Statement of Internet Society (ISOC) Philippines Re EO 47

We, at the Internet Society (ISOC) Philippines Chapter, would like to add our voice with regards to an enhanced "CICT" or an agency that has a clear mandate geared towards national development. We believe it is crucial for the Philippine's future that we have an agency that will continue to support ICT (Information and Communication Technologies). Foremost, we would like to encourage the Aquino administration to look into the following broader issues:

1. Tap a similar "CICT" to collaborate with civil society groups, the private IT sector and the academe in strengthening our goals towards achieving an open discussion on Internet Governance;
   
   
2. Consult Civil Society groups, the private Information Technology sector and the Academe prior to official dialogue or representation to any open consultations in the United Nations like the CSTG (Commission on Science and Technology for Development) WG (Working Group) for the Improvement of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and a specialized agency for ICT's like the ITU (International Telecommunication Union);
   
   
3. Actively participate in international discussions on Internet Governance issues for public policy like the Internet Governance Forum, technical like the ITU and ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and economic forums (even as an observer) like OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) meetings;
   
   
4. Equal representation (at least 1 each from the academe, from the government, from Civil Society, and from the private IT sector) and funding to annual Internet Governance-related forums;
   
   
5. Create regional and local hubs to educate different ICT sectors on Internet Governance through capacity-building programs;

ISOC Philippines Chapter believes that a collaboration from various sectors of society will create broader participation that is not restrictive to only a few. If we recall the TUNIS Agenda for the Information Society during the 2005 WSIS (World Summit on Information Society), we are committed to focus on digital divide, Internet Governance and other related issues. This commitment is an opportunity to succeed as a "development-oriented and non-discriminatory Information Society" (see Section 31 of "Tunis Agenda for the Information Society," World Summit on the Information Society, 18 November 2005,http://www.itu.int/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/6rev1.html). We hope that we can reaffirm the legitimacy of the Tunis Agenda by believing that there is full participation of all stakeholders within their respective roles and responsibilities.

Thank you for this opportunity to be heard.

Kindest regards,

Internet Society (ISOC) Philippines
http://www.isoc.ph/
Join us: https://portal.isoc.org/EBusiness/NewMemberStepOne.aspx
Email: join@isoc.ph

OFFICERS

President: Randall Lozano
Vice President: Charity Gamboa-Embley
Treasurer: Winthrop Yu
Secretary: Bani Lara