involvement of all relevant organizations and stakeholders. It does not specify any new process or organization. Paragraph 72, by contrast, asks the UN Secretary-General General, in an open and inclusive process, to convene a meeting of a new forum for multistakeholder policy dialogue called the IGF. 10
Paragraph 21 of the ECOSOC Resolution 2010/2 Recognizes that the Internet governance-related outcomes of the World Summit, namely, the process towards enhanced cooperation and the convening of the Internet Governance Forum, are to be pursued by the Secretary-General of the United Nations through two distinct processes, and also recognizes that the two processes may be complementary ICC/BASIS Comment: We agree that enhanced cooperation and the IGF are two complementary processes. In this context, however, we note that the Tunis Agenda did not establish a new process or organization for enhanced cooperation the way that it did with the IGF. We believe this reflects the clear intention for enhanced cooperation to build on existing organizations and the newly formed IGF. As others have noted, the multistakeholder IGF is an excellent instantiation of enhanced cooperation and can be taken as an example for its complementary process of enhanced cooperation. In fact, enhanced cooperation has already been a steadily established practice by many stakeholders, including governmental and other stakeholders, throughout the IGF deliberations, discussions, preparations and cooperation. ICC/BASIS also supports that enhanced cooperation references the importance of existing institutions and organizations engaged in Internet governance to improve their interactions and cooperation across and between such organizations/institutions. We note that such cooperation has in fact been occurring in many instances, and should continue. In conclusion, we recommend that the above points be carefully considered in developing the report on the open consultation and other inputs received by December 31, 2010 regarding enhanced cooperation. We believe that the report that goes to the May 2011 CSTD meeting on its way to the July 2011 ECOSOC and September 2011 UN General Assembly meetings should highlight these points and acknowledge, the precedence of multistakeholder engagement in the process. We also believe that any recommendations made should ensure the proper and consistent application of the understanding regarding enhanced cooperation as described above. The follow-up on the WSIS decisions, as recognized on an 11
ongoing basis by the UN Secretary General and his staff in activities ever since WSIS, shall continue to be carried out in recognition of this understanding. Once again, ICC/BASIS appreciates the opportunity to continue to work with other stakeholders in the spirit of enhancing cooperation amongst all relevant actors regardless of their stakeholder composition, in the IGF, and in other WSIS-related follow-up activities in an effort to bring the benefits of the Information Society to all. In that spirit, we are also glad to offer these comments to build upon the extensive efforts already underway on enhanced cooperation. 12
About the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) The International Chamber of Commerce is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its thousands of member companies in over 120 countries have interests spanning every sector of private enterprise. A world network of national committees keeps the ICC International Secretariat in Paris informed about national and regional business priorities. More than 2000 experts drawn from ICC s member companies feed their knowledge and experience into crafting the ICC stance on specific business issues. The United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and many other intergovernmental bodies, both international and regional, are kept in touch with the views of international business through ICC. For more information please visit: www.iccwbo.org About BASIS ICC created BASIS to raise awareness among the public, governments, civil society, intergovernmental organizations and technical community of what business requires to continue contributing to the development of the Information Society. It serves as the voice of business in the global dialogue on the Information Society, following two World Summits on the Information Society (WSIS) held in Geneva (2003) and Tunis (2005). To promote the environment in which business around the world will continue to thrive as an innovator of information and communication technologies, BASIS participates in UN-linked forums set up to continue the dialogue, such as the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and the WSIS follow up and implementation processes, and the UN Global Alliance for ICTs and development (GAID). To help shape the agenda and participate in these global discussions, BASIS relies on the policies developed in the ICC Commission on E-business, IT and Telecoms as the foundation for its efforts. BASIS builds on the activities and network of the Coordinating Committee of Business Interlocutors (CCBI), which ICC formed to coordinate participation by world business in the processes leading up to and at WSIS. BASIS members include business organizations such as the TechAmerica, World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), Africa Investor, Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC), Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), and the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) as well as several ICC national committees and companies from across sectors and geographies. For further information regarding BASIS, the founding partners, members and activities, visit: www.iccwbo.org/basis 13