21-22 May 2009 - Geneva- Switzerland:


World Summit for Information Society (WSIS); co-hosted by ITU, UNESCO, UNCTAD and UNDP. Ms. Sophia Bekele, representing private sector as CEO of CBS International was one of the high-level panelist invited to discuss public private partnership (PPPs) and e- government towards a better Public Service Delivery and Implementation of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Ms. Bekele also presented the experience of CBS International, well known for technology transfer to developing countries, on executing PPP schemes and the challenges/ barriers and way forward.

14 May 2009- China Calls for an End to the Internet Governance Forum

China Calls for an End to the Internet Governance Forum CircleID Thu, 14 May 2009 07:21 AM PDT. There's been a global argument going on for some time now over how the Internet should be governed. Many governments, including China but also many others, are not happy that the "root" of the Internet is controlled by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ( ICANN ), which ultimately answers to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Similar comments were made by our DotAfrica's Exec Director, Sophia Bekele, on the same issue back in December 2008 in reference to DNSSEC Industry Coalition on Network World By sbekele on Thu, 12/18/2008 - 10:40pm. "DNSSEC Industry Coalition is a great movement re: protecting security & stability of the internet. While the coalition seem to be mostly US companies, which in fact house majority of the global domain names; given the policy divide between the West and the rest of the world; also now a hot button of ICANN/ITU cyber security territorial issues, I would assume that the global governmental (GAC) community may in fact be not so happy of DNSSEC deployment at the ICANN root. Global security controlled by US centric policy and US company lobby consortium is not always comfortable to the rest of the world. This, of course considering that GACs are aware of DNSSEC implications to them, and are represented well or active at such policy debates. Sophia Bekele, ICANN Policy Advisor (2005-07)".

4 May 2009: Governmental Oversight by a "G12" ?

Europe: Get the US and other countries out of Internet governance. In the boldest statement yet from European government leaders on the need for globalization of Internet authority, Commissioner Viviane Reding called specifically upon President Obama to allow the US' oversight of the world's domain name authority to lapse after this September, but then to allow the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to become a fully privatized entity. Video
Such an entity, the Commissioner said, would be answerable mainly to the global community of users, represented -- as she foresees it -- by an international tribunal....more By Scott M. Fulton, III