National Internet Governance Forums in Preparation for the Regional IGF

30/05/2016

LACNIC had a notable participation in the first edition of IGF Uruguay, Internet in Uruguay: A Multistakeholder Dialogue. This meeting joins similar initiatives in other countries throughout the region that serve as local preparatory meetings for the regional Latin American and the Caribbean Internet Governance Forum, which will take place in Costa Rica in late July.

The event addressed the most important Internet governance issues for Uruguay and the region, as well as key topics such as privacy, legislation, social impact, and future prospects of Information and Communications Technology.

The meeting brought together over 200 individuals representing governments, the private sector, civil society, the technical community and academia, who met at the School of Engineering of the University of the Republic of Uruguay.

This was the first time that an IGF was held in Uruguay and it was a complete success. The goal of these meetings is to raise, develop and discuss issues that are relevant to Internet development at national level, as well as to prepare for the regional and global Internet Governance Forums.

In addition to the one in Uruguay, there are also national chapters in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Paraguay and Argentina, while last year a local meeting was held in Costa Rica.

These national events are preparatory meetings where participants discuss the inputs that will later be taken to the regional IGF, to be held in Costa Rica during the last week of July, as well as to the global IGF, which will be held in December 2016 in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico.