Last week, members of the CIRA team, including myself, had the opportunity to attend the NETmundial+10 conference in São Paulo, Brazil. For those who are new to global internet governance, the original NETmundial was a historic gathering of the internet community in 2014, where representatives from the private sector, governments, academia, the technical community, and civil society came together to create a shared set of principles that would influence the next decade of internet governance.
Ten years later, representatives from the same stakeholder groups convened once again to review the outcomes of the original NETmundial and determine whether they needed updating for the internet of 2024 and beyond. The event couldn’t have come at a better time, as the global internet community is currently seized with existential questions about the future of multistakeholderism in the context of the Global Digital Compact (GDC) and upcoming World Summit of the Information Society +20 review (WSIS+20).
At the conference, participants contributed to a series of recommendations for the future of the internet governance ecosystem. CIRA was pleased to see the original NETmundial Process Principles (particularly the multistakeholder principle) renewed in the final NETmundial+10 Multistakeholder Statement, which was formally adopted at the close of the conference. In our view, the statement will play an important role in promoting stronger, more inclusive multistakeholder processes, especially in the context of the GDC and WSIS+20 review.
We’d also like to congratulate the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br) who organized NETmundial+10, as well as anyone who volunteered their time to help make the event happen. It was an important step in our journey to maintain and strengthen existing structures in the internet ecosystem.
Charles Noir leads CIRA’s policy development, advocacy and Net Good program. Prior to joining CIRA, Charles spent over 15 years working for various Canadian government departments and agencies where he made significant contributions to policy development related to the internet, international telecommunications, cybersecurity and technology. He has extensive experience in leading international negotiations and providing policy advice to senior decision-makers.
