“If it were possible to assign a single phrase for describing the internet Society in 2009, it would be globally visible and regionally relevant. Achievement of those higher levels of visibility and relevance, both internationally and locally, speaks directly to the ongoing commitment and determination on the part of an organization that for nearly 20 years has dedicated itself to the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world. It also speaks to the extent to which the Internet and its associated applications and technologies are shaping—and reshaping—the world.

With nearly 2 billion users and growing, the Internet may be more deeply rooted in our lives than ever before, but its success has led to increasingly complex technology, policy, and governance challenges. The Internet Society’s mission is to ensure that those challenges get tackled in ways that safeguard the Internet model of openness and transparency and that preserve the Internet as a platform for innovation, social progress, and economic development.

In 2009, the Internet community took a much harder look at several issues that are at the core of the Internet’s continued success. Many organizations around the world began—in earnest and with considerable influence from the Internet Society community—to address the issue of a diminishing pool of IPv4 addresses by embracing the adoption and deployment of IPv6, the next generation of Internet protocol. With the use of social media exploding, with Internet-based financial transactions multiplying, and with electronic storage of personal information expanding, the Internet community found itself wrestling with a wide range of issues regarding online identity and trust— areas that the Internet Society has focused on and involved itself in for years.”

— Raúl Echeberría, Chair, Board of Trustees, Internet Society