This week is a pivotal one for the future of the Internet. National governments will convene at the United Nations headquarters in New York City to negotiate who will shape our digital future and how. It is critical that countries reaffirm their longstanding support for including the global Internet community\u2019s stakeholders at the table. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Internet community, we know first-hand that if you include the best expertise from across disciplines and regions in the decision-making process, you can solve hard problems. This approach, known as the multistakeholder model, is unique in its ability to produce technically sound, people-centric policies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back in the early 2000s, as a young diplomat with the US State Department, I participated in the first UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) meetings. It was, to say the least, a different time: the iPhone didn\u2019t exist, and you needed a Harvard email address to get a Facebook account. Countries were optimistic about the potential of the Internet and eager to connect the world. But it was still quite new to most people, including those of us making decisions about how it would be governed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was fitting, then, that governments worldwide recognized that this new technology called for a new approach altogether. It was decided that the UN secretary general would regularly convene key stakeholders to deliberate Internet policy: governments, technical experts, civil society, policymakers, academia, and industry\u2014not just tech companies, but businesses that manufacture and operate the infrastructure it takes to keep the Internet running. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new model came with its own platform: the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Non-binding in nature, the IGF was designed to ensure that a broad range of perspectives would inform decisions about the Internet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because the UN had never before created this kind of open, inclusive venue for stakeholders to come together, no one knew if it would be successful. Which is why the IGF was created as a temporary venue, its existence to be revisited on a regular basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The IGF quickly transformed from an idea into a global platform that enables open, inclusive, and informed discussions that shape global Internet and digital policy. A decade ago, the international community largely reconfirmed that the IGF was important. That it was delivering. Now they must decide, again, whether or not to renew it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At next week\u2019s WSIS High-Level Meeting, governments will present their visions for the future of the Internet. This moment is an opportunity for countries to set aside narrow national interests in favor of a global Internet that is accessible, open, and safe for everyone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reaffirming their commitment to the multistakeholder model and making the Internet Governance Forum permanent is critical, because the model works. Imperfectly, yes. But remarkably well: In 2025, the number of people without Internet connectivity is 2.2 billion, down from over 3.2 billion people a decade ago. For those in our line of work, we know that number is significant. It represents a 32% decline in unconnected people, even as the global population grows by 83 million people a year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We know what it took to bring that number down: people and organizations working tirelessly to bring connectivity to hard-to-connect communities. The people building those connections and creating regulatory environments that support their work are the same people who attend and organize IGFs and share their learnings with peers across the globe. They are the ones bridging the digital divide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s why we consider it so important for them to have the backing they need to succeed. The Internet Society has invested over $2 million USD in the past four years alone in not just the global IGF, but also the national, regional, and even sub-regional IGFs and Internet Governance Schools. And we are far from alone: in the past twenty years, the IGF ecosystem has evolved from a single global meeting into a highly productive ecosystem of over 180 national and regional IGFs with backing and support from across the global Internet community<\/a>. Stakeholders make these significant investments because we see the change that comes from this bottom-up approach. We see the results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n