“Towards an Enabling Internet Access Environment” The Internet Society, in collaboration with Digital Empowerment Foundation will organize the ISOC’s South Asia focused event ‘INET Delhi 2009’, a special conference in New Delhi on September 17, 2009. The conference, part of the Internet Society's INET series of regional conferences, will be focused on “ An Enabling Internet Access Environment in South Asia with a critical focus on Inclusive Development through the Internet”.

INET Delhi 2009 will bring together regional and local focus on the scope, role, capacity and reality of key Internet technology development programmes. This will include policy elements in determining outcomes towards bridging the digital divide between technology haves and have-nots, ultimately leading to sustainable social and economic advantages for local communities. The one day intensive conference will bring together key policy and technical experts, government representatives, network operators, the private sector and the user community to discuss and deliberate what the region needs to do to make the Internet truly inclusive for large scale development and mass participation by all parts of the community.

INET Delhi will bring together regional and international policy and technical experts, government, network operators, the private sector and the user community to discuss and deliberate the current state of play of the Internet access environment in the region. It will look at the scope, role, capacity and reality of key Internet technology development programmes, including policy elements in determining outcomes towards bridging the digital divide between have technology haves and have-nots, and the role Internet technology can play for socio-economic development.

The conference will discuss issues in creating and sustaining an enabling Internet access environment, including Internet for development through accessibility, inclusion and growth, multi-stakeholder participation, online content and local languages, and strategies to ensure the continued growth and evolution of the User Centric Internet through appropriate and consultative policy action.

INET Delhi 2009 will culminate in a panel discussion deliberating the next steps required to further escalate Internet outreach in the region to fulfill socio-economic development objectives.

Stakeholders

INET Delhi 2009 will witness participants as speakers, panelists, panel participants representing:

• Public Agencies / Authorities from South Asia
• Academic Institutions
• Civil Society Sector
• Private Sector
• Independent practitioners / pioneers
• Best practitioners
• Researchers

Participating Countries

• Afghanistan
• Bangladesh
• Bhutan
• India
• Maldives
• Nepal
• Pakistan
• Sri Lanka

Outcome

INET Delhi 2009 will arrive at key outcomes:

• Better understanding of the essential links between community needs & Internet resources;
• Better examination and analysis of Internet resource deployment and usage in the region;
• Listing and understanding of scope and opportunities in Internet deployment to meet key development limitations and needs;
• Greater understanding of key limitations and challenges in Internet technology deployment including social, cultural, financial;
• Arriving at a common agenda of how effective and organized Internet technology deployment could supplement infrastructure development efforts in the region;
• Communicating key deliberation outcome recommendations for South Asian Governments through ‘20 point INET Delhi 2009 Internet for Development Recommendations’.