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Cunliffe: Opening ICANN meeting29 March 2006
Hon David Cunliffe Minister of Communications Ministerof Information Technology
27 March 2006 Speech Notes Opening ICANN meeting, Michael Fowler Centre,Wellington
E kui ma, e koro ma, e raurangatira ma - tenakoutou katoa.
E te manuhiri kua tae mai nei i tenei wa,nau mai, haere mai ki te whenua nei, ara, Aotearoa.
Hemihi mahana ki a koutou katoa.
No reira tena koutou, tenakoutou huihui mai tatou katoa.
Acknowledgements: Conference organisers, colleagues, Winnie Laban, InternetNZ,
Introduction I want to begin by welcoming attendeesand contributors to this ICANN meeting in Wellington. It isan honour for New Zealand to host this internationalgathering. I would like to acknowledge the presence ofdelegates here for the Pacific Islands CommunicationsMinisters Forum later this week.
InternetNZ needs to becongratulated for the initiative taken in hosting thisevent. I think it is particularly fitting that it should beheld here in Wellington. The Wellington City Council justhappened to be the first local government anywhere in theworld to place the minutes of Council meetings on a publicInternet site and was also the first to establish awebsite.
I want to cover three things today -- the role ofICANN, some of the future challenges facing the Internet,and New Zealand's work in meeting those challenges.
TheInternet for New Zealand: past, present, future
As many ofyou will have discovered in getting here, New Zealand is along way from practically everywhere. It might be for thisreason that New Zealanders have been amongst the earliestadopters of the Internet.
For most people the Internetis the first place to seek information and, increasingly,entertainment. As for e-commerce, our most heavily usedwebsite is an online trading operation, TradeMe, which has1.2 million registered users, corresponding to close to onethird of the total population of New Zealand.
Ten yearsago dial-up Internet access was just taking off in NewZealand. 28.8kbps modems were the rule and no one had evenheard of a "blog". Broadband was unheard of and the idea ofdownloading video or listening to the radio over the netwould have had most people staring at you strangely.
Whata difference a decade makes. While New Zealand's broadbandis nothing (yet) to boast about, we can already see anemerging digital economy. Through all access methodsInternet use is high -- 80% of the population access theInternet and over 60% use it regularly.
If we havecome this far in ten years, the mind boggles at what thenext ten might hold for us:
- A convergedtelecommunications and Internet environment, with digitalbroadcasting in the mix.
- Ubiquitous fibre to the homein many countries, and ubiquitous wireless too.
- IPv6meaning every item in your house could have an IP address.
- Telemedicine a reality over quality networks.
- Anability to work from your high country station on yourweb-based business through real broadband. I note theimportance of the TUANZ rural conference being held inTimaru later this week.
And undoubtedly -- a huge number ofapplications I haven't mentioned, and that 99% of the publichaven't even thought of. The great fascination of thisindustry is that we don't know what we can't yet see -- ICTopens up possibilities as vast as our ability to dream them.
ICANN in Wellington
ICANN is the proven seedbed forinnovation - the story looks like one of technically cluefulpeople sorting out protocols and technologies that allowinteraction -- without defining what they should be usedfor.
Your bottom-up, stakeholder-driven approach to policydevelopment is one that seems able to deliver theinteresting idea of policy outcomes where good ideas getpicked up and implemented, regardless of where they comefrom.
The challenge for us now is how we cope with thisarena that is in such a different space from that which weare used to working in. I consider it is important forpublic policy interact with this in a way that helps, nothinders, its development.
Future InternetChallenges
WSIS
It is unsurprising that the World Summiton the Information Society, the WSIS, focused much of itsattention on the need for better access to the Internet andits resources and applications for the developing world. The New Zealand Government welcomes the Tunis Agenda andespecially its call for greater online participation fromleast developed nations.
I take particular pleasure thatNew Zealand will host the meeting of communicationsministers from the Pacific Island Forum Countries takingplace on Thursday. This will be followed by a Pasifika ITexpo on Friday. The principle focus of this meeting will behow improved access to information and communicationstechnologies can assist in regional economic and socialdevelopment. This will be especially important to smallisolated island populations who wish to preserve theircultural heritage in an increasingly globalised andnetworked world.
Multilateralism There is no doubt thatgovernments are becoming more involved in Internet issues.The New Zealand Government has consistently supportedICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee. It is essentialthat governments around the world take an interest in thehealth of the Internet, and the central coordinatingfunctions that ICANN deals with. At the same time, I amconvinced that these functions are being addressedappropriately and effectively with the present arrangements.The phrase, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes up againand again in life for a very good reason.
I am respectfulof the enormous contribution that ICANN has made to a freeand well-functioning Internet.
The challenge facing thewhole Internet community is to engage with governments inthose areas where public policy can make a difference -- whether it is anti-spam legislation or promoting competitionin Internet access services.
I would like to explore theidea of a complementary multi-lateral approach to someInternet issues. The time is right for a discussion on how,globally, governments and stakeholders can effectivelytackle issues like spam by working together.
A number ofcountries do have anti-spam legislation -- New Zealand's iscurrently in the legislative process -- but I believe that aninternational agreement would add credence to this.
OnceNew Zealand's legislation is passed, it is likely that wewill want to engage bilaterally with other countries onreciprocal measures. A multi-lateral approach could be bothmore effective against spammers and a more efficient use ofresources. It is a concept that I would like to developfurther.
