Following the last meeting of the World Telecommunication Policy Forum (WTPF) Informal Expert Group held on the 24th of June, we have prepared additional comments on the Secretary General’s Report, and on the Opinions that are presented in its annexes.
As a member of the Informal Expert Group to the WTPF, the Internet Society has been actively engaged1 in the past year in preparations for this multi-stakeholder event. As a preliminary remark, we would like to emphasize that following the ITU Secretariat General’s request in June 2008, Internet Society submitted a proposal of a selected topic related to Convergence and Emerging policy issues. Internet Society wished on that occasion to voice support for the direction of many comments made several times in the development of the drafts of the Secretary General’s Report and subsequent discussion: specifically that the WTPF would have been more useful and effective if it had narrowed its focus to one or two pressing issues being faced by the world community.
Internet Society supported focusing on Green ICT or ICT and Public Safety, and this proposal was developed with supporting material. We welcome that one of the proposed opinions addresses specifically “ICT and the Environment”, however we regret that none of the Working Groups of the Forum will be exclusively focusing on this critical and emerging issue.
