Pretoria - Following a request from the African Union (AU) Commission, Cabinet has approved South Africa’s hosting of the African Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in October 2016.
Internet governance covers a wide range of social and political issues.
“These include participation in the online economy, intellectual property, cyber-security and privacy and access to key technical resources, such as domain names and Internet Protocol addresses that make Internet services possible,” Cabinet said in a statement on Thursday.
Cabinet said hosting the African IGF provides a platform for Africa to develop strategies for participation in the global Internet economy which is critical for the development of economies in Africa.
Currently, the Internet economy is worth around R59 billion in South Africa.
The forum also provides a platform for African governments to set the agenda to adopt a common position on Internet Governance.
This follows the outcomes from the United Nations General Assembly World Summit on the Information Society High Level Review in December 2015.
“This reaffirms the Tunis Declaration, that Internet Governance is a global resource that should be managed in a multilateral, transparent and democratic process, with the full involvement of all stakeholders,” Cabinet said.
African governments will also have an opportunity to engage on critical components of the Internet value chain with a view to promote the equitable distribution and use of Internet resources. – SAnews.gov.za