Internet Freedom
It is difficult to go pastthe comments by Dr Cerf made to the United States Senate inrecent months, where he summed up with great clarity thedangers of a developing two-tier Internet.
New Zealand'sgovernment believes in maintaining the Internet as an opennetwork, unconstrained as far as possible in its abilityto: · trial new products, · deliver new services, · revolutionize business models across the economy, and · provide a forum for free speech, free expression andartistic development.
In particular, the governmentbelieves in the rights of people who purchase Internetaccess to have true access, not something that is filteredto prevent innovative Internet based services from competingwith the telephone system, and not something where Internetcustomers are sold to the highest bidder. We understandthat Internet users are nodes on the network like any other,with full rights of participation, and we respect thearchitectural principles that have made the Internet theamazing tool it is today.
New Zealand's DigitalStrategy
New Zealand is currently in the process ofbuilding an effective knowledge-based economy. There is nodoubt, that in this modern age, digital technologies are thekey to growth.
The Government recognised that in orderto plan for our digital future, we needed a nationwideworking strategy. You find a copy of the Digital Strategy in your hand out.
The fundamental driver of the DigitalStrategy is the WSIS insight that to get the best from ICTsthe three key enablers of content, user-confidence andconnection must be pursued in parallel. In essence, it'sabout ensuring that New Zealanders can access the digitalcontent that enriches the quality of our lives. It's aboutmaking sure we have the confidence and capability to use ICTand a secure environment in which to do so. And of course,it's about making sure we can get connected to ICT andovercome any barriers to connection.
It's about howpeople use and benefit from ICT. In our modern world, theimportance of information technologies, like the Internet isfundamental.
Our Digital Strategy reflects ourunderstanding that unless all three "C's" -- that is,confidence, content and connection, are progressed inparallel, we will not optimise either the rate of knowledgesharing or broadband uptake.
Because of the data richnessof modern triple-play applications access, Internet usersare famously hungry for bandwidth. In response to this, thegovernment has placed a significant focus on broadbandInternet for all New Zealanders.
Take up of applicationsto our new Broadband Challenge Fund and CommunityPartnership Fund are well above expectations and bid qualityis high.
Telecommunications stocktake Earlier Iemphasised the very heavy use of the Internet by newZealanders. This unfortunately is not reflected in thelevels of broadband take up and use in this country. Iintend to see that change.
Under the Government'sDigital Strategy, we have committed New Zealand to being inthe top quarter of the OECD for broadband uptake by2010.
As the Prime Minister noted in her speech last monthat the beginning of the parliamentary year, it's become veryclear that new initiatives are needed to get faster internetaccess and at more competitive prices.
New Zealand islagging behind on many broadband indicators. For example: · Despite recently announced improvements, ourconnection speed offerings are on average still too slow. · Our standard upload speed has been too slow for manyusers and has inhibited some important applications anddevelopment of advance services. · We are one of the fewcountries where restrictive data caps have been the norm. · The latest OECD rankings on the average per personinvestment in telecommunications infrastructure placed us at22nd out of thirty nations. · Similarly, the OECD's mid2005 rankings for the level of broadband uptake also placedus at 22nd out of thirty.
I am overseeing a stock take ofthe telecommunications regulatory environment that willreport by mid-year on what actions are needed to meet ourbroadband goals. As part of that process I have personallymet with key stakeholders. A number of others have providedwritten comments. Ministry officials are now working throughtheir analysis of the huge volume of information that hasbeen received. This has created a lot of speculationin the media and the telecommunications industry aboutwhat possible outcomes. It would be fair to say that thereis a significant number of New Zealanders who are veryinterested in the findings of this stocktake. In the fewweeks my office has been inundated with correspondence onthis issue, with approximately one thousand e-mails andletters received. The vast majority signaled a desire forreform.
However I wish to make clear that this is not apre-determined process. The stocktake combines extensiveinformation gathering, development of multiple policyoptions, scenario development and hypothesis testing againstinternational best practice. As the Prime Minister hasnoted, the status quo does not meet New Zealand's needs. But key decisions as to the nature of any change have yet tobe made. Whatever is decided will not please everyone, butthat is not our task. Rather, on the basis of the bestinformation available, we must build a policy framework mostlikely to benefit New Zealand. Our intentions will be madepublic mid-year.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I wish youwell for your discussions and your network. I understandthat a wide range of issues will be canvassed at ICANN: someof the issues at this conference are of historicalimportance; and some will no doubt be controversial.
There are clearly some difficult questions that must bediscussed and dealt with. Whether the issue is new toplevel domains, grappling with the new Internet GovernanceForum, or the ongoing strategic direction of ICANN overall,I wish you the best for constructive and useful discussionshere.
Cyber-Key presentation
Finally I wish topresent Vint Cerf with this certificate. It is the"CyberKey to the City". I wish to present it on behalf theWellington City Council (The Mayor), Citylink (Neil de Wit)and InternetNZ (Colin Jackson).
This certificate awardsVint with free access to the Internet in Wellington. Itcould fetch quite a high price on TradeMe ( i.e. it ispurely symbolic.) Welcome to New Zealand and thank you forthe amazing contribution you have provided to moderntechnology.
Welcome to Wellington, welcome to New Zealand.It is my pleasure to formally open this ICANNMeeting.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. Tenakoutou, tena koutou, tena tatoukatoa.
ENDS
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