Voices from Asia Pacific: Internet Governance for Sustainable Human Development

In this APDIP e-Note, the authors draw on principles and recommendations developed by the
Open Regional Dialogue on Internet Governance (ORDIG) to present Asia-Pacific perspectives and
priorities on internet governance. Specific ORDIG recommendations presented include:

1. Subsidiarity: Internet governance should be distributed with its mechanisms and decision-making located as close as possible to the issues or problems that are being addressed.
2. Governments have a role: National governments have a vital facilitating and enabling role to play in internet governance.
3. Multi-Stakeholder participation is required: Governance mechanisms
   should include all stakeholders from government, the private sector and
   civil society in the processes of decision-making and implementation.
4. Preserve cultural diversity: Bodies responsible for international internet governance functions should reflect the priorities of all affected cultures in their operations.
5. Enhance participation with capacity building: Multi-stakeholder participation is most meaningful when supplemented by capacity and awareness building measures.
6. Supplement law with other tools: Law and regulation are not the only tools available for internet governance. On a variety of issues
   these traditional tools should be supplemented by a variety of innovative mechanisms, including codes of conduct, self-regulatory mechanisms, and international, multi-stakeholder collaboratives.

The authors also provide an
overview of other concerns and priorities specific to the Asia-Pacific region, including access costs, voice over
internet protocol (VoIP), wireless networks, root servers, country-code top-level
domains, internationalised domain names, IP address management, technical
standards, content pollution, and cybercrime.