OECD Ministerial Meeting on The Future of the Internet Economy
Seoul, Korea, June 17-18, 2008
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will hold a Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy in June 2008 in Seoul, Korea. This meeting will bring together Ministers, CEOs, Internet experts and public advocacy groups to shape international policies in the following areas:
- Fuelling Creativity - The Internet has greatly expanded our capacity to create, compute, communicate and innovate and has changed the way individuals interact in business and society.
- Building Confidence - As the Internet grows as a platform for economic and social activity, malicious online practices have also increased.
- Benefiting from Convergence - Through technological development and regulatory reform, network platforms for data, voice, video and sensor technologies that were previously separate are converging toward the Internet protocol.
International cooperation is essential to ensuring that countries and citizens reap the full benefits of the Internet economy.
Why is this important for Canadians?
Canada's thriving digital economy depends on appropriate and forward-looking public policy frameworks. The upcoming Ministerial will build on the agenda developed in 1998, when Canada hosted the OECD Ministerial Conference, A Borderless World: Realising the Potential of Global Electronic Commerce that set the tone of the debate on information society issues and enabled the Internet economy to flourish to this day.
How can Canadians be involved?
Canadians can participate via Public Voice, a coalition of civil society organizations and academic experts interested in the Internet and public policy. Public Voice was asked by the OECD to help ensure that the views of civil society are considered at the 2008 OECD Ministerial.
Canadian business can participate via the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) which acts as the official voice of business at the OECD.
Representations can also be made via the Internet Society (ISOC). The Internet Society provides leadership in addressing issues that confront the future of the Internet, and is the organisation home for the groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards, including the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB).
What is Industry Canada's role?
Canada plays an active role in preparation for the upcoming Ministerial meeting. Canada chairs two key OECD Committees involved in the Ministerial:
During the first week of October 2007, Industry Canada hosted "OECD Week in Ottawa", a series of meetings that will feed directly into the Ministerial:
The Technology Foresight Forum on the Participative Web was a public event that brought together experts from around the world, to address trends, impacts and implications of new forms of participation, collaboration and creation on the Internet. The entire web cast, full transcripts, blogs and presentations are available on the web site.
In addition to these international meetings, Industry Canada hosted a domestic forum, The Canada Roundtable on the Internet Economy on October 2, 2007, to help develop Canada's priorities and positions going forward to the Ministerial meeting.
CRTC New Media Consultation
On October 1, 2007, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) hosted international and national leaders, along with academics and industry experts at an invitational full-day session to discuss and debate the evolving media environment and how the regulatory system needs to respond to the challenges. The CRTC is an independent, public authority that regulates and supervises broadcasting and telecommunications in Canada. For further information please visit www.crtc.gc.ca.
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