History of the ITAC

Building upon the success of the 2008 Ministerial conference

The Ministerial meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy in 2008 had the objective to take stock of the changes affecting developed economies and societies since the last Ministerial held in 1998.  It also aimed at articulating a collective vision, shared by all stakeholders, of a desirable future economy and society supported by the Internet, and this required concerted action by all stakeholders, and across national borders.

In 2007, the Internet Society (ISOC) was invited by the OECD to coordinate a technical stakeholder forum in preparation for the Ministerial. Acting as a liaison, the Internet Society facilitated the Internet technical community’s participation in the different steps of the process.

In June 2008, the positive input of the technical community in the Ministerial was acknowledged by OECD ministers in the OECD Seoul Declaration for the Future of the Internet Economy. This declaration invited Member States to reinforce co-operative relationships and mutually beneficial collaboration with the Internet community. This was reflected in the Closing remarks by Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the OECD and comments on stakeholders’ future participation in the OECD’s work:

“A more decentralized networked approach to policy formulation for the Internet economy also includes the active participation of stakeholders. Such active participation needs to be the norm. We appreciate the participation of stakeholders in this ministerial meeting. But I think we need to go further.  I would recommend that we begin the process of formalizing the participation of civil society and the technical community in the work of the OECD on the Internet economy.”

In an official Memorandum presented to the Ministers of the OECD nations, the organisations of the Internet community committed themselves to pursuing their efforts of cooperation with OECD member states in order to help define a forward direction for the Internet, based on the principles of fuelling creativity, building confidence and creating maximum benefit from convergence (paragraph 3).

The Internet Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC) was officially recognized by OECD Council on 15 January 2009. At this occasion, Council agreed to the proposed mandate of the ICCP Committee, and adopted renewed terms of reference [C/M(2009)1/PROV], which call upon the ICCP to:

“In the conduct of its work, the Committee will also, as appropriate, draw on the views and expertise of non-Members, international organisations and non-governmental stakeholders, and work with business, trade unions, civil society, and the Internet technical community within a framework of co-operation that promotes mutual understanding and participation.”