Global Commission on Internet Governance (GCIG)

Summary

The Global Commission on Internet Governance was a two-year initiative launched at the World Economic Forum in January 2014 to articulate and advance a strategic vision for the future of internet governance.

Chaired by Carl Bildt, the commission was made up of 29 members drawn from various fields and from around the world, including policy and government, academia and civil society. All commissioners are listed on the commission’s website.  The current mechanism of internet governance, colloquially called the multi-stakeholder model, is under threat. This threat to a free, open, and universal internet comes from two principal sources. First, a number of authoritarian states are waging a campaign to exert greater state control over critical internet resources. Second, revelations about the nature and extent of online surveillance have led to a loss of trust. Collectively, these circumstances have created a need to update legacy mechanisms for internet governance but deadlocks in international dialogue mean the potential exists for the fragmentation of the internet. The Global Commission on Internet Governance has contributed to this important discussion with the publication of its final report.

There was also research supporting the Global Commission on Internet Governance: This project funded four research papers, through Chatham House, that supported the work of the Global Commission on Internet Governance. The GCIG was a two-year initiative launched in January 2014 by CIGI and Chatham House to produce a comprehensive stand on the future of multi-stakeholder Internet Governance. The four covered – cyber resilience in East Africa;the IANA/ICANN transition, cyber needs in West Africa and the impact of the decisions on net neutrality from the EU and US and contributed to the general body of research generated by the commission.