IGF workshop on a development agenda for IG (remote participation)

Tue Nov 10 23:20:22 CET 2009

Hi Robin

On Nov 10, 2009, at 9:04 PM, Robin Gross wrote:

> Thanks for sharing this, Bill.
>
> I would very much like to see a "Development Agenda" perspective  
> injected into ICANN - similar to the efforts to create a Development  
> Agenda at WIPO, which found some success thanks to the Group of  
> Friends of Development countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba,  
> Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Kenya, Peru, Sierra Leone,  
> South Africa, Tanzania, Uruguay and Venezuela) and civil society  
> alliances at WIPO.

There are of course multiple ways to formulate and implement a DA, and  
the very different WIPO and WTO experiences offer some lessons that  
are applicable and some that are not.  But right, depending on whether  
we can get sufficient engagement to move things forward, the goal  
would be to encourage the mainstreaming of development concerns into  
ICANN and other relevant IG institutions where this is relevant and  
value-adding.

>
> Especially ICANN's proposed new gTLD policies and their impact on  
> developing nations is a perspective that should be explored.

Beyond the obvious cases like pricing, fast track and MAPO, which  
issues would you (or others) see as most directly bearing on the  
prospects for people-centered development?

In any event, as discussed in Seoul etc, I would be up for working  
with colleagues to organize a development interest group within the  
NCSG, in parallel with anything we may do on the broader range of IG  
issues and institutions in the IGF.

