UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has confirmed the renewed composition of the 50-member multistakeholder advisory group responsible for providing advice in the run up to the upcoming, UN-linked Internet Governance Forum (IGF) which will take place in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt in November this year.

Among the names of business representatives who have been appointed to bring business expertise and perspective to the planning of the IGF are over six International Chamber of Commerce and its Business Action to Support the Information Society (BASIS) initiative members.

“The unique quality of both the advisory group and the IGF is their multistakeholder approach. We are pleased that the UN Secretary-General continues to recognize the importance of business experience and the multistakeholder approach by ensuring business is implicated in the process,” said BASIS Chair, and CEO and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services Subramaniam Ramadorai. “Global business is pleased to serve in the advisory group.”

Business representatives selected to serve the advisory group are:
• David Appasamy, Executive Vice President, Sify Technologies, Chennai
• Sunday Faloyan, Managing Director, SKANNET, Lagos
• Ayesha Hassan, Senior Policy Manager, E-Business, IT, and Telecoms, Executive in charge of ICT Policy, ICC, Paris
• Zahid Usman Jamil, Senior Partner and Barrister-at-Law, Jamil and Jamil, Chairman, Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center, Karachi
• Masanobu Katoh, Corporate Vice President; President of the Law and Intellectual Property Unit and Security Export Control Headquarters, Fujitsu Limited, Tokyo
• Stephen K.M. Lau, Chairman, Electronic Data System, Hong Kong
• Charles Sha'ban, Executive Director, Regional Office, Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property, Amman
• Waudo Siganga, Chair, Computer Society of Kenya
• Juan Carlos Solines Moreno, Solines & Asociados Abogados, Partner; Professor of Technology & Law and Telecommunications Law, San Francisco de Quito University, Quito
• Jennifer A. Warren, Vice President, Technology Policy & Regulation, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Alexandria, VA

The IGF was established to fulfill one of the commitments laid down by the second World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) which took place in Tunis 2005. The IGF has since taken place in Athens, Greece in 2006, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2007, and Hyderabad, India in 2008.

“The IGF provides a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to discuss issues of crucial importance to the global development of the Internet,” said Herbert Heitmann, Chair of the ICC Commission on E-Business, IT and Telecoms, and Chief Communications Officer, SAP. Because the forum is significant to business around the world, we will be actively contributing to preparations for and discussions at the next IGF in Egypt.”

An open consultation with all interested parties will be convened on 13 May in Geneva with the multistakeholder advisory group meeting on 14 and 15 May in Geneva.
For more information on the IGF, details regarding the draft programme and schedule please visit:  www.intgovforum.org

Click here to view the UN-issued press release.