for Karen and others [Fwd: RE: [governance] main themes]

[Jeanette Hofmann]

Hi, to my best knowledge this is the latest version. The others are 
following.
jeanette


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	RE: [governance] main themes
Date: 	Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:31:13 +0530
From: 	Parminder <parminder at itforchange.net>
Reply-To: 	governance at lists.cpsr.org,"Parminder" <parminder at itforchange.net>
To: 	<governance at lists.cpsr.org>





Below is the text for the proposed caucus statement on themes for IGF
Delhi. As with other statements, we may read out a shorter version of
the statement as per time available, but good for the caucus to adopt a
full length statement.



  (starts)



As suggested in our earlier statement (depending on which statement goes
first), CS IGC is of the opinion that the four general themes of access,
openness, diversity and security (with CIRs added in Rio) have served a
useful purpose in organizing the IGF meetings in its early formative
stages, by which we mean its first two meetings in Athens and Rio. We
should now move on more purposefully to the serious business of
providing directions, ideas and possibilities to global public policy
making in the Internet arena, which is a primary mandate of the IGF.



We are of the opinion that the above general themes of access, openness,
diversity and security should remain cross-cutting themes for overall
organizing of the substantive aspects of the IGF. However, the main
sessions should address specific public policy issues that are
considered most important in the current global context. A series of
thematic workshops should also be organized around these main sessions,
whose output should feed into them. Adequate preparatory work should go
into preparing the main sessions and the connected workshops using
dedicated working groups. These WGs should also synthesize some outcome
documents for each main theme.



For Delhi, we suggest the following main session themes.



*1. Enhanced Cooperation - what was meant by the Tunis Agenda, and what
is the status of it*



Tunis Agenda speaks of the need for enhanced cooperation for global
Internet policy making. There are different views about what exactly is
meant by this term, and what processes will/ can constitute enhanced
cooperation. IGF is the right forum to deliberate on the meaning and
possibilities of this term, through wide participation of all
stakeholders in the multi-stakeholder spirit of the WSIS.  It is quite
possible that such an open discussion pushes the process of EC forward,
which at present seems to be caught in a kind of a limbo, or at least
some degree of confusion.



*2. 'Network Neutrality - ensuring openness in all layers of the Internet'*



Network neutrality has been an important architectural principle for the
Internet. This principle is under considerable challenge as Internet
becomes the mainstream communication platform for almost all business
and social activities. These challenges are most manifest in the
physical layer, but also increasingly in the content and application
layers. This session will examine the implication of this principle, and
its possible evolutionary interpretations, for Internet policy in
different areas.



*3. "Internet Governance for Sustainable Communities"*



(Thomas’s current formulation speaks only about CIRs and sustainable
communities. I am encouraging him to develop a broader theme of
connecting the issue of sustainable communities to IG in all layers –
logical, application, content and software. CIRs implicated in logical
layers can be one set of issues developed through a thematic workshop
and fed into the proposed main session. Issues of local connectivity
solutions (and a global policy environment encouraging it), local
content, community appropriation of technologies, etc could also be
connected to ‘sustainable communities’.  More suggestions are welcome here))





*4. A Development Agenda for Internet Governance*

Development is a key focus of the Tunis Agenda and its mandate for the
IGF.  Development also was listed as a cross-cutting theme of the Athens
and Rio conferences, but neither featured a main session that devoted
significant, focused attention to the linkages between Internet
governance mechanisms and development.  However, at Rio a workshop was
organized by civil society actors in collaboration with the Swiss Office
of Communications and other partners from all stakeholder groupings on,
“Toward a Development Agenda for Internet Governance.”  The workshop
considered the options for establishing a holistic program of analysis
and action that would help mainstream development considerations into
Internet governance decision making processes. Attendees at this
workshop expressed strong interest in further work on the topic being
pursued in the IGF.  Hence, we believe the Development Agenda concept
should be taken up in a main session at New Delhi, and that this would
be of keen interest to a great many participants there.  We also support
the Swiss OfCom’s proposal to consider establishing a multi-stakeholder
Working Group that could develop recommendations to the IGF on a
development agenda.


*5. Transparency and Inclusive Participation in Internet Governance*

The WSIS principles hold that Internet governance processes “should be
multilateral, transparent and democratic, with the full involvement of
governments, the private sector, civil society and international
organizations.” Governments invoked these principles throughout the WSIS
process, and in the Tunis Agenda mandated the IGF to, “promote and
assess, on an ongoing basis, the embodiment of WSIS principles in
Internet Governance processes.”  Nevertheless, the IGF has not held any
follow-up discussion on how to pursue this key element of its mandate.
  The Internet Governance Caucus has consistently advocated programmatic
activity in this arena, and hence welcomes the Swiss OfCom’s statement
that implementation of the WSIS principles should be added as a
cross-cutting issue at the core of all IGF discussions.  To help
kick-start that cross-cutting consideration, we propose that a main
session in New Delhi concentrate on two WSIS principles of general
applicability for which progress in implementation can be most readily
assessed: transparency, and inclusive participation.  The session could
consider patterns of practice across Internet governance mechanisms, and
identify generalizable lessons concerning good or best practices.



*6. Netizens - on the Internet as a support for grassroots democracy and
participation in governance issues.*



(Ronda’s text is awaited. Suggestions welcome, as for other categories.)



(ends)

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