[governance] Multi-Stakeholder Wiki for IGF?

[Robert Guerra]

Good morning from a cold and snow covered Toronto!

Wanted to follow-up with the caucus members on the discussions  
related to the Internet Governance Forum (IGF)  we had at the recent  
ICANN meeting in Vancouver.

As many of you may remember a small # of us  had a rather productive  
1 hour meeting before the WGIG dinner (2 Dec)  on the issue of the  
IGF . One of the suggestions that came up would be that a   
collaborative space (such as a WIKI) for both Civil Society, the  
Business sector, and governments could be a interesting initiative to  
share information in an open and collaborative fashion.

The idea was well received, so much so that a message was posted to  
the governance list announcing it (see below) - and tasking me with  
getting it up and running. That being said, there hasn't been any  
follow-up on it, at least not yet. That's something I want to remedy,  
but before I do, I wanted to consult with you and others on how to  
best proceed to ensure that the initiative gets planned and started  
in a open, transparent way. Key to the consultation is the prior  
planning with as wide a range of the different  stakeholders involved  
(at least, those who have expressed interested to-date)

Thus, to start the discussion i'd like to get your thoughts &  
comments on few key areas that are mentioned below.

I look forward to your comments.

regards

Robert


-- 1. Collaborative partners --

The success of this  will be that  it NOT JUST  be seen as a civil  
society initiative, but a real collaborative multi-stakeholder one.  
That takes a bit of consultation and  dialogue to make sure everyone  
is on the same page and it is truly planned in collaborative fashion.

My role at this point is try to help with the facilitation, to make  
sure the support around the idea gets translated into a concrete  
deliverable - that of a wiki that the internet governance community  
could use to share information, comments and ideas ahead of the first  
meeting of the Internet Governance forum (whenever that might be).

Who seems to be interested, at least so far:

- Certain members of the Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus (at  
least the member organizations that meet in Vancouver)
- Business Sector: A few private sector entities seemed to have  
expressed interest in participating in the collaborative wiki  
initiative.



-- 2. Domain Name --

There was a discussion on what domain name would be most appropriate.  
The first intuitive name that seemed that came up (that i can't  
remember right now) seems to be taken by Bertrand de la Chappelle.  
Other names (such as the ones below) , seemed to be free. They would  
need to be secured (ie. purchased) before proceeding.

Free:  igf-wiki.org,  governance-forum.info ,  netgoverance.info,  ig- 
forum.info
Taken: netgoverance.info, ig-forum.org,

-- 3. Hosting Location--

No definitive location yet identified. This would need to be resolved  
ASAP in order to get started. Can any of you recommend an  
organization that could host the site. It could be considered as a in- 
kind donation ..

I offered the Privaterra server as a - very tentative - place where  
it could start, however would not want it permanently located there.  
I just can't provide the level of support/service that would be  
needed for a project such as this.


-- 4. Software: Wiki --

What solution to use? Here's a list of the options mentioned so far.

* Media Wiki - http://www.mediawiki.org/ - Free, browser based, but  
would need to be hosted -
* Social Text -  http://www.socialtext.net - $, browser based, would  
need funding and/or donation before can get setup




Begin forwarded message:

> From: Izumi AIZU <aizu at anr.org>
> Date: December 4, 2005 8:16:41 AM EST (CA)
> To: Governance <governance at lists.cpsr.org>
> Subject: [governance] MSH Wiki for IGF?
>
> A dozen or so people gathered last night here in Vancouver,
> at the hotel lobby lounge, and discussed for an hour or so.
>
> We kind of started slow with introdcution, sharing various
> bits of information about what is going to happen around
> the formation IGF and possible process for"enhanced cooperation",
> and ICANN, etc.
>
> Close to the end of meeting and idea floated that maybe
> it is now to start a "multi-stakeholder Wiki" for IGF as
> an online platform to collect all the inputs to the formation
> process of IGF and the other process.
>
> Robert agreed to setup an intial Wiki shortly, but we need
> someone else to be in charge for maintenance/management.
>
> People there included:
> Avri, Jacqueline, Robert, Wolfgang
> Norbert Klein, Annette Muehlberg
> Edmund Chung, Sebastien Bachollet, Mike Nelson
> Izumi
> and some others I could not remember (sorry).
>
> Wolfgang reminded that the part of the success of WGIG
> process in terms of CS participation was that CS/PS people
> started early to throw various good ideas into its formation
> process so that by the time governments got involved quite
> a good preparation were going on. Avri explained her idea
> about the new WG on modality from CS.
> I suggested that this Wiki be by/for MSH, not CS, so that
> it will ensure good involvement of CS. And Robert agreed
> to volunteer.
>
> izumi heading off to the airport soon
> _______________________________________________
> governance mailing list
> governance at lists.cpsr.org
> https://ssl.cpsr.org/mailman/listinfo/governance




regards,

Robert

--
Robert Guerra <rguerra at privaterra.org>
Managing Director, Privaterra <http://www.privaterra.org>








--
Robert Guerra <rguerra at privaterra.org>
Director, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR)
Tel +1 416 893 0377 Fax +1 416 893 0374



_______________________________________________
governance mailing list
governance at lists.cpsr.org
https://ssl.cpsr.org/mailman/listinfo/governance