Internet Governance and India: The Way Forward

The Internet Governance Forum’s (IGF) purpose is to support the United Nations Secretary-General in carrying out the mandate from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) with regard to convening a new forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue. The eighth edition of the Internet Governance Forum started on October 22, in Bali, Indonesia. Representatives of governments, intergovernmental organisations, private sector, technical and academic community and civil society gathered together to discuss Internet governance related issues, under the general theme of “Building Bridges – Enhancing Multistakeholder Cooperation for Growth and Sustainable Development”. Cybersecurity, open internet, freedom of expression, protection of human rights were some of the topics discussed and debated at the three day conference. There was also a mutual consensus amongst the participants on the multistakeholder model for internet governance.

Programme

• 10.30: Registration/Tea
• 11.00: Opening Remarks by Mahima Kaul, Fellow-ORF
• 11.10:  Subi Chaturvedi, Assistant Professor Journalism & Communication, Lady Shri Ram College for Women & Founder Trustee Media For Change
• 11.25: Dr. Anja Kovacs, Director, Internet Democracy Project, New Delhi.
• 11.40: Dr. Govind, CEO, National Internet Exchange of India, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India.
• 11.55: Virat Bhatia, Chairman, FICCI Communications & Digital Economy Committee and President, IEA AT&T, SouthAsia
• 12.10: Question and Answer
• 12.50: Concluding remarks
  13.00:  Lunch, ORF Lounge.

Speakers Biography

Subi Chaturvedi, Asstt. Professor Journalism & Communication, Lady Shri Ram College for Women & Founder Trustee Media For Change.

Ms. Chaturvedi strives to promote the role and participation of the youth, women and girls in ICT and the policy dialogue and decision making, along with Improving e-governance and deepening democracy through 'media for change'. She also works on building bridges between different stakeholders in IG and enabling conversations on the national and domestic level on important policy concerns such as cybersecurity, openness, universality, human rights, permission less innovation and freedom of speech and expression online, through roundtables, workshops, public hearings and youth meets (Internet Dialogues) for India.

She also actively participates in domestic as well as International meetings on Internet governance and enhanced cooperation to represent her stakeholder perspective, especially as a women academician and a member of the media and civil society from a developing country and an emerging economy. She often writes opinion and edits pieces for national dailies, journals and provides inputs and commentary to the electronic media to inform the debate and dialogue on Internet Governance policy questions

Dr. Anja Kovacs, Director, Internet Democracy Project, Delhi
Dr. Anja Kovacs directs the Internet Democracy Project, Delhi, where her work focuses on questions regarding freedom of expression, cybersecurity and the architecture of Internet governance as they relate to the Internet and democracy. She is currently also a member of the of the Investment Committee of the Digital Defenders Partnership and of the interim Steering Group of Best Bits, a global network of civil society members. In addition, Anja has worked as an international consultant on Internet issues, including for the United Nations Development Programme Asia Pacific and the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Mr. Frank La Rue, and has been an IREX Fellow and a Fellow at the Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore. Prior to focusing her work on the information society, Anja researched, lectured and consulted on a wide range of development-related issues, including at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, and Ambedkar University, Delhi. She obtained her PhD in Development Studies from the University of East Anglia in the UK.

Dr. Govind, CEO, National Internet Exchange of India, Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India

Virat Bhatia, Chairman, FICCI Communications & Digital Economy Committee and President, IEA AT&T, SouthAsia
As Chairman of the FICCI Communications and Digital Economy Committee, Mr. Bhatia currently leads the combined advocacy and policy reform efforts of nearly 150 members - representing leading telecom industry associations, mobile service providers, domestic and long distance service providers, ISPs, internet companies, social media, infrastructure and tower companies, device manufacturers, consultants, legal experts and other related stakeholders in India’s ICT space. He is appointed as a member of   the Joint Working Group (JWG) which drafted the “Guidelines on Protection of National Critical Information Infrastructure”, later released by the NSA in June 2013.  He serves on the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) of DeitY for India IGF, and in the past, on the JWG dealing with issues of cyber security.

At AT&T, Mr. Bhatia serves as President, IEA, for the South Asia region. He has responsibility for supporting all of AT&T’s businesses, corporate development activities, new investments and business strategies. He has been involved with the digital economy sector since 1994.