Internet Governance Stakeholders and Processes
LACNIC seeks to serve permanently as a regional leader in Internet development related issues. Through its Strategic Relations department, LACNIC engages with important actors who are part of the Internet ecosystem and its related processes to:
- Contribute to the development of a stable, secure and open Internet, with an emphasis on the strengthening of IXPs and critical infrastructure,
- Contribute to the adoption of IPv6 in leading Latin American and Caribbean organizations,
- Engage in industry and Internet governance forums, contributing a regional perspective, and
- Promote and strengthen the multistakeholder, participatory and bottom-up Internet governance model at all times.
This section highlights some of the regional Internet governance actors and spaces in which LACNIC participates permanently.
NRIs IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
National, regional, sub-regional and youth Internet Governance Forums (NRIs) have grown exponentially in recent years. In fact, more than fifteen initiatives were organized in 2019 in countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Through its Líderes Project, a program that provides support for Internet governance actors and spaces at the national and regional level, LACNIC has contributed to many of these initiatives by offering advice on how to organize these spaces, by providing small financial contributions to those who request them, by facilitating the participation of experts, as well as by granting scholarships for national leaders or coordinators to participate in the LACIGF.
REGIONAL ACTORS
PACIFIC ALLIANCE - Digital Agenda Group (GAD)
The Pacific Alliance is an economic and development initiative formed by four Latin American countries: Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Since its inception, the Alliance has become central to facilitating a new way of trading in the continent, through policy and economic articulation, cooperation, and integration that seeks to promote greater growth and competitiveness in the four economies it comprises.
The Digital Agenda Group aims to promote coordination and convergence scenarios among the four countries to improve the conditions and development of trade in the digital economy. It is also responsible for implementing the actions included in its roadmap to promote the construction of a regional digital market. LACNIC actively participates in the meetings of the technical and high-level groups and presents studies on IPv6 deployment in a number of countries including those in the alliance.
Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Organizations (CANTO)
CANTO is a non-profit association of operators, organizations, companies and independent professionals in the telecommunications and ICT sector. CANTO focuses on the regional impacts of ICT issues at the regional or global level.
Led by the telecommunications and ICT industry, CANTO events are attended by a broad variety of stakeholder representatives from across the Caribbean. CANTO influences public ICT policies by contributing the views of the industry's leading actors and facilitating discussions between the industry and decision makers in the Caribbean. Multiple technical and public policy issues are discussed during its annual conference and trade exhibition, among them Internet freedom and net neutrality. LACNIC regularly participates in this conference as a speaker, as well as in the trade exhibition, to reach out to the members of our community.
Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
CARICOM is a political and economic grouping of fifteen Caribbean nations, British dependencies and other observers. Composed of island nations with the exception of Belize in Central America, and Guyana and Suriname in South America, its primary objective is regional integration and cooperation among its members.
CARICOM focuses on three main activities: economic cooperation through the Caribbean Common Market, coordination of foreign policy, and collaboration in fields such as agriculture, industry, transportation and telecommunications. The Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) serves as CARICOM's specialized body in matters relating to the Internet and ICTs.
The main activity monitored by LACNIC in relation to CARICOM is the Caribbean Single ICT Space, which seeks to consolidate a single and homogenized telecommunications, ICT and digital service market in the region of the Caribbean.
Caribbean Network Operators’ Group (CaribNOG)
CaribNOG is a community of network operators dedicated to exchanging technical information and experiences related to the management of IP networks in the Caribbean region. CaribNOG represents an important segment of the regional technical community.
One of its two annual meetings is held in one of the territories that are part of the LACNIC service region. These meetings are attended by professionals and experts representing different Internet stakeholders, and workshops are organized on specific topics such as secure Internet routing with BGP, DNSSEC deployment and IP traffic management. LACNIC participates in this space presenting regional patterns and technology.
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
ECLAC is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile. It was founded with the purpose of contributing to the economic development of Latin America, coordinating actions directed towards this end, and strengthening economic ties among countries and with other nations of the world.
The Digital Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean (eLAC) is a strategy with a view to 2010 that proposes the use of digital technologies as instruments of sustainable development. Its mission is to promote the development of the digital ecosystem in Latin America and the Caribbean through a process of regional integration and cooperation, strengthening digital policies that promote knowledge, inclusion and equity, innovation and environmental sustainability. LACNIC participates as an observer on eLAC's coordination board in representation of the technical community and contributes to strategy on issues that are directly related, such as security and stability (creation of CSIRTs), connectivity (community networks and IPv6 deployment), interconnection (IXPs) and Internet governance (strengthening of regional, LACIGF and national spaces).
Regional Technical Telecommunications Commission (COMTELCA)
COMTELCA is a regional integration agency that coordinates and harmonizes the development of the telecommunications or ICT industry in Central America. It is made up by the following member states: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic.
