[http://www.icann.org/images/gradlogo_bow.jpg]<http://www.icann.org/> News Alert http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-2-11mar14-en.htm ________________________________ Panel on Global Internet Cooperation & Governance Mechanisms Submits NETMundial Contribution Following Sunnylands Meeting 11 March 2014 RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. – On March 7, the Panel on Global Internet Cooperation and Governance Mechanisms submitted a contribution to NETMundial following their second meeting to discuss guiding principles for a global Internet governance ecosystem at The Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, California. Representing a diverse group of global stakeholders from government, civil society, the private sector, the technical community and international organizations, the panel looks forward to feedback on its NETMundial contribution, available here<http://internetgovernancepanel.org/resources>. "We hope that our contribution on Internet governance principles and still-evolving roadmap to operationalizing those principles will foster further discussion at NETMundial" said Vint Cerf, vice-chair of the panel. "Our goal is to achieve equitable stakeholder participation in bottom-up fashion so as to assure ecosystem legitimacy and continued Internet success. It has grown smoothly in the last few decades to serve more than 3 billion users and will have to handle several billion additional users and devices in the years to come." During fruitful discussions facilitated by a team of experts at Sunnylands February 27 – 28, the Panel identified 11 strong Internet governance principles built upon a multistakeholder framework. The Panel's current and developing view on a roadmap forward to operationalize those principles includes: * New mechanisms to map issues to solutions are needed. * New localized mechanisms and national and regional Internet governance structures are needed. * ICANN needs to further globalize. * Global, regional, and national forums and dialogues on Internet governance issues must be strengthened. * Expert communities are needed to support Internet governance structures and mechanisms. * More empowerment, development, and tools are needed to enable Internet governance mechanisms and structures at the global, regional, and national levels. "A core mission of Sunnylands is to bring world leaders together to facilitate international agreement and help develop solutions to important issues facing democratic institutions," said Geoffrey Cowan, president of The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands and former dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. "We have been delighted to serve as a partner for the work of the Panel as it addresses the challenge of future Internet governance." The Panel looks forward to receiving feedback from the NETmundial conference in São Paulo, Brazil April 23 – 24, 2014 and other forums. Its work will continue to evolve as the discussion advances towards delivering a comprehensive report with a roadmap for the evolution of Internet governance. A final Panel meeting will be hosted by the World Economic Forum in May 2014 in Dubai. The final report will be published in May 2014. For more information about the Panel and its members, please visit: internetgovernancepanel.org<http://internetgovernancepanel.org/>. The Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, which operates The Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, California, is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating entity. The Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands hosts high-level retreats that address serious issues facing the nation and the world, including the recent official meeting between President Obama and President Xi of the People's Republic of China. In addition, Sunnylands offers programs through the Sunnylands Center & Gardens to educate the public about the history of Sunnylands, its architecture, art collections, cultural significance, and sustainable practices. For more information please visit: http://sunnylands.org<http://sunnylands.org/>. ICANN The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is an internationally organised, non-profit corporation that has responsibility for Internet Protocol (IP) address space allocation, protocol identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) Top-Level Domain name system management, and root server system management functions. As a private-public partnership, ICANN is dedicated to preserving the operational stability of the Internet; to promoting competition; to achieving broad representation of global Internet communities; and to developing policy appropriate to its mission through bottom-up, consensus-based processes. For more information please visit: http://www.icann.org<http://www.icann.org/>. The World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Incorporated as a foundation in 1971 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. For more information please visit: http://www.weforum.org<http://www.weforum.org/>. For more information on the Panel, please contact: Holli Holsan at Holli.Holsan@edelman.com<mailto:Holli.Holsan@edelman.com>.