[bestbits] IGF Best Practice Forums and intersessional stream

Wed Jan 25 07:11:44 EST 2017

Dear Internet Governance Stakeholders,

We are glad to let you know that the IGF has just published all of the
tangible outcomes from its intersessional activities conducted in 2016.
These outputs include:

   - BPF Gender: Outcome resource 2016
   <http://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/index.php?q=filedepot_download/3406/437>
(access
   and gender) & recommendations roadmap
   <http://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/index.php?q=filedepot_download/3406/185>
(online
   abuse and gender-based violence);
   - BPF on Internet exchange points (IXPs)
   <http://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/bpf-ixps>;
   - BPF on commercial and economic incentives to deploy IPv6
   <http://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/bpf-ipv6>;
   - BPF Cybersecurity
   <http://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/bpf-cybersecurity>
(‘Building
   Confidence and Security in the use of Information and Communications
   Technologies (ICTs) through Enhanced Cooperation and Collaboration’); and
   - Policy Options for Connecting and Enabling the Next Billion(s)
   <http://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/index.php?q=filedepot_download/3416/412>
(Phase
   II).

These resources are the outputs from bottom-up, inclusive, and
community-driven activities of the IGF that took place over the course of
2016 (for more information about these initiatives, please see the *Notes *at
the end of this email).

The IGF, along with the facilitators and rapporteurs for all of the
respective intersessional activities, are grateful for the invaluable
support given and time invested in these activities by numerous
stakeholders and volunteers. We would also like to recognise the dedication
of the coordinators, facilitators, and lead experts who supported the IGF’s
intersessional work over the past year, including Aaron Hughes, Constance
Bommelaer, Douglas Onyango, Izumi Okutani, Jac SM Kee, Maarten Van
Horenbeeck, Marco Hogewoning, Markus Kummer, Salanienta Tamanikaiwaimaro,
Sumon A. Sabir, Renata Aquino Ribeiro, Segun Olugbile,  among many others.

*What can you do with the IGF’s intersessional resources?*

We encourage all stakeholders to share these resources with their
respective communities to ensure that the IGF resource outputs also become
useful inputs into other processes of relevance to the Internet and its
governance in 2017 and beyond.

We hope these resources will not only be useful for policymakers and other
stakeholders, but will also continue to symbolise the IGF community’s
belief that multistakeholder collaboration is fundamental in effectively
addressing pertinent Internet policy challenges.

*What’s next for the IGF’s intersessional activities?*

All outputs from the IGF’s intersessional activities are intended to be
living documents that can be updated at any time. At the first Open
Consultations and IGF multistakeholder advisory group (MAG) meeting in
March 2017, stakeholders will discuss potential themes for the next cohort
of intersessional activities, including what will happen with the 2016 BPFs
and their outputs.

The IGF Secretariat invites stakeholders to submit written contributions to
the current public consultation
<https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/igf-community-public-consultation-call-for-inputs-taking-stock-of-the-2016-work-program-and>
stock-taking
exercise. In these contributions, stakeholders are also welcome to send
recommendations and proposed themes for intersessional activities in 2017.
Written inputs should be sent totakingstock at intgovforum.org by Friday 27
January.

Kind regards,

IGF Secretariat

*NOTES*

*About the IGF*

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) serves to bring people together from
various stakeholder groups as equals in discussions on public policy issues
relating to the Internet. While the IGF has no negotiated outcomes, it
serves the important function of informing and inspiring those with
policymaking power in both public and private sectors.

The IGF facilitates a common understanding of how to maximise Internet
opportunities and address risks and challenges that arise. One of the ways
in which it does so is through its intersessional activities, which are
conducted following recommendations
<http://unctad.org/meetings/en/SessionalDocuments/a67d65_en.pdf> from the
UN CSTD Working Group on Improvements to the IGF and form part of a broader
effort by the IGF community to produce more tangible outputs to “enhance
the impact of the IGF on global Internet governance and policy”.

