2.37 The Commonwealth Connects programme is a vehicle for technology and knowledge transfer in areas such as eGovernment Services, Telecommunication Regulation and related activities having a bearing on national, social and economic development. In 2002 a Commonwealth Expert Group on Information Technology produced a report: A Commonwealth Action Programme for the Digital Divide whose recommendations were endorsed by the CHOGM in that year. A further report in 2004 set out a structure for a programme, with the Commonwealth Secretariat as co-ordinator and relevant Commonwealth agencies as key delivery organisations. A steering committee under the chairmanship of the Foreign Minister of Malta developed the proposals and the programme was formally launched in August 2006. Its work includes promoting the development of national ICT strategies; sharing ICT resources for capacity building; and supporting panCommonwealth ICT-based initiatives. 2.38 The Commonwealth Internet Governance Forum (CIGF) was established by the Commonwealth Secretariat in 2010 to encourage greater participation from Commonwealth member states on policy issues and discussions related to Internet Governance, including those under the aegis of the UN Internet Governance Forum. It has compiled lists of resources on child protection and cyber security. 2.39 In 2011, the CIGF promoted the idea of a Commonwealth Cybercrime Initiative (CCI). The aim was to assist Commonwealth member states to implement a programme of measures including an appropriate legal framework for responding to cybercrime and acquiring cyber evidence. It was recognised that while the Commonwealth benefited from a common institutional backdrop, traditions, language and values, as an institution it had little by way of specialist capacity or funds for such a venture. Fundamental to the idea of the CCI was that it could act as a catalyst and broker working with the broad alliance of partners, each partner having a unique contribution to make. The CCI is thus an innovative umbrella type construct, comprising a consortium of partners including states, organisations, networks, NGOs and individuals who are able to offer their expertise and capacity to develop projects to assist jurisdictions within the Commonwealth. The list of current partners indicates its potential42. 2.40 The purpose of the CCI is to: (i) to conduct independent, holistic needs assessments for developing Commonwealth states in terms of their capacity to address the threat from cybercrime (covering all components from national strategy and legal framework to CIRT and public awareness); (ii) further a needs assessment, and where the necessary level of state commitment is identified, to co-ordinate comprehensive, long-term programmes of assistance, harnessing the motivations of governments, international organisations and the private sector; and 42 TheAnti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), Centre for Internet Safety at the University of Canberra (CIS), Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety (CHIS), Commonwealth Business Council (CBC), Commonwealth Secretariat, CTO, COMNET, Council of Europe, CyberEthics Cyprus, DiploFoundation, European NGO Alliance for Child Safety Online (eNACSO), Global Prosecutors’ e-Crime Network (GPEN), Institute for Security Studies, South Africa (ISS), International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), ICSPA, ITU, ICANN, Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), Interpol, Kenya Communications Commission, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and UNODC. 34