GeoIGF, Georgia’s first Internet governance forum, took place in Tbilisi. The forum was sponsored by Georgian national domain registrars, the country’s Agency for Innovations, ICANN, ISOC, RIPE NCC and Georgia’s National Communications Commission. A delegation of the Coordination Center for TLD RU joined the discussion on Internet governance and domain zone future.
The forum presented an opportunity to discuss issues that are still relevant for all the countries of the region, such as reducing digital inequality, bringing the Internet to remote areas, finding Internet governance approaches, protecting children from harmful content and securing personal data.
The regulation of national domain zones was one of the main topics. Panelists spoke of global experiences and discussed how the various approaches may be adapted for different countries. Thomas Schneider, Chair of the Governmental Advisory Committee, mentioned Switzerland, where domains are governed mainly by the state, in contrast to Brazil, where there is a public council involving various communities, and the share of state bodies in it is less than half.
Mzia Gogilashvili from the Georgian National Communications Commission said that the Georgian government believes the state’s role should be minimal: “Internet governance should involve all stakeholders, including businesses, public organizations, the civil society, and state bodies. The state should have a part that’s big enough for it to guard its interests, but no bigger.”
Genadi Rostomauli from Georgia’s .GE national domain registrar said there is a global trend toward deregulating the Internet and the domain name system, and it is for historical reasons that some countries are involved significantly in that process.
Domain regulation will be further discussed at TLDCON 2016, which will again take place in Tbilisi on September 7 and 8.
