The Saudi Arabia Internet Governance Forum (Saudi IGF) is the national internet governance forum for Saudi Arabia. It is a collaborative partnership that provides a local forum in Saudi Arabia to engage industry, government, academia, and civil society in debate on Internet Governance issues. Internet Governance Forums (IGFs) are an initiative led by the United Nations for the discussion of public policy issues relating to the internet. A key distinguishing feature of IGFs is that they are based on the multi-stakeholder model – all sectors of society meet as equals to exchange ideas and discuss best practices. The purpose of IGFs is to facilitate a common understanding of how to maximize the opportunities of the internet while mitigating the risks and challenges that the internet presents. The Saudi IGF helps to:

• Identify nationally relevant internet issues;

• Provide an ongoing discussion forum in Saudi Arabia to inform wider thinking and decision-making regarding the Internet;

• Engage with the global IGF – helping attendees to represent Saudi Arabian interests on the agenda and reporting back to the Saudi Arabian community on the discussions;

• Interact with other national and regional IGFs for problem-solving and sharing best practices.

The Saudi IGF will hold a series of preparatory meetings each year to formulate the Saudi messages to take to the international community at the Global IGF meeting. It will develop and showcase examples of Saudi best practices and serve as a potential prototype model for other national IGFs. The Saudi IGF is organized in a bottom-up manner. The content of the programme is initiated and shaped by all participating stakeholders and is open for everyone. The Saudi IGF has a secretariat and a steering committee. The committee will input into the agendas and topics to be covered at these preparatory meetings, as well as helping to promote them and broaden the base of support and representation. If you are interested in contributing to the Saudi IGF,

please contact info@igf.org.sa.

The SA IGF helps to:

Identify nationally

Identify nationally relevant internet issues;

Provide discussion

Provide an ongoing discussion forum in the SA to inform wider thinking and decision making regarding the Internet;

Engage with the global IGF

Engage with the global IGF – helping attendees to represent SA interests on the agenda and reporting back to the SA community on the discussions;

Interact with other national

Interact with other national and regional IGFs for problem solving and sharing best practice.

Saudi Internet Governance Forum