<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">Hi</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">As people are sharing workshop announcements, and in light of the outcomes at the WTO’s MC11, I thought I’d pass along something I sent to another list. If anyone’s interested in these issues please do come along or connect remotely.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Cheers</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Bill</div><br class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">As has been mentioned here before there’s growing discussion in various contexts (including several WTO Open Forums) about the need for greater openness/transparency in trade processes, particularly with respect to Internet issues, and the need for greater dialogue and shared analysis linking the trade community and the Internet communities writ large. These themes will be touched on a bit at the Day -1 civil society meeting on Saturday 16 in Geneva <a href="http://bestbits.net/events/joint-cs-2017/" class="">http://bestbits.net/events/joint-cs-2017/</a> and at the Day 0 WEF session <a href="http://sched.co/CdaW" class="">http://sched.co/CdaW</a>. They will be explored more deeply at Day 2 sessions of the IGF, Tuesday 19th:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">*09:00 - 10:00 in Room XXVII - E, UNCTAD will hold an Open Forum on "Digitalization and International Trade.” <a href="http://sched.co/CTrX" class="">http://sched.co/CTrX</a> There we’ll introduce the Information Economy Report <a href="https://goo.gl/F9b8ug" class="">https://goo.gl/F9b8ug</a> to an IGF audience and then focus in on “Linking the Internet and Trade Policy Communities” and the idea of booting up multi-track cooperation on global commerce issues, including a multistakeholder track (linked to the session below)</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">*10:40 - 11:40 is the launch of the new multistakeholder Dynamic Coalition on Trade and the Internet <a href="http://sched.co/CTqt" class="">http://sched.co/CTqt</a> the information doc of which is here <a href="https://opendigital.trade/documents/58" class="">https://opendigital.trade/documents/58</a>. Jeremy Malcom and EFF have been the catalysts here.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">*15:00 - 16:30 in Room XXVI - E UNOG, I’ve organized a workshop on "Data Localization and Barriers to Crossborder Data Flows: Toward a Multi-Track Approach.” <a href="http://sched.co/CTrV" class="">http://sched.co/CTrV</a> This will be a large-n roundtable discussion that includes some denizens of this list. The discussion will take off from a couple papers I’m preparing for the WEF, the first of could be released during WEF’s annual meeting in January. The project proposes that in light of the political difficulties and substantive problems associated with addressing these issues solely through the mechanisms of international trade, we could consider pursuing an approach involving a) Track 1: Nonbinding Intergovernmental Processes, b) Track 2: Multistakeholder Processes, and c) Track 3: reformed Digital Trade Processes.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">WEF intends to launch its own piece of this but what would be really ideal would be to establish a broader and more inclusive network involving several lead node organizations for orchestration. It might be possible to engage certain international organizations but whether we could get significant engagement from the technical community and civil society networks, I dunno. That’s the kind of thing I hope will get aired at the latter workshop.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div></blockquote><div class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><div class="">
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><div class="">***********************************************<br class="">William J. Drake<br class="">International Fellow & Lecturer<br class=""> Media Change & Innovation Division, IPMZ<br class=""> University of Zurich, Switzerland<br class=""><a href="mailto:william.drake@uzh.ch" class="">william.drake@uzh.ch</a> (direct), <a href="mailto:wjdrake@gmail.com" class="">wjdrake@gmail.com</a> (lists),<br class=""> <a href="http://www.williamdrake.org" class="">www.williamdrake.org</a><br class="">***********************************************<br class=""></div><br class=""></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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