AK Sharma becomes member of Internet Governance Forum leadership panel

The United Nations Secretary-General has appointed 10 high-level and eminent persons to serve on his inaugural Internet Governance Forum (IGF) Leadership Panel.

In line with the mandate of the IGF and as recommended in the Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, the Secretary-General has established the Panel as a strategic, empowered, and multistakeholder body to support and strengthen the IGF. The Panel will thus address strategic and urgent issues and highlight Forum discussions and possible follow-up actions, in order to promote greater impact and dissemination of IGF discussions according to its Terms of Reference.

The 10 distinguished members of the Panel have been appointed by the Secretary-General following an open call for nominations, and in line with an equitably distributed, multistakeholder configuration of ministerial-level Government representatives, executive-level representatives of the private sector, civil society and the technical community, as well as “at-large” prominent persons in the field of digital policy.

In addition, the Panel consists of five ex-officio members: senior representatives of the current, immediately previous, and immediately upcoming IGF host countries; the Chair of the Forum’s Multistakeholder Advisory Group; and the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology.

Hailing from all regions of the world and serving a two-year term during the 2022–23 IGF cycles, the complete, inaugural Panel is as follows:

• Mr. Vint Cerf, United States of America
• Mr. Hatem Dowidar, Egypt
• Ms. Lise Fuhr, Denmark
• Ms. Maria Fernanda Garza, Mexico
• Mr. Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Estonia
• Ms. Maria Ressa, Philippines and United States of America
• H.E. Mr. Alkesh Kumar Sharma, India
• H.E. Ms. Karoline Edtstadler, Austria
• Mr. ‘Gbenga Sesan, Nigeria
• Mr. Lan Xue, China

Ex-officio Members

• H.E. Mrs. Huria Ali Mahdi, IGF 2022 Host Country (Ethiopia)
• H.E. Mr. Yuji Sasaki, IGF 2023 Host Country (Japan)
• H.E. Mr. Krzysztof Szubert, IGF 2021 Host Country (Poland)
• Mr. Paul Mitchell, Chair of the IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group
• Mr. Amandeep Singh Gill, Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology

United Nation