Citizen Lab Senior Advisor Robert Guerra has been invited by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator Larry Strickling and Coordinator for International Communications & Information Policy Ambassador Phil Verveer to participate in a discussion about global Internet governance issues on April 30th in the White House Conference Center’s Truman Room.

The United States Government has expressed its commitment to preserving the Internet’s successful multi-stakeholder governance model and understands that this commitment is shared by many in the private sector, civil society, and academia.  During this session, the US government’s perspective on a range of Internet governance challenges and opportunities will be shared.

The White House recently chartered the Subcommittee on Global Internet Governance of the National Science and Technology Committee (NSTC).  This subcommittee is chaired by Administrator Strickling and Ambassador Verveer and is comprised of senior officials across the government.   The purpose of this subcommittee is to consider U.S. efforts in various international fora that bolster the multi-stakeholder approach to Internet governance, support the continuity of existing Internet institutions, and confront proposals detrimental to the multi-stakeholder model. Because the multi-stakeholder system is essential to the Internet’s continued success, the co-chairs determined that discussion with relevant private sector representatives would be a vital first step.