Technology governance

IGF brings together people and groups to spread information to influence policy and best practices for the internet and technology.[3] The aim of the organization is to get stakeholders from across the world and of various backgrounds to be involved, as it is seen as necessary in order advance public policies in the rapidly changing area of Internet Governance. Each year, the Internet Governance Forum is hosted by a country and facilitates discussion between governments and organizations around the world, identifying the key issues and topics surrounding Internet governance and related technology topics. In addition to identifying issues, the forum also hopes to find solutions to the issues that emerge from the misuse of the internet, constantly reviewing the guidelines and principles regarding internet governance.

The first IGF Conference was announced by the United Nations on July 18th, 2006 and located in Athens, Greece. Since then, 12 more conferences has hosted the IGF with the website listing all 13 countries that have hosted IGF: starting from 2006 to 2018, showcasing countries such as Greece, Brazil, India, France and several others. According to the IGF, participants in the conference are usually from "World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) accredited entities"[4] as well as other organizations that have proven expertise and background that is related to Internet governance.

IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization and aims to foster innovation and technological advancement to benefit society.[5] Although IEEE stands for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, as one of the largest organizations in the world, the organizations is composed of more than just engineers but professionals from scientists to software developers.

IEEE began in 1884 due to the increased influence of electricity in the world. The organization came from the merger of two different organizations, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) and the IRE. The AIEE began in 1884, formed in order to support industry professionals and their efforts to improve the standard of living in society. Although the organization was formed in New York, the first meeting was held in Philadelphia, PA, with many of the leaders coming from industries like telegraph, power, and telephone.[6] As electricity advanced and grew, the organization focused more on electric power with its initial focus on telegraph and the telephone becoming secondary. IRE on the other hand was focused on radio, and more broadly to electronics. Although its similar to the AIEE and formed in the 1940s, it grew faster and became the larger group in 1957. Due to the growth of both organizations. in January of 1963, the AIEE and the IRE merged together and became known as the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Today, the IEE has more than 390,000 members and involved in more than 16 countries.

W3C is a global organization that allows groups and individuals to come together and advance Web standards.[7] The organization is led by Director, Tim Berners-Lee, and the CEO, Jeffrey Jaffe and they achieve their goals by developing the protocols and guidelines pertaining to the Web to make sure that it is successful in the long-term. In addition, there is also a W3C team called W3C Evangelists, which serves like a Business Development team by helping with identification and recruitment of new members to W3C as well as operating events in their geographical location, promoting W3C, and helping connect donors and sponsorships. The organization is mainly funded through W3C membership dues, research grants, donations, and sponsorships. The W3C also has a free service for validating web pages, which although not mandatory, is helpful in having better quality pages.

According to its website, W3C was founded in October 1984 by Tim Berners-Lee at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology computer science lab. W3C collaborated with CERN and was supported by DRNA and the European Commission, hosting its first conference in April 1995[8]. Since its beginnings, there has now been four major conferences held. The second conference was hosted at Keio University of Japan in 1996 and in 2003, the third ERCIM (European Research Consortium in Informatics and Mathematics) hosted the third conference in Europe, replacing the previous European W3C host, INRIA. The fourth host was in 2013, and hosted by Beihang University in China.[9]

The USTPC is a branch within the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) that is the main committee for facilitating the interaction of matters related to policies relating to information technology.[10] One of the main ways the USTPC contributes is through providing informational reports on computing-related policy issues such as Digital Privacy, Deep Fakes, Cyber Security, and various more topics. The production of these reports and information is usually in response to requests for their expertise in technical areas, serving as a resource for decision-makers to get reliable information. The main audience groups that the USTPC provides its information to are the Congress, the Administration, and courts, helping them inform how changes in computing and technology influences public policy in the US.[11]

The USTPC used to be known as USACM, was first began in 1992[12]. Since then, there have been five different committee chairs, with the committee chair being James Hendler from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Hendler who works with Subcomittees of volunteers and collaborations with other organizations in order to operate and work toward their goals. The Subcomittees of the USTPC are led by chairs appointed by James Hendler and divided down into:

• Accessibility – Harry Hochheiser
• AI & Algorithms – Jeanna Matthews, Jonathan Smith
• Digital Governance – Vacant
• Intellectual Property – Paul Hyland
• Law – Andy Grosso
• Privacy – Brian Dean
• Security – Patrick Traynor
• Voting – Barbara Simons[13]

IGI is a policy institute focused on advancing Information Governance practices and technologies by researching and discussing at events.[14] The organization consists of a small advisory group and a leadership team, collaborating to help bring together people and share resources. There is a large educational component to IGI, as they not only conduct research and development in Internet Governance topics, but also design courses and lectures to educate the public on internet governance related topics. Its most recent report is the Nepal IGF 2018 Report.[15]

The IGI executive team is currently led by Chairman Manohar Kumar Bhattarai, who is involved with IT Policy in Nepal and has over three decades of experience in the Information and Communication Technology sector[16]. Bhattarai is supported by six other Directors on the executive board: Upendra Keshari Neupane, Rajendra Dahal, Umesh Raghubanshi, Romkant Pandey, Sapana Shahi, and Babu Ram Aryal, respectively.

The International Grand Committee is a meeting hosted to bring discussion to Big Data, Privacy, and Democracy[17]. The committee makes inquiries about topics of interest such as online safety or new developments in broadcasting. After inquiring a topic, the committee creates a report of its findings and also makes recommendations to the government. The earliest publications are from 2017 and can be found on its website. As part of its process, the IGC hosts a conference to bring discussion to its topics of inquiry. The conference has representatives from "Argentina, Chile, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Singapore, Ecuador, Mexico, Morocco, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom" and also include large companies such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, Amazon, and Apple. The organization had its first meeting on November 27, 2018 in London.