[governance] RE: [bestbits] FW: Broadband Manifesto

Wed Dec 4 19:02:29 EST 2013

Yes, I also think that these are very useful and thanks for pointing to them J-L…

I’m wondering how to help move them forward?

M

From: nashton at consensus.pro [mailto:nashton at consensus.pro] 
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2013 3:29 PM
To: jlfullsack at wanadoo.fr; jlfullsack at wanadoo.fr; governance at lists.igcaucus.org; michaelgurstein; 'AnjaKovacs'
Cc: 'IGC'; 'bestbits'
Subject: re: [governance] RE: [bestbits] FW: Broadband Manifesto

For what it is worth I think these are useful proposals, but there is also the further need to do this at the national level, not just internationally, so each country can evaluate where it is in the implementation process, what lessons it can learn, etc.

jlfullsack at wanadoo.fr wrote:

Anja, Michael

and all

The regular WSIS process had mainly two "hot potatoes" in its programme :

- development issues and financing mechanisms for solving them

- Internet governance issues (the WGIG was supposed to pave the way for responding to them)

If we agree on these two main objectives to ge given a appropriate solution we should perhaps listen on the Adama Samassekou's proposals during the last Forum intended to giving the WSIS follow-up process a new impulse. 

First, he suggested to replace PPPs, Public-Private Partnetships, the "holy grail of the WSIS leaders, firts of all the ITU, by MSPs, i.e. the Multi-stakeholder Partnership. Thus the WSIS spirit is restaured because CS is effectively present and part of it, contrarily to the PPP.

Second, he asked for setting up a Working Group per Action Line or grouping of several AL that analyses thoroughly and objectively (that implies that a critical approach replaces the recurrent "success stories") the objectives aimed for by thess AL or AL groups.These WGs would collect the informations upon the evolution of the key issues, the work done and the point achieved during the past annual period.  In other words : action and results instead of story-telling ! 

I suggest that we consider seriously Adama Samassekou's proposals as a major input for the coming preparatory programme meetings (16-17 december and February), having in mind the two main themes, namely development and related financing mechanisms and Internet Governance. Of course, this list with its member organizations (IG Caucus, Bestbits, IT4Change, APC, Eurolinc, etc) will focus on the latter and submit contributions to the WSIS coordinators accordingly.

For these proposals to succeed, I personnaly opt for CS being "ITU embedded" (see my previous e-mail), that will ensure that the WSIS leading UN agency respects the requests proposed by the CS orgs or at least considers them as valuable inputs.

Best regards

Jean-Louis Fullsack 

> Message du 02/12/13 23:17
> De : "michael gurstein" 
> A : "'Anja Kovacs'" 
> Copie à : "'Nick Ashton-Hart'" , "'IGC'" , "'bestbits'" 
> Objet : [governance] RE: [bestbits] FW: Broadband Manifesto
> 
> 

Anja,

I really haven’t followed or kept up with the Action Lines process… The few times that I did take a look it seemed to be mostly around fairly empty self-congratulations about the success of one pilot project or paper exercise or another with little real connection with what might be happening on the ground. 

Rather I’ve tried to spend my time at my “day job” which is helping in various ways to support/enable bottom up development processes. As I tried to point out in my reply to George’s comments on my earlier post the connection that I see between bottom up development (the kind that actually works) and say a WSIS process is that global policy influences national policy and national, multilateral and foundation funding. Bottom up development will only go so far until it runs into a policy or a funding blockage.  If the supporting mechanisms/policies aren’t there initiatives fail and ladders quickly turn into snakes.  Then, the people with the fewest resources are required to start all over again while the those with the most get to jet off to another international conference talking about which square “Action Line” peg can be snaffled to fit into the required round hole so as to appear to be supportive of “Poverty Reduction” or whatever the flavor of the day happens to be.

Action Lines aren’t “development” they are a way of describing (or in most cases mis-describing) development activities taking place (or not) rather far distant from wherever those Action Lines are being discussed. The non-IG part of WSIS should be about the reality of development and a WSIS +10 either takes a close look at what worked (or more likely, didn’t) on the ground and starts from there or it isn’t about anything at all.

