A report from a workshop co-organised by the International Chamber of Commerce Business Action to Support the Information Society (Ayesha Hassan and Constance Weise) and the Internet Society (Christine Runnegar) at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) on 7 November 2012 at Baku, Azerbaijan.

INTRODUCTION

A thriving global Internet economy depends on international transactions and, therefore, cross-border flows of data. The free flow of information across borders is also a sign of a healthy and global information society. Accordingly, it is important to closely examine the multiple factors that may enable or impede this activity so that constructive strategies may be implemented to achieve this objective. Enabling cross-border data flows, however, raises a number of important Internet governance policy considerations for a broad range of stakeholders, such as business, intermediaries, users, law enforcement agencies, governments, policymakers and the wider Internet technical community.