*About the IGF’s intersessional activities*

The IGF Best Practice Forums (BPFs)
<https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/best-practice-forums-4>
continue
to offer unique platforms to investigate topical Internet policy challenges
by collecting community input and experiences in a flexible and bottom-up
manner. Through their substantive outreach efforts and continued calls for
input and contributions, the BPFs have already enabled more diverse and
varied participation in IGF processes, including from a richer variety of
regions and stakeholder groups. By continuously involving new people in
their work, the various BPFs also contributed to enlarging the global
footprint of the IGF.  BPFs worked throughout the year in an open and
inclusive way via open mailing lists, regular virtual meetings, and BPF
workshops during the 11th IGF meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, from 6 to 9
December 2016.

*About the BPF Gender*

The BPF Gender’s second publication, entitled ‘Overcoming Barriers to
Enable Women’s Meaningful Internet Access
<http://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/index.php?q=filedepot_download/3406/437>’,
builds on its work in 2015, when it also published an extensive resource
<http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/documents/best-practice-forums/623-bpf-online-abuse-and-gbv-against-women/file.>
on
online abuse and gender-based violence. In 2016, the BPF furthermore
produced a user-friendly infographicroadmap
<http://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/index.php?q=filedepot_download/3406/185>
for
addressing online abuse and gender-based violence, based on the key
recommendations for diverse stakeholder groups from its 2015 report. The
BPF Gender is also partnering with ITU and UN Women’s EQUALS
<http://equals.org/> partnership, a global initiative aimed at addressing
gender inequality, to raise awareness of its outputs. Further details of
this collaboration will soon be announced.

*About the BPF Cybersecurity*

The 2016 IGF BPF on Cybersecurity
<https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/bpf-cybersecurity> built
upon the previous work of the IGF CSIRTS and SPAM BPFs. Its work was also
guided by the WSIS +10 review process which produced an outcome document
<http://workspace.unpan.org/sites/Internet/Documents/UNPAN96078.pdf> with a
strong focus on "building confidence and security in the use of information
and communications technologies", making an IGF BPF related to
cybersecurity even more relevant. The 2016 discussions and output report
<http://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/index.php?q=filedepot_download/3405/453>
addressed
cooperation and collaboration on cybersecurity issues between stakeholder
groups as an overarching theme.

*About the BPF on Internet exchange points (IXPs)*

The BPF *Contributing to the Success and Continued Development of Internet
exchange points (IXPs)*
<http://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/bpf-ixps> collected best
current practices that have proven to contribute to building strong and
successful IXPs. Exchanging traffic at an IXP has a number of benefits that
can contribute to a more affordable, stable, faster and more reliable
Internet of a higher quality in a region. The success of an IXP will be
measured by its ability to sustainably contribute to the development of its
local Internet ecosystem. The BPF on IXPs focused on the management and
operation of an IXP and identified factors that can contribute to success.

*About the BPF IPv6*

IPv6 is the Internet’s addressing system that was developed to deal with
IPv4 exhaustion and to make the Internet future-proof. The fast growing
number of networks that already supports IPv6 today proofs that IPv6 is a
technically feasible option for business. The BPF *Understanding the
commercial and economic incentives behind a successful IPv6 deployment*
<http://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/bpf-ipv6> collected case
studies on commercial experiences with IPv6 deployment to better understand
challenges and incentives, and provide an opportunity to learn from each
other.

*About Policy Options for Connecting and Enabling the Next Billion(s) -
Phase II*

In 2016, the IGF furthered its seminal work on *Policy Options for
Connecting and Enabling the Next Billion(s) *by investigating challenges
and opportunities for addressing and overcoming barriers to meaningful
Internet access, promoting meaningful access in diverse contexts and
regions, and ensuring that meaningful access also supports the achievement
of the UN sustainable development goals. Read the report here
<http://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/index.php?q=filedepot_download/3416/412>
.

*WISDOM DONKOR (S/N Eng.)*
E-government and Open Government Data Platforms Specialist
National Information Technology Agency (NITA)/
Ghana Open Data Initiative Project.
ICANN Fellow / Member, UN IGF MAG Member, ISOC Member,
Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) Member, Diplo Foundation Member,
OGP Open Data WG Member, GODAN Memember, ITAG Member
Email: wisdom_dk at hotmail.com
wisdom.donkor at data.gov.gh
wisdom.dk at gmail.com
Skype: wisdom_dk
facebook: facebook at wisdom_dk
Website: www.nita.gov.gh / www.data.gov.gh
www.isoc.gh / www.itag.org.gh
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