The United States believes Chile can be an effective partner in promoting an open, interoperable, secure, and reliable Internet. In his remarks on June 18, 2015, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy Daniel Sepulveda elaborated on this in Santiago, Chile.
"We have a shared responsibility to be good stewards of the Internet and must not be complacent in pursuing our vision of the future. I see three critical issues ahead on which Chile and the United States can and should work together."
The first issue is access. The Internet can only be an engine for growth if it is available. Roughly three out of every five people in the world remain without Internet access. That’s why two years ago the United States helped to create the Alliance for Affordable Internet, a broad coalition of governments, industry, and civil society that works with policy makers to expand access while keeping prices low. The United States also is planning to work with partners to increase the adoption of fixed and mobile broadband and infrastructure.
The second issue is governance. The Internet has flourished because of the bottom-up, consensus-based process that allows all stakeholders, including the private sector, civil society, and governments, to participate in its governance. This approach keeps the Internet operating in a safe, secure, and reliable manner. There are those who claim this system is broken and should be replaced by a more centralized approach, where governments have more control. But this would in fact stunt the growth of the Internet and slow its delivery to the rest of the world.
And the third issue is stability. Cyberattacks are a real and persistent threat for all states. At the policy level, the best defense is to promote international cyber stability. That means states must seek broad consensus on what constitutes responsible and irresponsible behavior in cyberspace, with the goal of creating a climate in which all states are able to enjoy the benefits of cyberspace.
"The Internet has served us well," said Ambassador Sepulveda, "as a platform to provide anyone connected to it with an opportunity to contribute to political, economic, and social discourse . . . .It is the kind of freedom that [Chile] fought for and won. And that is why it is so important that you engage this global debate."
