Internet Governance Forum 2007 Best Practices Session Report
Internet Traffic Exchange in Less- Developed Internet Markets and the Role of Internet Exchange Points

Summary

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) emerged from the second phase of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) held in 2005 in Tunis. The mandate for the IGF, set forth in Paragraph 72 of the Tunis Agenda, invited the United Nations Secretary-General to convene a new forum for Internet multi-stakeholder policy dialogue. The inaugural session of the IGF was held in 2006 in Athens, Greece, with the second meeting held in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil in November 2007.

At the Rio de Janeiro meeting, the Internet Society (ISOC) organized a Best Practice session titled “Internet Traffic Exchange in Less Developed Internet Markets and the Role of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs).” The workshop examined the drivers that determine national, regional, and international Internet traffic exchange, primarily focusing on less developed Internet markets. Further, the session featured case studies from Latin America and Africa, highlighting the realities and challenges facing those regions in efficient delivery of Internet traffic.

Sam Paltridge from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Directorate of Science Technology and Industry moderated the session.

The panelists included Michuki Mwangi, the CTO of the Kenyan Internet Exchange Point (KIXP); Mike Jensen, an ICT expert with consulting experience in 40 African countries; Gabriel Adonalyo, Vice President of the Argentine IXP (NAP CABASE); Roque Gagliano, coordinator of the Latin American IXP Association (NAPLA); and Bill Woodcock, Research Director at Packet Clearing House (PCH), a nonprofit organization involved in establishing IXPs globally.

The session was highly informative and benefited from a diverse audience of stakeholders from both developed and developing regions, including government, the technical community, civil society, and academia. This report highlights the issues discussed at the session. A transcript from the session is available at http://www isoc.org/educpillar/resources/docs/igf-ixp-transcript-2007.pdf.