News
Germany's Internet: challenging and validating most recent findings
On 5 November 2020, the final phase of this inclusive process of the German National Assessment of Internet Universality was reached, with a validation workshop by a multi-stakeholder group of experts. The validation workshop was jointly organized by German Commission for UNESCO and the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans Bredow Institute, in order to review the findings and validate the policy recommendations of the voluntary national assessment using (IUIs) in Germany.
"We all rely on a common, open, free and secure Internet, accessible to all, people-centered. I am happy to work to ensure this, for Germany and our partners around the world鈥 stated Ambassador Dr. Regine Grienberger, Commissioner for Cyber Foreign and Cyber Security Policy at the Federal Foreign Office. As Chair of the Multi-stakeholder Advisory Board guiding the German assessment, she highlighted the importance of the to shape better Internet policies at national level.
C茅dric Wachholz, Chief of the Section for Digital Innovation and Transformation at UNESCO HQs, congratulated German stakeholders for this successful assessment, and stressed that by applying the Internet Universality principles and indicators, Germany is paving the way for more UNESCO Member States to follow suit with conducting national assessments for digital policy improvements.
Around 40 multi-stakeholder experts attended the workshop online and expressed their strong interest in translating the recommendations for action based on the assessments results. The validation workshop marks the finalization of the national assessment process of Internet Universality indicators by consulting with wider stakeholders on the findings and validate the policy recommendations emerged from the assessment.
The German IUIs assessment showed, that more than 91% of the German population accesses the Internet, which has become more than a simple public good and represents a basic right for all and forms the backbone of digitization. However, the inclusive access to the Internet is not always guaranteed but challenged by cross-cutting issues such as online discrimination, hate-speech, violence, which remain a challenge. Thus, the assessment gathers strong recommendations for action formulated for key stakeholders on how digitization in Germany can be further developed in line with human rights, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The was developed to assess and help improve national internet development and related governance processes, to ensure coherence with the Sustainable Development Goals. It is a set of 303 indicators that aim to assess how well national stakeholders, including governments, companies, and civil society, perform in advancing the ROAM principles of Rights, Openness, Accessibility, and Multi-stakeholder participation, as agreed by UNESCO Member States.
For more information on and the , visit: .
German IUIs websites: /
