ICANN APAC-TWNIC Engagement Forum

Thank you and good morning, everyone. I am delighted to be here with you on the opening day of ICANN APAC-TWNIC Engagement Forum as a Internet Law & Regulatory Lawyer and Former Chairperson of NCC, Taiwan, and to be part of the first event that gathers the multi-stakeholder community in Taiwan and the international Internet organizations together.

I would like to thank our friends from the international Internet communities: ICANN, APNIC, RIPE NCC, and other Internet organizations to join us today. Welcome to Taiwan! Having you join us and share your unique insights on different aspects of the Internet development in the Forum will be a great opportunity for local community members to better know the current trends and development of the global Internet.

According to the 2018 Taiwan Internet Report conducted by TWNIC, there are over 82% of people in Taiwan surfing the Internet with digital devices; the Internet application and business development have been closely bounded with people’s daily life. As the innovation and new application of Internet are widely spreading, it is essential to keep such evolution strong and safe, and the public policies, privacy, and cybersecurity are vital aspects that we want to discuss and share experiences in the Engagement Forum with Taiwan’s and global stakeholders.

The Internet is the place where all the information is linked together, and it requires great effort in many fronts to maintain its operation. Such effort is the result of the co-work between Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers or ICANN and all the stakeholders involved. The ICANN serves as a non-profit organization to promote the stable and secure Internet through the multi-stakeholder model while coordinating the domain name system, IP addresses allocation, and 13 root servers. These infrastructures and community members are the foundation of the Internet ecosystem. To allow the one global network to be established and secured, these efforts have provided a single stable and solid foundation for the Internet, which allow the exchange of information and bring the community members around the globe together.

Taiwan is no exception; we have the Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC) serves the similar purpose, mainly managing the .tw ccTLD, IP address allocation, root server operation and recently, the new TWCERT/CC operation. Like the ICANN, TWNIC is dedicated to promoting the development and application of a better Internet under this solid foundation in ecosystem. The Taiwan Internet Forums previously held provided a meaningful platform for the stakeholders to exchange opinions, and this year, the TWNIC in collaboration with the ICANN APAC, wants to take a step further, to bring the stakeholders in Taiwan to meet with the international Internet community. The Engagement Forum will pose as platform a place for all the stakeholders involved, from the individual user to the service provider, the small business to big enterprise, to meet and exchange and reach the consensus of keeping the “One and only Internet” sustainable and thrive. As part of the private sector, we wish the kick start vigorous participation and discussion among the community members, which will lead to meaningful conversation and lay the foundation for the consensus at the end of the conversation.

In 2018, the IPv6 adoption rate in Taiwan has reached over 30%; this is a significant milestone as it is the fastest growth compared to the rest of the world, thanks to the efforts of telecom companies, which is one of the stakeholders that manages the infrastructures. The adoption of IPv6 will provide another advantage toward the application of the new technologies and it is the base for the future of the Internet. This prominent example shows that the stakeholders in Taiwan are willing to participate and promote a better Internet with every effort. The stakeholders are the key members in a sustaining and strong community, through the participation to encourage innovation and collaboration, and then lead to a better world.

In addition, the public policies on Internet governance are especially based and rely on the participation of the stakeholders. It is important to encourage as many stakeholders as possible to join the conversation to produce more ideas and opinions for discussion to be shared, and finally, reach consensus. Through the process of forming the consensus, the stakeholders can be united into one big community, where everyone can express opinions and collaborate together. The multi-stakeholder model has been the widely applied the approach in the International Internet organizations, the ICANN demonstrated the application of this model, and we have TWNIC taking this approach, using the multi-stakeholder model to build understanding and consensus among the community members. The involvement of the community members will collaborate to shape the One Internet toward a better world, so it should be encouraged discussion and debate on the Internet policies, to express the opinions and further ascertain the consensus. This will lead to a mutual understanding and respect once the policies are formed by the community members, as everyone builds the consensus, the “One World, One Internet” idea becomes the norm for the stakeholders around the whole world.

At the same time, as the compliance of GDPR has become a major topic in 2018, the issues surrounding the personal information gathering and processing have stirred discussion on various platforms, and topics such as the EPDP on the Temporary Specification and Registration Data Access Protocol are rapidly taking over the discussion on privacy-related issues. Taiwan also has enacted “Personal Information Protection Act”, with the same intentions of these laws are to protect the individuals from the leak or misuse of private information. To ensure the security of the personal information, how the businesses, service provider and other stakeholders that may gather information in the Internet communities work together to implement and comply with the laws are crucial. Only by building a clear and transparent Internet with open private policy, the trust of the users can be built and maintained. The Forum will focus on the current development of the WHOIS policy and how it will be adjusted to cope and comply with the GDPR. The inaction of privacy protection laws demonstrates the awareness to protect the individuals. This is a good sign, but it is also important to reach a balance between the protection of the public interest and the usage of data.

Further on, the Internet is a network of infrastructures operated by community members. The ICANN is dedicated to making the Internet secure, stable and interoperable with the help of the stakeholders and community members. No man is an island, while the networks, programs, and systems are at times threatened by the hostile cyberattacks, the collaboration of the community members are crucial to fend off the threats at the first sight. In this context, the Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center plays a role of the centerpiece of the awareness. Once it received intelligence from the community members, it will be able to reach the potential targets and share the information, and this will help them to be better prepared for the threats. This coordination needs the support from the community members. With the intelligence provided by the members, everyone will be able to understand and react to the threats and reduce the possible loss, and this is the power of people working together as a community. The TWCERT/CC is one of roles in the community, it will be able to provide the coordination of the latest intelligence to the local and international communities, and ensure the members in Taiwan can be well prepared for the incoming threats through collaboration. Providing a secure foundation for the communities, the TWCERT/CC operation will be the cornerstone of the cybersecurity in Taiwan when facing threats.

To be brief, the “One World, One Internet” is not just an idea but a reality for all of us sitting and the people we connected on the Internet where we are constantly promoting and making, when the stakeholders unite as one, the Internet to be a better place for everyone. That is why the ICANN , APNIC and TWNIC as a part of this global community, determined to have the Engagement Forum, making more stakeholders to join the discussion and exchange on topics that will impact the Internet public policy, privacy and security. As one of the participant of the Internet World, I would like to encourage everyone participating in the forum to express and share your opinion, and then we will be able to get one step closer to “One World, One Internet”.

Thank you.