Best,

Bill

>
> Robin
>
>
> On Nov 10, 2009, at 7:36 AM, William Drake wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> For people who will not be attending the IGF in Sharm el Sheikh,  
>> there is now another remote participation opportunity in addition  
>> to the IGF main sessions and the GigaNet symposium, courtesy of  
>> Derrick Cogburn and his Cotelco center.  This is the workshop I've  
>> organized on, "Implementing the WSIS Principles: A Development  
>> Agenda for Internet Governance."  Description and RP information  
>> are below if the topic is of interest.
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Bill
>>
>>
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/devagenda-igf2009proposal
>>
>> Description:
>>
>> The Tunis Agenda’s WSIS principles on Internet governance comprise  
>> both procedural and substantive prescriptions. The former state  
>> that governance should be conducted in a manner that is  
>> multilateral, transparent, democratic, and fully inclusive of all  
>> stakeholders. The latter state that governance should, inter alia,  
>> ensure an equitable distribution of resources, facilitate access  
>> for all, and be an essential element of a people-centred,  
>> inclusive, development-oriented, and non-discriminatory information  
>> society. Taken together, these latter principles suggest that  
>> Internet governance should help to advance development objectives.  
>> In addition, the Tunis Agenda mandates the IGF to, “Promote and  
>> assess, on an ongoing basis, the embodiment of WSIS principles in  
>> Internet Governance processes.” Implementing the substantive WSIS  
>> principles and this element of the IGF mandate would require that  
>> stakeholders use the collaborative opportunities afforded by the  
>> IGF to assess and encourage governance mechanisms’ contributions to  
>> development. But unfortunately, the development dimension often has  
>> been overlooked in discussions of the WSIS principles and the IGF  
>> mandate. Accordingly, this workshop will help redress the problem  
>> by fostering a dialogue that takes seriously the concept of IG4D  
>> and by exploring ways to promote its realization in both the IGF  
>> and Internet governance mechanisms.
>>
>> More specifically, the workshop will consider the possible  
>> establishment of a development agenda for Internet governance that  
>> would facilitate implementation of the WSIS principles and the IGF  
>> mandate. A development agenda is a holistic program of analysis and  
>> action intended to mainstream development considerations into the  
>> procedures and policy outputs of global governance mechanisms.  
>> While there have been concerted efforts to pursue such agendas in  
>> the multilateral institutions dealing with issues like  
>> international trade and intellectual property, there has been no  
>> discussion of a corresponding initiative for global Internet  
>> governance. With this in mind, a workshop entitled “Toward a  
>> Development Agenda for Internet Governance” was held at the IGF in  
>> Rio de Janeiro in 2007 http://tinyurl.com/devagenda-igf2007report.  
>> Participants considered the general desirability of pursuing a  
>> development agenda and agreed that a properly configured and  
>> consensual initiative could help to promote an open, accessible,  
>> diverse, and secure global Internet. To carry the discussion  
>> forward, a second workshop entitled “A Development Agenda for  
>> Internet Governance: From Principle to Practice” was held at the  
>> IGF in Hyderabad in 2008http://tinyurl.com/devagenda-igf2008report.  
>> Here participants began to explore the possible substantive focus  
>> and operational aspects of a development agenda, and inter alia  
>> affirmed that the IGF is the most appropriate venue in which to  
>> elaborate a cross-cutting and flexible agenda that could encourage  
>> development-oriented enhancements within Internet governance  
>> institutions.
>>
>> This third workshop in the series, to be held at the IGF in Sharm  
>> el Sheikh, will build on the prior discussions and seek to progress  
>> consensus building in three interrelated issue-areas:
>>
>> 1. The substantive focus of a development agenda, i.e. the key  
>> institutions and issues (pertaining both to Internet  
>> infrastructures and core resources and to their use for networked  
>> information, communication, and commerce) to be assessed from a  
>> developmental baseline so as to identify best practices and  
>> guidelines that organizations could consider employing within their  
>> respective work programs.
>> 2. The procedural and institutional dimensions of an agenda, e.g.  
>> assessing the transparency and inclusiveness of participation, per  
>> the WSIS procedural principles, from the standpoint of people- 
>> centered development.
>> 3. The operational aspects of pursuing an agenda in the IGF and  
>> beyond, e.g. the challenges of agenda setting, building a dynamic  
>> coalition and/or other collaborations, consensually defining  
>> assessment criteria and modalities, aggregating and presenting  
>> information, interfacing with governance stakeholders and  
>> institutions, providing feed-back mechanisms for input, etc.
>>
>>
>> Institutional Co-Sponsors
>>
>> •	Government of Argentina (TBC)
>> •	Association for Progressive Communications
>> •	Centre for International Governance, Graduate Institute for  
>> International Studies
>> •	Council of Europe
>> •	Diplo Foundation
>> •	Institute for Internet Policy & Law, Beijing Normal University
>> •	Internet Society of China
>> •	Federal Office of Communication, Government of Switzerland
>>
>>
>> Scheduling and Remote Participation
>>
>> The workshop will be held on Day 3 of the IGF--- Tuesday 17  
>> November, from 9:30-12:30 in Room 3, Suez Canal.
>>
>> Remote participation in the workshop will be provided for by the  
>> Center for Research on Collaboratories and Technology Enhanced  
>> Learning Communities at Syracuse University, USA.
>>
>> Information on computer system requirements and use of the  
>> webconferencing technology (Elluminate Live!) is available at:
>> http://giganet.igloogroups.org/remotepart
>>
>> Remote participation during the workshop will be available at
>> https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.10FC7E24BA568E8B69C7D3F0DDC21E
>>
>>
>> Agenda
>>
>> I. Welcome and Overview by the organizer
>>
>> William J. Drake
>> Senior Associate, Center for International Governance, Graduate  
>> Institute for International and Development Studies, Geneva,  
>> Switzerland
>>
>>
>> II. Panel Presentations
>>
>> Moderator: William J. Drake
>>
>> Speakers
>>
>> Anriette Esterhuysen
>> Executive Director, Association for Progressive Communications,  
>> South Africa
>>
>> Derrick Cogburn
>> Associate Professor of International Relations, American  
>> University, and Senior Scientist and Chief Research Director at the  
>> School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, United States  
>> of America
>>
>> Olga Cavalli
>> Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and representative to  
>> the Governmental Advisor Committee of ICANN, Government of Argentina
>>
>> Christine Arida
>> Director for Telecom Planning and Services, Egyptian National  
>> Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA), Government of Egypt
>>
>> Alice Munyua
>> Convenor, East African IGF and Kenya ICT Action Network,
>> Communications Commission, Government of Kenya
>>
>> Hong Xue
>> Professor of Law and Director of the Institute for Internet Policy  
>> & Law, Beijing Normal University, China
>>
>> Fiona Alexander
>> Associate Administrator (Head of Office) for International Affairs,
>> National Telecommunications and Information Administration,  
>> Department of Commerce, Government of the United States
>>
>> Elfa Yr Gylfadottir
>> Adviser, Office of cultural affairs, Ministry of Education, Science  
>> and Culture, Iceland
>>
>>
>> III. Q&A with the Panelists
>>
>>
>> IV. Group Discussion
>>
>> Possible elements of a development agenda:
>>
>> 1. Capacity building
>> 2. Institutional/procedural issues
>> 3. Substantive policy issues: Governance of infrastructures
>> 4. Substantive policy issues: Governance of networked
>> information, communication & commerce
>>
>> How to move forward with a DA:
>>
>> 5. In the IGF & global IG institutions
>> 6. Research and capacity building
>>
>>
>> V. Synthesis and Conclusion
>>
>> ***********************************************************
>> William J. Drake
>> Senior Associate
>> Centre for International Governance
>> Graduate Institute of International and
>> Development Studies
>> Geneva, Switzerland
>> william.drake at graduateinstitute.ch
>> www.graduateinstitute.ch/cig/drake.html
>> ***********************************************************
>
>
>
>
> IP JUSTICE
> Robin Gross, Executive Director
> 1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA  94117  USA
> p: +1-415-553-6261    f: +1-415-462-6451
> w: http://www.ipjustice.org     e: robin at ipjustice.org
>
>
>

***********************************************************
William J. Drake
Senior Associate
Centre for International Governance
Graduate Institute of International and
  Development Studies
Geneva, Switzerland
william.drake at graduateinstitute.ch
www.graduateinstitute.ch/cig/drake.html
***********************************************************

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