Public Policy 

Internet Governance

World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

The United Nations convened the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to develop a "common vision and understanding of the information society and the adoption of a declaration and plan of action for implementation by Governments, international institutions and all sectors of civil society".

WSIS was held in two phases: the first in Geneva, hosted by the Government of Switzerland from 10 to 12 December 2003, and the second in Tunis hosted by the Government of Tunisia, from 16 to 18 November 2005.

ISOC Contributions and related activities

WSIS Tunis 16 - 18 Nov 2005

• WSIS press review
• Global Internet Organizations Unite to Respond to the World Summit's proposals for Internet Governance
• WSIS Plenary presentation given by Lynn St. Amour, President and CEO of ISOC, on Friday November 18th. [PDF]
• Press Release: Internet Society welcomes WSIS proposal to build on existing Internet governance mechanisms
• Visit ISOC on the Internet Pavilion (stand 1323) at the ICT4all exhibition during WSIS phase 2, Tunis, November 15th to 19th 2005
• ISOC commentary direct from the WSIS at Tunis
• Internet Community Organizations at World Summit Outline Key Factors that will Ensure the Internet's Continuing Growth
• ISP Column: On the Road to Tunis

WSIS Geneva 19th - 30th Sep 2005

• ISOC@WSIS: ISOC's Capacity Building Programs
• ISOC statement on Internet Governance [PDF] [ascii]
• ISOC@WSIS: ISOC commentary direct from the WSIS PrepCom-3 in Geneva
• Comments on the Chair's Internet Governance Paper 26 September 2005
• ISOC@WSIS: Internet Society Statement – 26 September 2005 WSIS PrepCom 3 Sub-committee A on Internet Governance

New Policy Program

• ISOC WSIS Ambassador Program

Realizing the Goals of the World Summit on the Information Society

• The Comments of the Internet Society on the Report of the Working Group on Internet Governance - August 15, 2005

ISOC survey on the Final WGIG report

• WSIS Survey launched by ISOC

INET MEA 2005 Regional Conference, Cairo, Egypt, May 8th 2005

• Agenda

Consultations of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG), Geneva, 14 June 2005

• Remarks made by Brian Carpenter at the Open Consultation of the WGIG [PDF]
• Remarks made by Lynn St. Amour at the Open Consultation of the WGIG [PDF]

Consultations of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG), Geneva, 18 April 2005

• ISOC Commentary on the status of the work of the Working Group on Internet Governance [PDF]

World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), Prepcom 2, February 2005

• Internet Society Intervention - February 24th

Consultations of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG), Geneva, 15 - 16 February 2005

• Internet Society Intervention - February 15th

Consultations of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG), Geneva, 20 - 21 September 2004

• Internet Society Intervention - September 20th
• Internet Society Intervention - September 21st
• Internet Society's WGIG letter to Mr. Markus Kummer
• ICANN's experiences in setting up multi-stakeholder coordination on the Internet's unique identifier system [PDF]
• Statement by the Number Resource Organization (NRO) at the WGIG consultations [PDF]

World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), December 2003

• ISOC Workshop at WSIS, December 9th, 2003
  The Internet: How it works, Why it works, Who makes it work
• Bob Kahn speaks at ISOC press conference at WSIS
• New Internet (IPv6) Workshop at WSIS, December 9th, 2003
• Internet Governance: A Discussion Document [PDF]
• Developing the Potential of the Internet through Coordination, not Governance [ISOC bulletin #7]
• The genius of the Internet: Open processes drive growth and connectivity [ISOC bulletin #4]

Read more about ISOC's global participation:

• Strategic Global Engagement program
• IGF