MeitY launches India chapter of UN based Internet Governance Forum

New Delhi: The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) on Monday announced the launch of the India Internet Governance Forum (IIGF) 2021 for three days starting from October 20, 2021.

The theme of this year's meeting is 'Inclusive Internet for Digital India.'

IIGF is the Indian chapter of the United Nations based forum for Internet Governance policy discussions. It is also a platform to bring representatives together from various groups, considering all at par to discuss public policy issues related to the Internet.

This mode of engagement, referred to as the multi-stakeholder model of Internet Governance, has been the key feature for the Internet's success.

Multi-stakeholder concept is well adopted by IGF (Internet Governance Forum) under United Nations and by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

While announcing the launch of the Forum, Anil Kumar Jain, the CEO, National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI), MeitY and the Chairman of Coordination Committee, IIGF-2021 said: "India is the second-largest broadband subscription country in the world and also has the highest data consumption per user per month. Therefore, the aspirations of the Indians should be reflected in International policy formation and stakeholder discussion. IIGF is the correct initiative for the country to ensure that the growth of broadband adheres to the lifestyle and requirements of the Indian community."

Starting this month, multiple pre-IIGF engagement events will be held at several colleges and universities, as a precursor to the IIGF inaugural event. The idea behind this is to engage the youth and students for their participation in the October event and prepare the next generation to be part of policy formation.

"IIGF 2021 is adopting the multi-stakeholder concept in organizing the event as per the true spirit of global IGF. The coordination committee has apt representation from civil society, Government, Industry, Industrial associations, trusts, and other stakeholders," Anil added.

The India Internet Governance coordination committee for IIGF-2021 features Anil Kumar Jain as Chairman, TV Ramchandran as Vice-Chairman, Jaijeet Bhattacharya as Vice Chairman, Rajat Moona as Vice-Chairman and around 12 members representing the government, civil society, industries, trusts, associations among others.