According to Internet World Stats, with over 780 Million Internet users, Asia Pacific is already the region with the largest online population. Yet the penetration rate for Asia is only at around 20%, which signals continued rapid growth ahead.
Building on the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals, and the mandate given at the Second Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis in 2005, the IGF (Internet Governance Forum) is a United Nations activity initiated in 2006 as a global platform for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue on prevailing and emerging issues on Internet governance so as to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of Internet. The annual Forum was previously held in Greece (2006), Brazil (2007), India (2008), and Egypt (2009).
The Internet has become an integral part of people’s life. Despite the advantages, misuses and abuses lead to social problems, such as digital divide, Internet addiction, information safety, security, privacy and other evolving issues. These issues have no respect to national borders, and therefore require collaboration between countries and territories to address. The IGF approach is an open forum for knowledge sharing between stakeholders across borders, which in turn inform local policy development.
Asia Pacific Regional IGF (APrIGF) in Hong Kong
To complement and supplement the global IGF, a group of active participants, with the OGCIO (Office of the Government Chief Information Officer) as the advisor, have come together to organize the first Asia Pacific Regional IGF in Hong Kong. The event will consist of 3 parts:
Asia Pacific Regional IGF Roundtable
(June 14-16), Cyberport (Function Rooms 1-3, Level 3, Cyberport 3) [ map ]
(Free of charge)
Hong Kong IGF Conference
(June 17-18), Cyberport (Function Rooms 1-3, Level 3, Cyberport 3) [ map ]
(HK$300 Online / HK$350 Onsite)
Youth IGF Camp
(June 12-14), Jockey Club Sai Kung Outdoor Training Camp
For more details and registration, please click here.
(Source: rIGF.ASIA)
