[bestbits] IGF Open Consultations and MAG meetings in Geneva 1-3 December 2014

[Lea Kaspar]

Hi Bill, 

Thanks for sharing this information. Having a hand-over/induction process to
the newbies by incumbent CS members sounds like a great idea. If this
doesn't happen at the December meeting, it could be set up online
independently. It might also be worth considering setting up a more
long-term mechanism to ensure continuity and knowledge-transfer, through an
advisory group of ex civil society MAG members or something similar.

Regardless of the new reps, do you know if there will be a way for the
broader community to shape the agenda of the December meeting? 

Best,
Lea

-----Original Message-----
From: bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net
[mailto:bestbits-request at lists.bestbits.net] On Behalf Of William Drake
Sent: 17 September 2014 07:44
To: Best Bits; Governance
Subject: [bestbits] IGF Open Consultations and MAG meetings in Geneva 1-3
December 2014

Hi

The IGF secretariat has announced that we will be Open Consultations and MAG
meetings at the International Telecom Union (!) in Geneva on 1-3 December
2014.  This could be an important meeting from the standpoint of advancing
civil society objectives for the IGF, in particular laying a foundation for
follow up to the NETmundial mandate to strengthen the IGF.  If the meetings
turn into another one of those occassions where we just sit around talking
about "what worked and what did not" in Istanbul (e.g. complaining about the
wifi, the number of panelists on main sessions, how many workshops, etc.) it
will be a missed opportunity to put us on a good path to the November 2015
meeting in Brazil.  Hopefully the new MAG members will have been announced
in advance and will be able to attend.

Hotels could be expensive at that time of year so anyone thinking of coming
might want to start looking into options now.  There should be some bits of
financial support for MAG members from Least Developed Countries (LDC's),
Developing Countries, and Transitional Economies.  Others will have to find
their own way.

I would again reiterate that it is really important to get a top notch civil
society contingent in place that can work together and be strategic.
Nominations are due 20 October, via the IGF website.

I have proposed that if indeed new members are seated by then and able to
come, there should be break-out sessions for each stakeholder group so that
we can do some in-depth consultation and transfer of local knowledge and
experience.  Don't know if the proposal will gain traction, but I believe
the civil society group would really benefit from something like this.

Best

Bill

***********************************************
William J. Drake
International Fellow & Lecturer
  Media Change & Innovation Division, IPMZ
  University of Zurich, Switzerland
Chair, Noncommercial Users Constituency, 
  ICANN, www.ncuc.org
william.drake at uzh.ch (direct), wjdrake at gmail.com (lists),
  www.williamdrake.org
***********************************************