The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) released a report
on the findings from its national consultation on how the Internet is
run. The report found that it was important for Canada to develop world
class internet infrastructure and that the linkages between the
development and deployment of the internet, along with economic
development and digital literacy are major issues of public interest in
Canada.
The report judged the Canadian Internet Forum a success, meeting its
objectives and demonstrating that value that can be added to internet
governance processes by a public forum that provides a space where
internet stakeholders can meet to discuss and debate the public interest
in the Internet outside the confines of established institutional
structures, with the aim of building consensus on key issues as an input
to decision-making in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.
The Forum was a national consultation hosted by CIRA, the manager of
Canada's .CA domain name registry, along with its partners the
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Media
Awareness Network (MNet). It consisted of face-to-face consultations
that took place across Canada along with input received from an online
discussion forum, and culminated at a national event held in Ottawa and
webcast across the country in February 2011.
The consultations were broadly themed under two topics: the digital
economy and digital literacy, and Canadians identified numerous issues
that are important to them. These issues included online safety and
security, the development of a 'Canadian vision' for the Internet and
the cost and speed of broadband.
The report said that "unlike the centrally managed and regulated
telecommunications and broadcasting networks that preceded it, the
Internet was built bottom-up as an open network of networks, designed to
maximise opportunities for users to access, create and exchange
information and minimise controls on their activities.
CIRA President and CEO Byron Holland suggested in the report "that as
the complexity of internet governance increases, there a need for a
public forum that engages all stakeholders and provides a comprehensive,
balanced view of the public interest in the development and use of the
internet as an input to government policy-makers and regulators, other
public authorities, and decision-makers throughout Canada's economy and
society.
"Holland warned that centralised, top-down control of the internet --
the alternative to maintaining and enhancing the distributed, bottom-up,
consensus-driven internet governance model so that it is able to cope
with increasing complexity risks sub-optimising the role the Internet
can play in Canada's future."
The raising of digital literacy and economic development were two key
messages found by participants, and that these were tightly
interconnected, and that the public discourse surrounding them needs to
be reframed and rebalanced to put greater emphasis on digital literacy
-- a task for which a public forum like the Forum is well-suited."
The report also found that in addition to recognising the close
connections between economic development and digital literacy, the
[Forum] process identified a number of fundamental internet governance
challenges that must be addressed to enable the creation of a virtuous
circle between them. These challenges include:
- Achieving universal and affordable access to world-class internet infrastructure and services.
- Equipping Canadians with the knowledge and skills they need to participate and prosper in the digital economy and global information society.
- Ensuring a stable and secure online environment for individuals and organisations in the private and public sectors, through effective management of critical internet resources and protecting the privacy and other rights of Internet users.
- Promoting Internet-enabled innovation in business, government, education, and health care.
- Promoting digital inclusion of all communities and segments of the Canadian population.
To achieve all this, the Forum found that access to affordable
world-class internet infrastructure and services in all areas of Canada
would be required, something that is being addressed by all levels of
government within Canada even though services available to Canadians lag
behind those in some other countries.
The report will be presented to the United Nations coordinated Internet Governance Forum (www.intgovforum.org), a venue for nations to discuss the future of the Internet.
The report is available to download in full at www.scribd.com/doc/54601955.
To register your .CA domain name, check out EuroDNS here.