[bestbits] Best Bits meeting plans for the 2013 IGF

Sat Mar 16 01:21:21 EDT 2013

This is really excellent Parminder. I particularly like the shift away from
Internet Governance to the the social governance of the Internet--the
World/Web/Internet we want!

I think we should be thinking about drafting a brief document that expresses
these thoughts and that we can start circulating to our respective networks
(and particularly those beyond the IG world) to gauge responses, solicit
inputs and begin to generate some momentum towards the event(s).

M

From: bestbits-request at lists.igcaucus.org
[mailto:bestbits-request at lists.igcaucus.org] On Behalf Of parminder
Sent: Friday, March 15, 2013 10:08 PM
To: bestbits at lists.igcaucus.org
Subject: Re: [bestbits] Best Bits meeting plans for the 2013 IGF

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 | bnnr <mailto:bnnrc at bd.drik.net>
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>
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:  <mailto:niamh at global-partners.co.uk> andrew at global-partners.co.uk

Address: Development House, 56-64 Leonard St, London EC2A 4LT, UK

www.global-partners.co.uk 

From: 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
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  <mailto:gurstein at gmail.com> <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 

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