On 11 November 2004, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced the formation of a Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) to prepare for the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), to be held in Tunisia in November 2005.

On 11 November 2004, Secretary-General Kofi Annan of the United Nations announced the formation of a Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) to prepare for the second phase of WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society), to be held in Tunisia in November 2005.

The purpose of the group is to develop a working definition of Internet Governance, to develop a common understanding about the roles and responsibilities of participants in Internet governance, and to identify public policy issues relevant to Internet governance.

The Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) will be chaired by Nitin Desai, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General for the World Summit and includes 40 members from around the world representing a diverse range of stakeholders including governments, the private sector, international organisations and civil society.

The RIRs are represented by Raúl Echeberría, the Executive Director of LACNIC, the RIR for Latin America and the Caribbean, who has been selected as one of the members of WGIG. The Asia Pacific community is represented by the following WGIG members:

• Peng Hwa Ang, Dean, School of Communication, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
• Kangsik Cheon, Chief Operating Officer, International Business Development, Netpia, Seoul
• Dev Erriah, Chairman, ICT Authority of Mauritius
• Qiheng Hu, Adviser, Science and Technology Commission, Ministry of Information Industry, China; former Vice-President, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• Rajashekar Ramaraj, Managing Director, Sify Limited, Chennai
• Masaaki Sakamaki, Director, Computer Communications Division, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan
• Joseph Sarr, President, NTIC Commission, Dakar Regional Council

The Working Group is expected to submit a report on its findings to the Secretary-General in July 2005. The report will then be available to the WSIS second phase in Tunis.

For more information, see:

• United Nations press release: United Nations establishes Working Group on Internet Governance
• Working Group on Internet Governance website
• WGIG Timeline

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