M  

From: Anja Kovacs [mailto:anja at internetdemocracy.in] 
> Sent: Monday, December 02, 2013 11:39 AM
> To: michael gurstein
> Cc: Nick Ashton-Hart; IGC; bestbits
> Subject: Re: [bestbits] FW: Broadband Manifesto

> I wouldn't actually agree that an approach that starts from the national level is the only way forward. In the analysis of the Internet Democracy Project, among important reasons why more progress has not been made on various goals set out in the WSIS Action Lines is not only because Action Lines have been implemented in too top-down a fashion, but also, and relatedly, because the Action Lines mix together two types of issues: those that fundamentally rely on the input of the larger development community, and those that are Internet governance issues in the more narrow sense. The latter frequently cut across Action Lines, and as long as they are not addressed adequately, it is unlikely that the development agenda that is at the heart of the Action Lines will take off either. The former is in many cases the foundation for the success of the latter. 

For this reason, the Internet Democracy Project proposed in September, when the first inputs into the preparatory process for the ITU's High Level Review meeting were due, to actually rearrange the Action Lines to make sure both aspects of the Action Lines get their due. This would entail highlighting, and addressing, the Internet governance agenda that is embedded in the Action Lines separately, without at any point losing sight of its connectedness with the development agenda. We resubmitted this proposal as an input into the zero draft of the zero draft of the WSIS+10 vision in November, please see: http://www.itu.int/wsis/review/inc/docs/phase2/rc/V1-D-2.docx

While many development issues in the Action Lines require action first and foremost at local and national levels, many of the Internet governance issues are really global public policy issues (and by splitting the two strands, where to engage can become much more clear for a range of actors). We therefore also made this proposal an integral part of our proposals for the evolution of global Internet governance. If much of the groundwork to enhance cooperation has already been done in the context of the Action Lines, why not build on this rather than constituting a new, government-dominated body? This would also ensure that the enhanced cooperation agenda, too, is tethered quite closely to development - that seems to be the case only rarely now.

Different issues require action at different levels and through different processes. The challenge is not which one to chose, but how to hold on to, organise and maximise the multitude.

Best,

Anja

On 2 December 2013 06:06, michael gurstein <gurstein at gmail.com> wrote:

+1

M

From: nashton at consensus.pro [mailto:nashton at consensus.pro] 
> Sent: Sunday, December 01, 2013 4:05 PM
> To: michael gurstein; governance at lists.igcaucus.org; bestbits
> Subject: Re: [bestbits] FW: Broadband Manifesto

> The merits of the report aside, your point, Michael, is one I believe strongly to be true: the whole WSIS follow-up system is top-down, because the ITU took control of it. What's needed is national-level action plans, drawn up by all stakeholders, which can then be compared like-for-like as to results internationally so countries can learn from what works in other countries. The irony is that this model is how "Agenda 21" the climate change process from the first Rio conference works; sadly WSIS didn't pick this up despite it postdating Rio by more than a decade.

> In the WSIS review, we should fix this. The digital divide is not going to be met in Geneva at one-annual "WSIS review" meetings where INGOs (however well-meaning) compare notes and report cards  - it will be met at the grassroots level, with buyin from that level.

michael gurstein <gurstein at gmail.com> wrote:

Anyone wondering why a grassroots/community informatics perspective is necessary in the WSIS and related ICT4D venues should take a close look at this corporate driven top-down techno-fantasy of what could/should be done with no attention being given to how it might actually be accomplished on the ground even after almost twenty years of similar pronouncements and failed (and hugely wasteful) similarly top down initiatives.

>  

M

>  

http://www.itu.int/net/pressoffice/press_releases/2013/67.asp

>  

Broadband infrastructure, applications and services have become critical to driving growth, delivering social services, improving environmental management, and transforming people’s lives, according to a new Manifesto released by the Broadband Commission for Digital Development and signed by 48 members of the Commission, along with other prominent figures from industry, civil society and the United Nations. “Overcoming the digital divide makes sense not only on the basis of principles of fairness and justice; connecting the world makes soun d commercial sense,” the Manifesto reads. “The vital role of broadband needs to be acknowledged at the core of any post-2015 sustainable development framework, to ensure that all countries – developed and developing alike – are empowered to participate in the global digital economy.”

>  

Supporting Document

>  

http://www.broadbandcommission.org/Documents/working-groups/bb-wg-taskforce-report.pdf

>  

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> Sent from Kaiten Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

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> -- 
> Dr. Anja Kovacs
> The Internet Democracy Project
> 
> +91 9899028053 | @anjakovacs
> www.internetdemocracy.in <http://www.internetdemocracy.in/> 

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