Dear all,

You may be interested to read APNIC’s statement to the UN Informal Interactive WSIS stakeholder consultation on WSIS+ 20 that took place on 9 June, 8PM EST. The text has been replicated below for easy reference.

Thanks,

Joyce Chen
Senior Advisor – Strategic Engagement, APNIC
joyce@apnic.net
www.apnic.net

APNIC Statement to the UN Informal Interactive WSIS stakeholder consultation on the review of implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS+ 20)

Monday, 9 June 2025 8pm EST

Thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), the Regional Internet Registry serving 56 economies in the Asia Pacific region. As an RIR, we are part of the Internet infrastructure delivering on our core mission: the distribution and responsible management of Internet number resources, and support for the open, stable, secure, and resilient operation of the Internet in our region.

As we take stock of the WSIS outcomes, the Internet technical community, including APNIC and our peer RIRs, ICANN and the IETF, has played an essential role in realizing the connectivity and capacity-building goals of the WSIS Action Lines. We have worked tirelessly to support Internet infrastructure development, strengthen Internet governance capacity, and build trusted multistakeholder partnerships across governments, the private sector, civil society, and academia.

In April 2025, our APNIC Labs recorded IPv6 capability exceeding 50% in our region. It took 25 years for Asia Pacific’s Internet operations community to achieve this significant milestone. This milestone reflects the Internet’s growth in our region, and we at APNIC have ensured that the allocation of numbering resources has kept pace with this growth.

Our community – the technical community – has worked to deploy Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI), a public key infrastructure framework designed to secure the Internet’s routing infrastructure. APNIC functions as a critical trust anchor which acts as the root of trust, providing the foundational level of verification for digitally signed certificates and validating the authenticity of IP addresses and Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs).

An updated WSIS framework is critical for the continued functioning of the Internet. We recommend a few areas for consideration:

• First, clearer definition of digital governance and cooperation. There is complementarity between the GDC and WSIS whereby each leverage their strengths, and not duplicate processes. 
• Second, strengthening the role of the IGF, including sustainable resourcing for its effective functioning. The IGF’s multistakeholder and bottom-up agenda setting process have been a key feature in line with the definition of multistakeholder Internet Governance and should continue. We are fully supportive of the IGF National and Regional Initiatives (NRIs) such as the Asia Pacific Regional IGF which provide invaluable and practical spaces for dialogue amongst local and regional communities.
• Third, for greater accountability the WSIS+20 review process should remain open and inclusive for all stakeholders to engage and contribute. The São Paulo Multistakeholder Guidelines is a useful reference in this regard.
• Fourth, continued recognition of the Internet technical community as a distinct stakeholder group in the foundational functioning of the Internet. Internet organizations and their communities such as ICANN, the IETF and RIRs collaborate as part of the multistakeholder community of Internet governance to ensure that the Internet works seamlessly.

Thank you very much.