India’s IT minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, has revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be inaugurating the global conference on cyber space (GCCS) on the 23rd of November. It is the first time that the GCCS will be conducted in India.
The first GCCS was hosted by the UK in 2011, which was followed by Budapest in 2012. South Korea played host to the GCCS in 2013 while the Netherlands hosted the conference in 2015.
While addressing the press, Ravi Shankar said that India is hosting the global conference on cyber space adding that it will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister of India. He further revealed that they are hoping that over 2000 delegates will attend this conference from over 100 countries, along with 50 ministerial level delegations. Ravi Shankar also said that some head of states are also expected to attend this conference.
The minister further stated that he is in contact with global digital companies as well as Microsoft Chief Executive Officer, Satya Nadela, Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, and Infosys co-founders, Nandan Nilekani and N Narayanmurthy, to take part in the conference.
Ravi Shankar also said that the changing architecture of India in the digital space will be reflected in a way by the theme of this conference. Moreover, he stated that the government will soon launch a programme for digital literacy of 6 crore people.
Putting forward the point that digital India is designed to empower ordinary Indians, Ravi Shankar also said that in the theme of this conference, they have included cyber for all as part of India’s digital inclusion agenda.
The minister also claimed that the conference will also focus on making cyber space more secure and bringing in digital democracy, while also pointing out that the government would also set up an exhibition of digital firms.
Ravi said that they have proposed multi-stakeholder model for Internet governance, adding that they also want to reflect the same model in this international conference.
The Ministry of Electronics and IT stated in a release that GCCS 2017’s primary goal is on promoting an inclusive cyber space with focus on policies and frameworks for inclusivity, sustainability and development among others.
