{"id":1682,"date":"2023-06-20T14:07:18","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T14:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gb23.eco.de\/report-from-the-honorary-president\/"},"modified":"2024-08-06T08:38:35","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T08:38:35","slug":"report-from-the-honorary-president","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/gb23.eco.de\/en\/eco-board\/report-from-the-honorary-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Report from the Honorary President Rotert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Report from the Honorary President<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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On the Road in the Name of the Internet<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, I was finally out and about a lot once more for eco, or more precisely, for the Internet. I attended many different events and had the opportunity to speak to a wide variety of people. While virtual meetings work well, face-to-face dialogue and time spent together in the same place open up new opportunities on many levels. I was happy to take advantage of this last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As diverse as the locations and agendas were, the big question was always the same: How can we ensure that the Internet remains what we value it for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me start with a highlight that we never had before: the ICANN78 meeting in Hamburg<\/a>. The last time Germany organised such a meeting was in 1999, when it took place in Berlin. Last year it took place in Hamburg and eco, together with DENIC and the city of Hamburg, hosted the event from 21 to 26 October. Around 2,800 participants from academia, the tech community, politics, business and civil society from all over the world accepted the invitation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was it about?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ICANN\u2019s aim is to ensure that the Internet remains securely usable for everyone according to clear rules. To achieve this, the meetings always delve deeply into great technical detail. This time, the agenda included application procedures for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), the further development of the open, free and secure Internet and the privacy-compliant handling of registration data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 8 to 12 October, I travelled to Kyoto for the United Nations Internet Governance Forum<\/a>. The motto of the 18th annual meeting was \u201cThe Internet We Want \u2013 Empowering All People\u201d. The focal points highlighted how closely interwoven technology and society are and how far-reaching decisions that \u201conly\u201d affect technologies can be. The spectrum ranged from AI & Emerging Technologies, Avoiding Internet Fragmentation, Cybersecurity, Cybercrime & Online Safety, Data Governance & Trust, Digital Divides & Inclusion, Global Digital Governance & Cooperation, and Human Rights & Freedoms to Sustainability & Environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had the pleasure of travelling to Tampere, Finland, from 19 to 21 June for EuroDIG 2023<\/a>. Everything there centred around the motto \u201cInternet in troubled times: risks, resilience, hope\u201d. Here is an excerpt from the message on AI as an example of the topics discussed there: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. The European Union (EU) should assume a leadership role in promoting global collaboration in artificial intelligence (AI) research and development<\/strong>, with a particular focus on ensuring the safety and ethical use of AI technologies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. To mitigate the risks of AI for society:\n