Looking back on IFLA’s participation in the 8th Internet Governance Forum, Bali
29 October 2013
Last week IFLA was represented at the 8th Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Bali, Indonesia, where the libraries’ perspective on intellectual property, free trade, access to information for disadvantaged peoples, net neutrality, human rights and development was contributed to a number of panels. You can read about IFLA’s appearances on various panels during IGF in blog posts from Day 1 and Day 2 here.
At the 8th IGF, privacy and surveillance concerns dominated discussions, as the fallout over news of mass surveillance around the world by US intelligence agencies continued. During the week, fresh revelations regarding US tapping of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone added fuel to some already fiery discussions on the ground at IGF, as did news of Brazil and Germany leading efforts at the United Nations General Assembly to draft a UN resolution that would guarantee peoples’ privacy online. During the 8th IGF, Brazil reiterated its intention to host its own global summit on Internet Governance in 2014, a decision that could have many implications for Internet Governance in general and the environment in which we access and provide Internet services. You can now read all of the transcripts from the many workshops that took place during the 8th IGF.
IFLA’s participation at IGF offers an important opportunity to make the views of libraries, as essential and longstanding providers of access to information, heard in the context of broader Internet governance. IFLA’s engagement in IGF feeds into its ongoing work leveraging libraries as tools for development before the UN, which is currently reviewing both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). IFLA issued its statement on Libraries and Development in August 2013, and continues to be actively engaged in this process.