EBU President Jean-Paul Philippot today told a meeting held to set this year’s Internet Governance Forum (IGF) agenda that public service media need tangible decisions regarding convergence, not just debate. He also expressed the hope that the next World Summit of Information Society (WSIS) in 2015 would be a turning point for internet governance.

Mr Philippot made the comments during an address to the preparatory meeting ahead of the United Nations-led IGF, held at the EBU’s Geneva headquarters from 21 – 23 May. Day one of the meeting included an Open Consultation for discussion of the main issues for the IGF 2013, scheduled to be held from 22 to 25 October 2013, in Indonesia.

The issues include net neutrality, freedom of expression on the internet, journalist safety in the on- and off-line world and others that are of pivotal interest to the world broadcasting community.

“Our Members, which together represent the largest producer and distributor of, notably audiovisual, content in the world, are experiencing the convergence phenomenon in full,” the EBU President said.

“We are involved because we want to discuss the implications of convergence, which is blurring traditional distinctions between broadcasting and other media, and to explore an approach that would ensure the proper functioning of the new value chain in the future.”

Turning his attention to the future, Mr Philippot said: “The discussion cannot be an end in itself. Let’s try to build common solutions in the areas of dialogue like this one and submit them to the authorities and decision-makers that can turn them into laws, regulations, labour agreements, codes of conduct (...)”

He added: “We're all for innovations that will send the IGF and WSIS into a higher gear, so that the 2015 third WSIS is not just a meaningless ritual without consequence, but a moment of change and a new start.”

On 22 and 23 May the Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) will meet. The MAG, of which the EBU is a member on behalf of the World Broadcasting Unions (WBU), advises the UN Secretary General on internet governance matters.

All meetings over the three days are chaired by Markus Kummer, interim chair of the IGF, and attended by the Indonesian government, the UN Department of Economic & Social Affairs and by Chengetai Masango, the IGF’s Programme and Technology Manager.

The EBU hosted the equivalent meeting in September 2008 and the 2009 European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG).

And at the 2012 IGF, in Baku, the EBU together with the Council of Europe and the OSCE held a Joint Open Forum on the safety of online media actors, attended by Vice-President of the European Commission, Neelie Kroes; OSCE media freedom representative Dunja Mijatovic; Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muižnieks and Janis Karklins, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, among others.