NCSG @ WCIT

[William Drake]

On Nov 28, 2012, at 10:45 PM, Poomjit Sirawongprasert wrote:

> Dear all,
> 
> Is there any member of NCSG to attend the WCIT-12 conference in Dubai?  
> Just in case we can meet up there.  I follow the Thai delegate during Dec 2-15.


Hi Poomjit

I guess since I'm on about ten other lists dedicated to WCIT discussions it didn't occur to me to start posting about it here.  But yes, NCSGers will be there.  Off the top of my head, Avri and I are on the US delegation, Wolfgang is on the German delegation, and Desiree Miloshevic said she'll be on the UK del.  If there are others who will be going please do let us know.  At a minimum, maybe we can have a drink and chat one night.

Beyond that, there's an effort on a couple other lists to compile a list of all CS attendees.  As I've said there, despite all the debate and mobilization, and ITU staff's refrain that the meeting's fully multistakeholder since people can simply join their national delegations, a cursory scan of the Announced List of Participants as of 27 November shows 1764 participants, only a dozen or so that seem obviously to be civil society—half on the US del, the others scattered.  Caveats apply: a) It may be that I just don't recognize some individual and organizational names so this guesstimate's a little low.  b) In the UN context (WSIS/IGF/CSTD etc) and OECD the technical community and CS are separated, so that's how I count.  I see more TC than CS names on the list, and while most of the former work in the private sector or for administrative bodies like the RIRs, there are some people who are by various standards in both.  c)  The list is being periodically updated, so there may be some late registrations.  All that said, the number seems unlikely to be terribly high.  There may be more CS just coming and hanging around in hopes of getting into any open to the public sessions (TBD Monday), or otherwise populating the hallways, than there are on the delegations.  

It'd be useful to coordinate.  Folks at the Center for Democracy and Technology have volunteered to coordinate and have set up an etherpad.  Anyone here who wants to be looped in, please send me your name, organization, email, skype, hotel, and dates on the ground, or whichever of those bits you'd like shared.

Cheers,

Bil