INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY:
The Honorable Larry Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information
and Administrator, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
U.S. Department of Commerce [
Bio]
Abstract: The U.S. advocates "the multi-stakeholder model" (MSM) as the basis for global Internet governance. And yet it is not always clear what MSM is -- even the ITU is now claiming that it is multi-stakeholder. Furthermore, discrete facets of the U.S. government are not always consistent about its reliance on any particular MSM approach. There is a need for greater clarity about what is meant by MSM and why we might want to rely on it in some circumstances but not in others. Furthermore, questions have been raised about how well this model works for less developed countries, non-English speaking cultures and countries with weak or barely existent civil society institutions. Even within developed economies, there are serious questions about the role of national governments and government agencies in multi-stakeholder policymaking processes. Governments still have trouble participating in open, bottom-up policymaking. Many fear that governments will use their superior resources or behind-the-scenes politics to unbalance or warp the MSM. We need more discussion and analysis of the limitations and strengths of the MSM, and how concepts of multi-stakeholder governance can best be implemented and improved.
