Having been working in this caucus since its inception, both with substantive contributions and with organizational support, I would now like to further my commitment by volunteering to serve as one of its coordinators.
I think I have the experience and ability needed to facilitate the work of the caucus, by proposing and pushing appropriate actions and ideas, but also by never failing to distinguish my own views from the general consensus, and by being able to properly represent the group.
I think that the caucus needs to become the primary organizational framework for civil society participation in the IGF, assuming a role similar to the one that ICC/CCBI has for businesses. This is a prerequisite for a credible, legitimate and independent representation of our stakeholder group inside Internet Governance processes. Our recently adopted charter is a significant step forward in that direction, and assures transparency and inclusiveness for all interested groups.
I consider a strong and effective IGC as an integral part of that vision of an innovative multi-stakeholder discussion and deliberation forum that we pushed for in the WGIG, and that gave birth to the IGF. Ensuring the success of our caucus is a key contribution to the success of the IGF itself, and to the principles of shared public governance, as opposed to purely intergovernmental or privatized governance, that we all want to uphold.
Vittorio Bertola, engineer, is an activist for Internet user rights, participating in a number of Internet governance efforts in the last ten years. He has been participating regularly to the WSIS process and is one of the founders of the Internet Governance Caucus. He is a former member of the United Nations Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG); a member and ex-Chairman of ICANN's At Large Advisory Committee, the body that advocates the interests of the individual users inside ICANN; a member of policy advisory groups at the national level, both governmental and technical; a Councillor of the Italian chapter of the Internet Society. As a blogger and writer, he publishes regularly in Italy on magazines and newsletters. He is also an entrepreneur, having founded and served as CTO for Dynamic Fun, a highly innovative company in the field of wireless applications for business, logistics and marketing support, and previously as Vice President for Technology of the Vitaminic group, the European pioneering dot-com in digital music distribution.