Background
The Declaration for the Future of the Internet (DFI) launched in April 2022, provides a proactive instrument designed by over 70 signatories worldwide who are 'united by a belief in the potential of digital technologies to promote connectivity, democracy, peace, the rule of law, sustainable development, and the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms'.
The stated goal of the DFI is to include all partners who actively support 'a future for the Internet that is open, free, global, interoperable, reliable, and secure' and (re-)affirm their commitment to 'protecting and respecting human rights online and across the digital ecosystem'.
It therefore establishes a positive agenda for the future of the Internet where partners commit themselves to uphold a range of key principles regarding the Internet and digital technologies and take a commitment to i) promote these principles within existing multilateral and multistakeholder fora, ii) translate these principles into concrete policies and actions; and iii) to work together to promote this vision globally.
The principles underlying the DFI are encompassing the following areas:
- Protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
- A global Internet,
- Inclusive and affordable access to the Internet;
- Trust in the digital ecosystem;
- Multistakeholder internet governance.
Rationale and objective of the workshop
One of the aims of the Global Initiative for the Future of the Internet (GIFI) is to facilitate monitoring convergence between the commitments undertook by the DFI signatories and their policies and actions. It is a necessary tool to support the DFI community in the effort to: 1.
- Promote transparency around DFI commitments, good practices and lessons from the initiatives related to the DFI at the national and regional levels;
- Advance accountability among the signatories and non-signatory countries; and
- Identify gaps in the capacities of the signatory countries to potentially provide them support required to meet their commitments.
To achieve these three goals, the project adopts a two-step approach:
Step 1: Gathering information about initiatives related to the DFI undertaken by the signatory countries and identification of good practices. The results will be presented in an interactive online format.
Step 2: Elaborating a tool that would allow to better understand the level of convergence between the approved commitments and concrete policies, possibly with a view of turning it into a regular exercise in a form of a DFI tracker .
The aim of the workshop is to foster a discussion on different modalities for the implementation of this approach. The organizers intend to bring together a group of key stakeholders involved in developing methodologies for monitoring different dimensions of the open internet, internet governance, human rights online, etc. An option paper will be shared with participants ahead of the meeting.
Please note that this is an invitation-only event.
Project funded by the European Union under the service contract no. NDICI/2023/447-807