The sixth annual meeting of the IGF will take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 27-30 September 2011 with Internet as a catalyst for change: access, development, freedoms and innovation as its main theme. In this document presented in the run-up to the IGF APC strongly supports the focus on access, development and freedoms but outlines a series of recommendations for IGF participants.

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was a major UN conference on information and communication technologies (ICTs) that took place in Geneva in 2003 and Tunis in 2005. These are highlights of APC’s contribution to implementation of WSIS goals. It provides an overview of our work during the last five years.

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was a major UN conference on information and communication technologies (ICTs) that took place in Geneva in 2003 and Tunis in 2005. This is APC’s contribution to an invitation from UN CSTD to the different stakeholders to submit inputs concerning the implementation and follow-up of WSIS outcomes. Our response includes a reflection on the process and issues.

The Broadband policy of South Africa was approved by Cabinet in June 20101. This paper analyses the main differences between the draft policy and the final policy. It looks at the shortcomings in the policy development process and makes recommendations on how to salvage the situation.

The Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill seeks to address an important issue. However the way it does so threatens to hinder the preservation of traditional knowledge, severely diminish the South African public domain and limit access to knowledge.

The Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) is one of the UN bodies that took up the follow up of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). This is APC’s contribution to a CSTD meeting where a report from the Secretary General on progress made in WSIS follow-up and implementation was presented, that took place on May 2007 in Geneva, as part of a series of WSIS follow-up meetings.

The first preparatory meeting for the next Internet Governance Forum (scheduled for December 2008 in India) was held in Geneva on 26 February 2008. APC issued a statement recommending the implementation of regional and national IGFs, using sustainable development as a key theme and advising on the format of working groups to address and follow up on key issues.