[bestbits] Best Bits meeting plans for the 2013 IGF

Sat Mar 16 01:08:12 EDT 2013

Thanks, Andrew, Michael, Tiffiniy and Bazlur for egging me on...

So, let me begin thinking aloud along with all of you.

What I am thinking is something on the lines of providing an open 
platform for some freelance (world social forum style), but also 
purposefully organised, civil society idealism around the Internet and 
the future of the world.

We can have this Internet Social Forum (hence ISF) with the slogan 'the 
Internet/ web we need - for the world we want'. The Web We Want 
initiative can be a prominent part of this effort. We should also have 
slogans stressing the social construction of the Internet, a point 
missed by most, even those otherwise very socio-politically informed. We 
have to use slogans like 'Internet is what WE make it to be', or 'we 
together make the Internet', and so on....

The main purpose is to give an opportunity for different global and 
sub-global civil society groups in different areas - gender, climate, 
livelihoods, democracy, FoE, education, health, trade, access to 
knowledge etc - to explore and propose what is the Internet they need 
for addressing their respective issues. (Of course this will need close 
engagement with IG types with these groups to help them in this 
exercise, but such engagement should be /on the terms of these other 
groups/ and not the other way around, which is what is missing in IGF 
kind of spaces)

I have interacted with many such groups, and I have a distinct 
expression that many of them would be interested in such an exercise, 
and perhaps fund themselves to come for such an event.

We can also form issue-wise egroups beforehand, so that there is better 
chance or real outcomes at the actual event. However, we will try to 
remain focussed on 'what Internet/ web we need'.

The above kind of CS (civil society) groups will be complemented by 
other CS groups closer to the IG space - but still largely missing in IG 
spaces - community media, community networks, free and open source 
software, open access, access to knowledge, and so on...

While the spread will be wide, we should organise the thinking, 
discussions and activity around the central question the 'Internet/ web 
we want', which BTW is already identified as the key substantive issue 
for the next BB IGF pre event.

In fact we could even develop a document on the 'internet/ web we want', 
with very broad participation and thus legitimacy.... and if we get 
enough participants then also perhaps make a splash at the main IGF. 
Give it greater real CS colors, which often show in many global 
gatherings, but which is largely missing at the IGF which has begun to 
look boringly 'official' and self important (without anyone else seeing 
anything really important about it at all)

Well, just this much for the present. Comments invited.

parminder

On Saturday 16 March 2013 08:26 AM, AHM Bazlur Rahman wrote:
> We support to organise *Internet social forum*
> *from Bangladesh
> *
>
> With best regards,
>
>
> *Bazlu*
> ________________________
> AHM. Bazlur Rahman-S21BR |**Chief Executive Officer |
> Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC)
> *[NGO in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social 
> Council]*
>
> House: 13/3, Road: 2, Shaymoli, Dhaka-1207|  Bangladesh
> Phone: +88-02-9130750| 9101479 | Cell: +88 01711881647
> Fax: 88-02-9138501 | E-mail: ceo at bnnrc.net <mailto:ceo at bnnrc.net> | 
> bnnr <mailto:bnnrc at bd.drik.net>cbd at gmail.com <mailto:cbd at gmail.com>|
> www.bnnrc.net <http://www.bnnrc.net/>
>
>
>
> On 15 March 2013 21:39, Andrew Puddephatt 
> <Andrew at global-partners.co.uk <mailto:Andrew at global-partners.co.uk>> 
> wrote:
>
>     Interesting idea Parminder – how could we make it work?
>
>     *Andrew Puddephatt, Director*
>
>     *Global Partners & Associates*
>
>     **
>
>     *Direct: *+44 (0)20 7549 0336 <tel:%2B44%20%280%2920%207549%200336>
>
>     *Office*: +44 (0)20 7549 0350 <tel:%2B44%20%280%2920%207549%200350>
>
>     *Mobile*: +44 (0)771 339 9597 <tel:%2B44%20%280%29771%20339%209597>
>
>     *Email*: andrew at global-partners.co.uk
>     <mailto:niamh at global-partners.co.uk>
>
>     *Address*: Development House, 56-64 Leonard St, London EC2A 4LT, UK
>
>     **
>
>     *www.global-partners.co.uk <http://www.global-partners.co.uk> *
>
>     *From:*bestbits-request at lists.igcaucus.org
>     <mailto:bestbits-request at lists.igcaucus.org>
>     [mailto:bestbits-request at lists.igcaucus.org
>     <mailto:bestbits-request at lists.igcaucus.org>] *On Behalf Of *parminder
>     *Sent:* 15 March 2013 09:01
>     *To:* bestbits at lists.igcaucus.org <mailto:bestbits at lists.igcaucus.org>
>     *Subject:* Re: [bestbits] Best Bits meeting plans for the 2013 IGF
>
>
>
>     I know I am getting increasingly and perhaps unsustainable
>     ambitious, but maybe we can hold an 'Internet social forum' and
>     then proceed to more focussed strategising in the bestbits meeting.
>
>     I think a core/ real civil society in the Internet area needs to
>     be recovered from the unclear ambiguous gooey mass that what goes
>     for the IG civil society has increasingly become....
>
>     Perhaps just being too radical (and a bit modernist in a highly
>     post modernist Internet world), which is not a bad thing to do
>     once in a while :)
>
>     parminder
>
>     On Friday 15 March 2013 02:17 PM, parminder wrote:
>
>
>         On Friday 15 March 2013 02:02 PM, Norbert Bollow wrote:
>
>         Michael Gurstein <gurstein at gmail.com>
>         <mailto:gurstein at gmail.com> wrote:
>         <snip>
>         Agreed.
>
>         Furthermore, it is important to get civil society actors from
>         outside
>         the Internet governance community more involved. Maybe, in
>         addition to
>         addressing these matters at the Best Bits meeting in Bali, we
>         need to
>         think about organizing a pre-event in the spirit of Best Bits
>         (but
>         maybe with a different name corresponding to a less
>         technology-centered
>         focus) to an international event where the chances are optimal
>         for
>         effectively introducing the family of issues that you're
>         thinking about
>         into the mainstream of discourse of international policy shaping.
>
>
>         Something in the spirit of the 'world we want' and then
>         proceed to discussing the 'web we want' for the 'world we want'.
>
>         We can invite participation from non IG global and sub global
>         civil society bodies, most of whom do now have an interest to
>         see how IG connects to their work (and most now believe that
>         it does in some basic though largely unclear ways) . Maybe
>         many of them want to come and join in, but there are no good
>         enough and appropriate docking points made available to them,
>         in a manner that look at things in a manner that they
>         traditionally look at.
>
>         Such actors coming for such an event where they will get
>         introduced to the world of IG can then also lead to a much
>         needed more diverse participation in the IGF...
>
>
>         ..  parminder
>
>
>
>
>         I think that we would be very remiss not to spend some time
>         reviewing
>         these "IS" issues and strategizing on how to move these forward
>         alongside and particularly as part of the increasingly visible
>         and
>         significant IG processes -- including within the IGF but also
>         toward
>         WSIS +10 and beyond.
>
>         +1
>
>         Greetings,
>         Norbert
>
>
>
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.igcaucus.org/pipermail/bestbits/attachments/20130316/e5460a23/attachment.htm>