MINISTRY OF ECONOMY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
OF GEORGIA

During the period of 30 November - 1 December, the seventh Internet Governance Forum – GeoIGF 2021 was held in Georgia. The forum was focused on the key challenges as well as the main prospects of the internet sector in Georgia.

The Forum was opened by Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Guram Guramishvili, Member of the Georgian National Communications Commission Ekaterine Imedadze, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Georgia, H.E. Petr Mikyska, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia Natalia Voutova, Chair of the UN Global Internet Governance Forum and Commissioner for the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace,  Antriette Esterhuysen;  Senior Vice President at Internet Society (ISOC), Jane Coffin, Deputy Chair of the Sector Economy and Economic Policy Parliamentary Committee, Eka Sepashvili. 

As Guram Guramishvili, the Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, stated, in the wake of the new Corona virus pandemic, information and telecommunications technologies and on their proper functioning in order to ensure the provision of critical services within the country became even more crucial.   

“In this regard, the Ministry is actively implementing a number of strategies and programs aimed at developing electronic communications and information technology in Georgia, promoting innovative businesses, as well as expanding the Internet infrastructure, integrating it with the innovative platforms and establishing an IT hub in the country. It is important that we successfully cooperate with the business, because we believe that in order to achieve such global goals, it is necessary to unite the positions of all stakeholders across the country and work together, which is being successfully implemented up to these days,” – the Deputy Minister noted.

With the support of the Council of Europe, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Internet Governance Forum and the Parliamentary Committee on Sectoral Economics and Economic Policy at the Forum. 

The Mmemorandum aims to facilitate the involvement of the Parliamentary Committee in the Georgian Internet Governance Dialogue, as it is one of the most important actors in the Internet-related legislative process. To this end, the parties agreed on close cooperation in the field of the Internet for the efficiency and openness of the legislative process. In addition, the memorandum also includes membership in the committee forum.

The GeoIGF 2021 covered such important issues as artificial intelligence - its capabilities and challenges; Misinformation in the internet space of Georgia; Broadband Georgia - current situation and challenges, prospects on the development of Digital Hub in Georgia; Open telecom market and market access prospects for the mobile virtual network operators; 5G readiness and the role of new technologies in the development of the country; Internet quality; Development of community-based internet networks; Self-regulatory framework of the internet content; Georgian language in the Internet world; Cybersecurity and digital rights; Pandemic-inspired innovations and personal data protection; Digital Literacy and readiness - the role of various sectors in this process; Virtual Mobile operation development related issues and more.

The Internet Governance Forum (GeoIGF) is an annual conference established in 2015 with the support of the Council of Europe. Nowadays, the forum unites over 30 members from different fields and is hosted by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC) and the Internet Society – Georgia Chapter (ISOC - Georgia). The Georgian Telecommunications Operators Association (TOA) organizes the event. The Council of Europe is the institutional partner of the forum. It is also supported by various international organizations: the Internet Society (ISOC), the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the Coordination Committee of the RIPE Network (RIPE NCC).