{"id":41972,"date":"2018-09-12T06:00:45","date_gmt":"2018-09-11T20:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=41972"},"modified":"2018-09-11T17:53:29","modified_gmt":"2018-09-11T07:53:29","slug":"the-changing-dynamics-of-internet-governance-in-the-south-pacific","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-changing-dynamics-of-internet-governance-in-the-south-pacific\/","title":{"rendered":"The changing dynamics of internet governance in the South Pacific"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Each year the World Bank tackles critical development issues in its world development report. For 2016, it chose the topic of \u2018digital dividends<\/a>\u2019. The researchers concluded that digital technologies have spread rapidly in much of the world, but that the dividends from these technologies\u2014broader socioeconomic benefits\u2014have lagged behind.<\/p>\n

Their findings apply to the South Pacific as much as any other region. If you put the metrics of the UN\u2019s human development index<\/a> alongside the scores of ASPI\u2019s Asia\u2013Pacific cyber maturity report<\/a>, Pacific island states all end up in the bottom half. Vanuatu, for example, ranks 134th on the human development index and scores only 34.2 out of 100 in cyber maturity. Other South Pacific countries show similar correlations.<\/p>\n

It was therefore symbolic that Vanuatu hosted the 9th Asia\u2013Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum<\/a> in August. Under the theme \u2018empowering communities in the Asia Pacific to build an affordable, inclusive, open and secure internet\u2019, more than 300 people attended some 35 workshops and heard addresses from Vanuatu\u2019s prime minister, Charlot Salwai; Samoa\u2019s deputy communications minister, Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi; and the \u2018father of the internet\u2019, Vint Cerf.<\/p>\n

Cerf shared his views as an internet entrepreneur\u2014he\u2019s also Google\u2019s \u2018Chief Internet Evangelist\u2019 looking at future tech development and its commercial value\u2014on connectivity in developing regions. The availability of submarine cable connectivity in the Pacific (see a global map of locations, owners and operators here<\/a>) is crucial, but establishing a viable business case is even more important.<\/p>\n

And here some wicked problems confront the countries of the South Pacific: challenging geographic conditions, small consumer bases, limited human resources to sustain modern IT infrastructure, and a social hesitance to embrace ICT-enabled health care, education and services.<\/p>\n

Stemming from the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society<\/a>, internet governance forums are held across the globe. They are the place <\/a><\/em>for bottom-up and participatory policy dialogue on internet-related issues, where stakeholders from government, civil society, industry, the technical community and academia come together in a neutral environment.<\/p>\n

This dialogue model, which relies on reaching a \u2018rough consensus\u2019<\/a>, has a strong track record in the internet community. It is, for example, the way global internet standards are adopted and IP addresses and domain names are managed.<\/p>\n

But the dynamics have changed since the 2005 summit. Other actors and entities have stepped in, and opinions on the future of the internet have started diverging. In Vanuatu, Samoa\u2019s deputy communications minister warned of the need to protect local culture, religion and social cohesion in the Pacific islands. He concluded by pleading for vigilant control of the internet and online content by the government, a view shared by a number of countries in Australia\u2019s neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

In many countries, the internet was introduced by telecommunications companies\u2014often state-owned. Regional cooperation, infrastructure investment and standard-setting among telcos and postal services matured under the auspices of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)<\/a>, the UN\u2019s agency for information and communication technologies.<\/p>\n

The ITU will hold its four-yearly plenipotentiary meeting<\/a> in November, at which member states will again discuss proposals for the ITU\u2019s role in governing the internet. These include suggestions that the ITU set benchmarks for cybersecurity, consider introducing a treaty guiding cybersecurity behaviour, and take the lead on international public policy issues relating to the internet.<\/p>\n

While part of the debate is ideological and based on the belief that the internet shouldn\u2019t be controlled by any one group (including a group of states), another factor is that the network, infrastructure and applications have matured through private initiatives, entrepreneurship, revolutionary research and community-driven collaborative work. For these reasons, many believe the ITU is fundamentally ill-suited<\/a> to playing a central role in internet governance.<\/p>\n

Australia is standing<\/a> for re-election to the ITU Council. If the bid is successful, there will be a special role for Australia\u2019s cyber diplomats. Australia\u2019s international cyber engagement strategy<\/a> is ambitious on internet governance and the use of ICT enablers for development. It aims to:<\/p>\n