The International Policy Arena

This chapter focuses on ‘multi-stakeholderism’ in the international ICT4D arena, and particularly on discussions around Internet governance. It begins by exploring the differing roles of governments, the private sector, and civil society in general, noting that the poor are almost always absent from discussions that concern them. The evolution of so-called multi-stakeholder dialogue with respect to ICTs and telecommunications is then examined in the context of the World Summit on the Information Society in 2003 and 2005, and then in the formulation of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. The various institutional multi-stakeholder structures adopted by the ITU, ICANN, and the IGF are discussed to highlight the differing interests of governments, the private sector, and civil society.