U.S. Internet pioneer Vinton Gray Cerf (left) met with Jalisco Governor Aristotoles Sandoval this week as the 2016 Internet Governance Forum (IGF) got under way at Palcco in Zapopan. Widely known as one of the “Fathers of the Internet,” he is the co-designer of the TCP/IP protocols and the architecture of the Internet. Among his many current roles, Cerf contributes to global policy development and the continued spread of the Internet.
The 2016 IGF forum states its aims as “enhancing capacity building and participation from stakeholders from developing countries, youth and those joining the IGF online.” More than 2,500 participants took part in the December 6-9 gathering. Sandoval said the forum “represents an opportunity for governors to be up to date, to have a social thermometer and to know if we are going in the right direction or if we need to change.”
Several civic groups, including independent state congressman Pedro Kumamoto, decided to boycott the event, highlighting accusations that the Jalisco government habitually abuses electronic privacy norms to snoop on citizens.