The Global Conference on Cyberspace (GCCS) brings governments, the private sector, and civil society together to promote practical cooperation in cyberspace, work towards enhancing capacity building, and discuss norms for responsible behavior in cyberspace. The GCCS emerged from the London Process in 2011 – where the British Government realizing the need for nations, civil society and the private sector to meet periodically to discuss governing behavior in cyberspace, mooted the idea of this periodic meeting.
India hosted the fifth GCCS in New Delhi from 23-24 November 2017. The event was well attended by global Internet governance policy makers and governments. According to the hosts, close to 4,000 delegates from 124 nations, including 33 ministerial delegations, participated at this event. The meeting’s themes were:
- Cyber for Digital Inclusion
- Cyber for Growth
- Cyber for Security
- Cyber for Diplomacy
I participated at GCCS, along with Board members Maarten Botterman and Matthew Shears, and my colleagues at ICANN Org Veni Markovski, Nigel Hickson and Samiran Gupta. ICANN’s participation in this meeting was to ensure that our narrow remit in cyberspace is understood by policy makers. We also engaged in meaningful bilateral meetings with the United Kingdom, United States of America, Egypt, Mauritius, Israel, and India.
Maarten, Veni, Samiran and I spoke at various sessions at the GCCS. The key trending conversations included global cooperation in cyber security, inclusive growth, and the emergence of new technologies in the Internet space.
It was significant to hear India’s affirmation of ICANN’s multistakeholder model of Internet governance. This was mentioned by the Indian Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, in his closing address. India’s Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, too reiterated India’s support to the multistakeholder model.
As more people come online and Internet technologies develop further, it remains important for nations, civil society and the private sector to continue to find platforms to speak to each other on norms of behavior in cyberspace. ICANN will continue to engage in events such as the GCCS to ensure policy makers understand our role in cyberspace.