Berlin, 10 April 2024 – The Internet Governance Forum Germany (IGF-D) is taking a decisive development step with the foundation of the IGF-D Association.
The hybrid inaugural meeting of the IGF-D Association was held on Monday from 11:30 to 13:00 CEST in the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport. The roughly 20 participants on site and ten taking part online came from a broad range of stakeholder groups and brought in most diverse perspectives to set the course for the association’s future work.
The new chair of the IGF-D e. V. (in foundation) is Peter Koch of DENIC eG, vice chair is Dr. Friederike von Franqué of Wikimedia. Kathrin Morasch of the Youth IGF-D and Miguel Vidal of Deutsche Telekom make the Board of the newly founded Association complete. With these people, the technical community, civil society, youth and the private sector are represented at the Executive Board. "The very broad support of the Association is a very good practical example of the multistakeholder approach. The new structure enables the community to focus on the urgent topics of internet governance and digital policy to enhance the global IGF – also explicitly beyond the borders of the association", so Peter Koch’s comment on the establishment of the Association.
The foundation of the IGF-D Association marks a milestone in the evolution of internet governance in Germany. With the sponsoring association, we create an independent legal entity that is supported by a broad alliance – full in line with the underlying idea of the IGF. The annual event of the IGF-D remains open to everybody, and so does the option to get involved. Who is interested in becoming a member of the Association, is welcome to contact the IGF-D Secretariat at https://www.igf-d.de/kontakt.
Background information: The IGF-D is the national initiative of the global Internet Governance Forum of the United Nations. Its aim is to promote an open and transparent discussion about the governance of the internet. The IGF-D brings together representatives from governments, the private sector, civil society, the technical community and other sectors to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the digital space and to find solutions that take into account the interests of all stakeholders.
