The FINANCIAL — Third Forum of Internet Governance – the IGF 2017 is officially opened at the Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel in Tbilisi. The Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Giorgi Cherkezishvili welcomed the Forum participants.
“We can hardly live without internet nowadays and there are a number of issues to be addressed on a daily basis – the daily processing and development. This means the permanent cooperation between the State and the private sector. Numerous issues are being discussed at the Forum today and I believe it will be very successful for the Georgian companies, NGOs and the state agencies as well as the foreign guests,” – George Cherkezishvili stated.
This year the Forum is held with the support and participation of the Council of Europe (CoE), the Internet Society (ISOC), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) and the local organizations, according to Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia.
The main topics of the Forum are as follow: Copyright Online Protection, Broadband Access Issues in Georgia, Fake News and Propaganda Challenges for Georgia, Personal Data Protection, etc.
Georgian IGF is a union on online governance issues established upon the UN recommendations. The event is hosted by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, the National Communications Commission of Georgia and the ISOC local representation.
Executive Director of the Small and Medium Telecommunications Operators Association (the organizer of the Forum), Ucha Seturi stated that one of the main topics of the Forum is the accessibility of internet and the Government’s plans in this direction. “Protection of the personal data on the Internet, the copyright protection, competition regulation of or any other issues relevant to Georgia’s Internet reality are presented in the Agenda of one day,” – Ucha Seturi said.
The Internet Society (ISOC) also participates in the GeoIGF. The ISOC is a non-profit organization with main function to facilitate the development of the Internet and ensure its accessibility. The ISOC contribution made so called Tusheti Internetization project possible.
“We’ve already connected half of the world’s population to the internet. We can highlight this achievement. Now the rest of the world needs to be connected to the Internet and this demand became even greater. However, the half of job is already done. Internet is a part of a human routine. Therefore, the people not connected to the Internet lose the opportunity to improve their lives – to get education and access to healthcare, receive general information, do the business, etc.,” – the ISOC Vice President, Raul Echeberria stated.
Various organizations, including governmental, non-governmental and international organizations, regulatory bodies, private sector and telecommunication companies are involved in the preparation of the Internet Governance Forum.
