According to Internet World Stats, with over 780 Million Internet users, Asia Pacific is already the region with the largest online population. Yet the penetration rate for Asia is only at around 20%, which signals continued rapid growth ahead.

Building on the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals, and the mandate given at the Second Phase of the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis in 2005, the IGF (Internet Governance Forum) is a United Nations activity initiated in 2006 as a global platform for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue on prevailing and emerging issues on Internet governance so as to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of Internet. The annual Forum was previously held in Greece (2006), Brazil (2007), India (2008), and Egypt (2009).

The Internet has become an integral part of people’s life. Despite the advantages, misuses and abuses lead to social problems, such as digital divide, Internet addiction, information safety, security, privacy and other evolving issues. These issues have no respect to national borders, and therefore require collaboration between countries and territories to address. The IGF approach is an open forum for knowledge sharing between stakeholders across borders, which in turn inform local policy development.

Asia Pacific Regional IGF (APrIGF) in Hong Kong

To complement and supplement the global IGF, a group of active participants, with the OGCIO (Office of the Government Chief Information Officer) as the advisor, have come together to organize the first Asia Pacific Regional IGF in Hong Kong. The event will consist of 3 parts:

• Hong Kong IGF Conference
  When: June 17-18, Cyberport
  Language: English (with real-time English transcription; Cantonese and Mandarin interpretation also available)
  (HK$300 Online / HK$350 Onsite)
• Asia Pacific Regional IGF Roundtable
  When: June 14-16, Cyberport
  Language: English (with real-time English transcription)
  (Free of Charge)
• Youth IGF Camp
  (June 12-14), Jockey Club Sai Kung Outdoor Training Camp
  
  Visit: Event Website or Registration Page

While the global IGF is already in its fifth and final year of its initial charter, and Regional IGFs have been established in many other regions, including Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, to date, Asia has seen no parallel forum for discussing Internet governance issues at a regional level. For the first time, the APrIGF is therefore being convened with objectives to raise awareness and encourage participation from relevant stakeholders around the region on Internet governance issues, as well as to foster multi-lateral, multi-stakeholder discussion about issues pertinent to the Internet in Asia.

The Hong Kong IGF Conference aims to introduce to the various stakeholders in Hong Kong, in particular NGOs and youth, the status of internet governance and the global IGF. The APrIGF Roundtable will bring together experts in the region and around the world from the civil society, private sector and public sector for an intensive discussion that should help shape the future of the IGF. The Youth IGF Camp is organized and led by young leaders. During the 3-day (2 nights) forum, participants will role-play to represent different stakeholders in the society and interact with international experts in the field to discuss different social topics concerning the Internet.

All 3 component events combine to become a platform for regional collaboration and, albeit organised independently of the global IGF, intends to report its discussion to the global IGF to be held in September 14-17 in Vilnius, Lithuania. This adds to the significance of the APrIGF in that the ideas, recommendations and other outputs from the event will be used as inputs for the coming global IGF meeting in September.

根據世界互聯網統計，超過7.8憶互聯網用戶，亞太地區已經成爲網上人口最大的地區。然而亞洲的滲透率只有20％，這意味著亞洲地區的互聯網將會持續地迅速發展。
建基於聯合國（UN）千禧年發展目標，以及於2005年在突尼斯舉行的世界高峰會第二階段(資訊社會)的授權委任，世界性網絡管治論壇（IGF）是一個由2006年開始就有關互聯網主要和迫切問題的多個管理政策的全球性對話平台，從而促進其持續發展、堅固性、保安、穩定性及互聯網的未來發展。以往的年度論壇於希臘（2006），巴西（2007），印度（2008）和埃及（2009）舉行。

互聯網已經成為人們生活的一部份。儘管有其好處，但誤用及濫用都會誘發社會問題，例如數碼鴻溝，網遊症，資訊保安，私隱以及其他被引申出來的重要議題。這些議題無分國界，所以必須要國與國，地區與地區之間共同合力解決。IGF的方法就是以一個公開的論壇，促進不同地區的用戶作知識分享，  繼而協助當地政策發展。
亞太區網絡管治論壇 (APrIGF) 香港
為了響應世界網絡管治論壇，一班活躍的參與者連同他們的顧問（政府資訊科技總監辦公室），聯手於香港舉辦第一屆亞太區網絡管治論壇。此活動包含三個部份：

• 網絡管治亞太區論壇圓桌會議
  (六月十四至十六)，數碼港
  (費用全免)
• 網絡管治香港論壇會議
  (六月十七至十八), ，數碼港
  (HK$300網上報名 / HK$350 現場報名)
• 網絡管治青年論壇會議
  (六月十二至十四), 西貢賽馬會戶外訓練營
  
  請即參閱: 活動網站 or 登記頁面

世界網絡管治論壇已經舉辦了五屆，及已是它草擬憲章的最後一年，還有在其他地區都設立了地區性網絡管治論壇，包括非洲、歐洲、拉丁美洲和加勒比海等，但到目前為止，亞洲卻未有一個類似的地區性論壇來討論網絡管理問題。所以亞太網絡管治論壇首次集合多個目的，包括提高意識，鼓勵地區內相關用戶對互聯網管治問題作出參與，以及促進多國、多用戶討論與亞洲互聯網相關的問題。

香港網絡管治論壇希望向多個層面，特別非牟利機構和青年推廣網絡管理及世界網絡管治論壇之現況。來自不同地區，社會，私營機構，公共機構的專家們將聚首於亞太網絡管治論壇圓桌會上為建立未來的網絡管治論壇作透徹精湛的討論。網絡管治青年論壇是由年青的領袖所組織及帶領。在三日兩夜的論壇裡，參加者會扮演不同角色代表社會裡不同的持份者，與該範疇的專家互動討論有關互聯網的各種時事題目。