[bestbits] Coordination during WCIT -- who's attending, who's reporting

Wed Nov 28 14:39:33 EST 2012

Al:

I and my colleague Harold Feld will be on the US delegation.

I will be in Dubai from December 9th to the14th.

Harold will be there from December 4th to the 12th.

Rashmi

On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 2:19 PM, Tim Hwang <tim at mozillafoundation.org>wrote:

> To facilitate the on-the-ground list - I've thrown up a quick Etherpad
> page here that people can fill in with information, if it's helpful:
> https://foundation.etherpad.mozilla.org/itudubai
>
> Password is: ITU.
>
> -Tim
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 9:31 AM, William Drake <william.drake at uzh.ch>wrote:
>
>> Hi
>>
>> FWIW I'm on a US del call right now and we just finished a long briefing
>> on security, thought I'd pass along a few points of local interest while
>> thinking it:
>>
>>    - expect to be constantly electronically surveilled, including in
>>    hotels
>>    - expect all electronic communications to be insecure, particularly
>>    wireless
>>    - keep any confidential info on you rather than in hotel
>>    - USG has received no info on how the government might react to any
>>    on-site activism of an unapproved nature, and if relevant urges US citizens
>>    to let State or the consulate know they'll be in town.
>>
>> Make of these what you will….
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Bill
>>
>> On Nov 28, 2012, at 5:12 PM, Deborah Brown wrote:
>>
>> Hi all,
>> Thanks for coordinating this Ellery/Matthew. Picking up on Bill's last
>> point, it might be helpful to include people's dates in Dubai in the list
>> to facilitate coordination on the ground. I'm happy to lend a hand in
>> coordination as well.
>>
>> Best,
>> Deborah
>>
>> On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 4:06 AM, William Drake <william.drake at uzh.ch>wrote:
>>
>>> Hi
>>>
>>> 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 would be good to have a list with contact details and to establish a
>>> communication channel e.g. Skype/mail (although delegation members will
>>> have some constraints) if Matthew wants to coordinate.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>>
>>> Bill
>>>
>>> PS: The call time below may not be optimal for people on dels if
>>> meetings run late (I'll be on a plane).
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Nov 28, 2012, at 12:50 AM, Ellery Biddle wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi everyone,
>>>
>>> We have been talking here at CDT about various strategies for
>>> communications and coordination during the WCIT. Lots to think about here.
>>> Two items on this:
>>>
>>> First: Who is going to Dubai? We *really* want to develop a list of
>>> civil society people who will be in Dubai for the conference. We think it
>>> would be helpful for those attending WCIT to know what other CS people will
>>> be there, and to develop a rough plan for coordinating once they are in
>>> Dubai. Matthew Shears, ISOC's former policy director who has been working
>>> on ITU issues with CDT, will be in Dubai on CDT's behalf. He will not be
>>> affiliated with any delegation. *If you or someone from your
>>> organization is going to be in Dubai (with or without delegate status), and
>>> you'd like to be in touch with other civil society folks there, please send
>>> Matthew an email letting him know. Matthew's email: mshears at cdt.org*
>>>
>>> Second: How can we coordinate on public communication about the WCIT? We
>>> know that many CSOs will be blogging, tweeting, and responding to press
>>> inquiries about the WCIT as it's happening. Given the relatively closed
>>> nature of the event, we know that it may be difficult to get the
>>> information we need in order to do this well, and that some coordination
>>> between groups may help fill this gap. We also anticipate that rumors and
>>> misinformation may become an issue, as different delegates may hear
>>> different things, etc. In anticipation of this, we want to propose a group
>>> call for next week. This will be open to any civil society groups planning
>>> to report on WCIT, either from Dubai or from outside the UAE. Given the
>>> size of these lists, I am setting an arbitrary (though early, which
>>> generally seems best) time and date for the call. Hope that plenty of folks
>>> can join -- we'll take and circulate good notes for those who can't make it.
>>>
>>> *The call will take place on Tuesday, December 4 at 16:00 UTC / 11:00
>>> EST. *A list of international toll-free call-in numbers is attached. I
>>> will circulate this again, along with a reminder, on Monday.
>>>
>>> As always, please feel encouraged to reply to the list with additional
>>> ideas, questions, etc.
>>>
>>> Thanks all!
>>>
>>> Ellery
>>>
>>>  Ellery Roberts Biddle
>>> Center for Democracy and Technology <http://cdt.org/>
>>> (415) 814-1711
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Deborah Brown
>> Policy Analyst
>> Access | AccessNow.org
>> E. deborah at accessnow.org
>> S. deborah.l.brown
>> T. deblebrown
>> PGP 0x5EB4727D
>>
>>
>>
>

-- 
Rashmi Rangnath
Director, Global Knowledge Initiative and Staff Attorney
Public Knowledge
1818 N Street NW
Suite 410
Washington, D.C. 20036
202 861 0020
rrangnath at publicknowledge.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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