LACNIC and COMTELCA have a cooperation agreement under which we can undertake joint actions that are related to institutional and academic cooperation in the field of research and community services. These initiatives contribute to digital education for employment, information technologies, IPv6 deployment, the promotion of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs), and greater participation in governance issues within the organizations’ areas of influence.
The Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU)
The Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) is an inter-governmental organization dedicated to supporting the development of the Caribbean information and communications technologies (ICT) sector. The CTU achieves this in a number of ways including proactively and reactively developing ICT policy, providing training by means of awareness-building and technical training activities, and representing regional perspectives on ICT issues at global forums. The CTU facilitates its mandate by organizing two annual meetings that bring together ICT ministers, other government officials and the technical community.
The CTU is also the main organizer of the Caribbean Internet Governance Forum (CIGF), the oldest Internet governance process in the world at the regional level.
LACNIC regularly supports the CIGF and cooperates with some of the activities during meetings.
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a non-profit organization that is responsible for assigning Internet Protocol (IP) address space to RIRs, protocol identifiers, domain name system management, and root server system administration functions.
Each year, ICANN holds three international meetings in different regions of the world. LACNIC actively participates in various spaces during these ICANN meetings. In fact, the Address Supporting Organization (ASO) represents the numbers community at these meetings.
Latin American and Caribbean Internet Governance Forum (LACIGF)
LACIGF is an annual regional meeting space for multistakeholder policy dialogue, in which various stakeholders representing governments, the private sector, the technical community, academia and civil society organizations share and discuss their views, which are then taken to the global dialogue as the voice of the Latin American and Caribbean.
The region has made progress in understanding the current challenges of Internet governance, so it is critically important to lend continuity to the dialogue by continuing to advance in the identification of regional priorities and thus to expand the region's participation at the global Internet Governance Forum. Seeking to generate synergies between the different regional actors, LACNIC has been serving as LACIGF secretariat since its inception in 2008.
Latin American and Caribbean Network Operators Forum (LACNOG)
Since its creation, LACNIC has actively supported the consolidation of the Latin American and Caribbean Network Operators Group, LACNOG. Since 2011, LACNOG co-locates its annual meeting with the second annual LACNIC event that promotes the exchange of experiences and information usually shared through the discussion list.
MERCOSUR - Digital Agenda Group (GAD)
The Digital Agenda Group is the subsidiary body of the Common Market Group (GMC) created to promote the development of a Digital MERCOSUR. In 2018, the GAD worked on the action plan “MERCOSUR Digital Agenda” that includes proposals for common policies and initiatives on issues related to digitization including: digital infrastructure and connectivity, security and trust in the digital environment, digital economy, digital skills, digital government, regulatory aspects, and coordination on Internet governance issues at regional and international forums.
LACNIC was invited by the National Agency for e-Government and Information Society (AGESIC) in Uruguay to participate in a multistakeholder discussion of the action plan. They stressed how important it is for governments—the main purchasers of technology—to implement IPv6, and emphasized IPv6 deployment as a strategic topic for the development of national digital initiatives.
PCC.I - OAS/CITEL
The Inter-American Telecommunications Commission (CITEL) is an entity of the Organization of American States (OAS) that focuses on the promotion of the development of Telecommunications / Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the Americas. It comprises 35 Member States and more than 200 associate members.
LACNIC participates in the Permanent Consultative Committee 1 (CCP.1) as an associate member, taking part in discussions and the proposal of resolutions on issues including Internet-related matters, IPv6 adoption, and Internet Governance.
Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
The IGF is a global space that serves to bring people together from various stakeholder groups, as equals, in discussions on public policy issues relating to the Internet. While there is no negotiated outcome, the IGF informs and inspires those with policy-making power in both the public and private sectors. At their annual meeting, delegates discuss, exchange information and share good practices with each other. The IGF facilitates a common understanding of how to maximize Internet opportunities, as well as address the risks and challenges that arise.
LACNIC regularly participates at the IGF to present technical and Internet development issues, based on initiatives such as Ayitic Goes Global and the Regional Fund for Digital Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean (FRIDA). In addition, in its capacity as LACIGF secretariat, LACNIC serves as rapporteur for the LACIGF meetings.
International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) is the United Nations specialized agency for telecommunications responsible for the international regulation of telecommunications between the various governments and operators.
The regulations generated by the ITU are contained in a broad set of documents known as “Resolutions” and “Recommendations” which are created and modified through intergovernmental processes in which LACNIC only partially participates.
LACNIC is not an associate member of the ITU but remains attentive and indirectly participates in the global processes convened by the ITU, including the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC), the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) and the Plenipotentiary Conference (PP).