June 20th, 2014

Commonwealth DNS Forum Lays the Foundation for Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration Towards a Safer Cyberspace

London 19 June 2014 – The inaugural Commonwealth Domain Name System Forum took place on the 19-20 June 2014 at the Hilton Metropole London. This event is a joint initiative by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), Public Interest Registry (PIR) and Nominet and precedes the ICANN 50 Meeting in London. The Honourable Anusha Rahman Ahmad Kahn, Minster of State for Information Technology & Telecom, Pakistan, effectively set the scene and delivered an engaging keynote address, highlighting the importance of multi-stakeholder approach to Internet Governance issues and the critical role of infrastructure. The Honourable Minister specifically mentioned the pivotal role the CTO could play in Cybergovernance, how they have taken a leading role in this initiative and how their work is also being recognised on a global platform. The Minister ended the keynote by urging countries to adopt the Commonwealth Cybergovernance Model. In addition to the keynote welcome address Steve Crocker Chair of ICANN Board, Brian Cute Chief Executive Officer from PIR, and Baroness Fritchie Chair from Nominet, welcomed delegates to London and to the first Commonwealth DNS Forum. The opening speech was followed by a panel discussion on the Commonwealth Cybergovernance Model.

Following the panel discussion on the Cybergovernance Model, Honourable Phillip Paulwell, informed delegates about some of the key initiatives Jamaica has currently implemented and the importance of infrastructure sharing and child online protection. Jimson Olufuye commented on the role that could be played by market forces in the evolution of the Cyberspace and how the private sector could promote innovation. Finally Carlton Samuels spoke about multi-stakeholder partnerships that are needed to strengthen Cybergovernance and the need for all stakeholders to work collaboratively to achieve the greatest results.

The event is being attended by around 200 participants from 35 countries, including ICT ministers and regulators, senior government advisors, diplomats, industry leaders, security experts, academia and civil society.
First day speakers and panellists included:

  • Honourable Anusha Rahman Ahmad Kahn, Minster of State for Information Technology & Telecom, Pakistan
  • Honourable Hasanul Haq Inu, Minister of Information, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
  • Honourable Abdul Latif Siddiqui, Minster of Posts & Telecommunications, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
  • Honourable Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Science, Technology, Mining and Energy, Jamaica
  • Alan Cairns, Vale of Glamorgan MP, UK
  • Steve Crocker, Chair of ICANN Board
  • Brian Cute, Chief Executive Officer, PIR
  • Baroness Rennie Fritchie DBE, Chair, Nominet
  • Lasantha De Alwis, Director of Operations, CTO
  • Professor Nii Quaynor, Professor of Computer Science, University of Cape-Coast, Ghana
  • Andrew Whittaker, Deputy Director, CERT-UK
  • Jimson Olufuye, Chair, Africa ICT Alliance and Chief Executive Officer, Kontemporary, Nigeria

Over the next two days the event will continue to examine issues in three key areas; security and safety, investment and innovations in DNS and corporation and multi-stakeholder partnerships through highly interactive panel sessions, and engaging presentations by key stakeholders.

More Information

For more information please contact:
The Communications Team
44 (0) 208 600 3800
44 (0) 208 600 3819