Some 400 representatives of European governments, international organisations, the private sector, civil society, users, academia and the Internet technical community will meet in Sofia (Bulgaria) on 4-5 June at the European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) to discuss the last developments and challenges on Internet governance, including the Digital Single Market Strategy recently adopted by the European Commission.

There will be an opening address by Ivaylo Moskovski, Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications of Bulgaria, and a keynote speech by Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, Foreign Minister of Estonia.

Participants will discuss a Draft statement on network neutrality, which aims to develop a text that covers the diversity of stakeholders -including end-users and businesses- , interests and principles with regard to net neutrality.

Other topics on the agenda are the following:

• Developments in new media with a particular focus on public service media value, and new types of journalism
• The consultation process for the EU copyright reform
• The challenges posed by the cross-border nature of the Internet and its consequences for the application of national laws
• Challenges for the right to privacy and to data protection of big data and new Internet services
• Cybersecurity, and the respective roles of states, the private sector and civil society
• The process for the internationalisation of domain names (IDN)
• The current status of theInternet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)transition process and its implications for Europe and the overall Internet governance process.

The day before EuroDIG, the first South Eastern European Dialogue on Internet Governance (SEEDIG) will be held under the theme “Multistakeholder Internet governance: from the global debates to South Eastern European realities”. This event aims to promote a better understanding among South Eastern European stakeholders on Internet governance, encourage their participation in regional and international Internet governance processes, and create a framework for multistakeholder discussions on Internet governance issues that are particularly relevant to the region.

EuroDIG 2015 is hosted by UNICART, and supported by the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications of Bulgaria, the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), RIPE NCC, the Swiss Federal Office of Telecommunications (OFCOM), the European Youth Forum, the Internet Society (ISOC) and ICANN’s Regional At-Large Organisation (EURALO).

EuroDig programme

 

Source: Council of Europe