Between the period of November 30-December 1, Georgia is hosting the 7^th Internet Governance Forum GeoIGF 2021. The event is being co-organized and implemented with the support of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the Communications Commission, ISOC Georgia and the Council of Europe, and coordinated by the Telecom Operators’ Association (TOA). 

The event includes 10 thematic sessions discussing the main challenges and future opportunities in the Georgian internet space. The two-day forum takes place in a hybrid format. 

The forum was opened by the Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Guram Guramishvili; Commissioner Ekaterine Imedadze; the Czech Ambassador to Georgia; Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia, Natalia Vutova; Chair of the Internet Governance Forum, Anriette Esterhuysen; Senior Vice-President of ISOC, Jane Coffin; and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Sectoral Economy and Economic Policy, David Songhulashvili. 

Ekaterine Imedadze discussed the challenges and future plans with regard to the Georgian telecom market. According to her, opening the telecom market, implementing new innovative services, and achieving technological development in the industry is a prerequisite for making affordable and adequate services available to the customers and enhancing the benefits of digital services. “As the world economy becomes increasingly digital, it is important to make telecommunications even more secure and accessible. In this regard, there are many interesting prospects for Georgia on both the local and regional markets. Modern telecom is laying the groundwork for more and more global projects and initiatives.  Consequently, the development of new technologies in the country creates unprecedented opportunities for innovation, which in turn will bring even higher economic benefits to customers. The state has a crucial role in providing secure digital telecommunications services. However, the responsibility of the players in this field is of utmost importance. Together with the state policy for industry development in the country, it is necessary for the representatives of the sector to work closely together to provide quality, innovative and affordable services to customers. Access to the industry infrastructure is also a prerequisite for achieving these goals, which means that barriers for small and medium-sized businesses must be removed. SMEs should be supported by stimulating innovative, digital business models. With such an approach, the existing model of regulation in Georgia should become an example,” Ms. Imedadze stated. 

According to the Deputy Minister of Economy - Guram Guramishvili, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, information and telecommunications technologies and their continued functioning have taken on an even greater impetus to continue to provide critical services in the country. “To this end, our ministry is actively implementing numerous strategies and programs that aim to develop IT and electronic communications in Georgia, promote innovative business, finish developing the internet infrastructure, integrate it with international digital platforms and establish it as an information hub. To this end, it is important to us to successfully cooperate both with business and the third sector, as we believe that in order to achieve such global goals, we must bring together the positions of stakeholders across the country and work together, which we are successfully doing today,” Mr. Guramishvili stated. 

Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia, Natalia Vutova, stated that the Council of Europe supports multilateral stakeholder dialogue, which is a prerequisite for democratic decision-making in the internet industry. She welcomed the membership of the Parliamentary Committee on Sectoral Economy and Economic Policy in the forum andinvited all stakeholders to join the forum and use it to express their own views on internet-related issues. 

GeoIGF  discussed important issues such as the opportunities and challenges related to artificial intelligence, disinformation in the Georgian internet space, the current situation and challenges related to broadband in Georgia, the prospects for developing a digital hub in Georgia, the prospects for allowing mobile virtual network operators on an open telecom market, the readiness of 5G and the role of new technologies in the country’s development, internet quality, development of community internet networks, regulating internet content, the Georgian language in online world, cyber security and digital rights, pandemic-inspired innovations and personal data protection, digital literacy, the roles of various sectors in this process, the development of MVNOs, etc. 

With the support of the Council of Europe, the event hosted the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Internet Governance Forum and the Parliamentary Committee on Sectoral Economy and Economic Policy. 

The memorandum aims to facilitate the parliamentary committee’s involvement in the Georgian internet governance dialogue, as it represents one of the main actors in the internet-related legislative process. To this end, the parties agreed on close cooperation in the field of the internet to ensure the efficiency and openness of the legislative process. Furthermore, based on the memorandum, the committee has become a member of the forum. 

The Internet Governance Forum is an annual event that was established with the support of the Council of Europe in 2015. It currently has more than 30 members from various fields. The forum is hosted by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the Communications Commission and ISOC Georgia. The forum is organized by the Telecom Operators Association of Georgia (TOA). The Council of Europe is the institutional partner of the forum. Other supporters of the forum include ISOC, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the RIPE Network Coordination Centre. 

The forum has up to 200 participants each year and has already gained international recognition as one of the most important events in the development of internet governance in Georgia. The forum brings together representatives of governmental and non-governmental sectors in this field, experts from international and local organizations, private companies, academia, and the youth sector. The forum is the most important multifaceted platform for discussing current issues and projects in the field of electronic communications and IT development in the country during the year.