[governance] Re: Request to join your IGF Workshop on the Development Agenda for Internet Governance

Thu Aug 6 09:37:40 EDT 2009

Hi Bill,

Let's start with this video interview from the OECD Ministerial in
Seoul last year on the Future of the Internet Economy after my
presentation: http://stream.elon.edu/stream/predictions/oecd_2008/Fouad_Riaz_Bajwa.mov
and after watching it read on:

Internet Governance should be primarily oriented to realising the
information society opportunity for moving towards achieving the
ideals and goals of social and human development and I was nominated
by the IGC and elected to the MAG, why, to join, support and
strengthen the Civil Society and voice the development aspects in the
Internet Governance process with regards to linking IG with Human
Rights, counter the monopolistic Financial Modalities and underplay
with the developing world by the Private Sector, encourage Corporate
Social Responsibilities with regards to the Internet, adequate and
appropriate transfer of technology, voting for pro-development
national ICT policies and to help develop the vision of the process
towards an open, inclusive and mutual consensus for an Internet
Governance Development Agenda. From Markus to all members of the MAG,
my interventions have been evident though these are at a very basic
level but I have stepped on the stone to contribute to the process.

As discussed with the MAG generically, we are hopefully looking
forward to the IGF secretariat allowing the workshop to span into a
three hour session and feed into the main sessions, though this is a
proposal at this stage. This would create the stage for improving the
future interventions on such a workshop. As this is an open space and
is not restricted by one and anyone should be able to join in at any
stage despite the fact that it has been conducted for a number of
years now, I believe in new stimulation and people that can play a
definitive role in furthering a certain aspect.

I come from the developing world, that is my first understanding to
feed into Internet Governance. We face real issues of how the Internet
affects us politically, socially and economically. We too are stranded
by the control and influence of the business world and the governments
bending towards commercial interests due to FDI and ODI but at the
same time, we are becoming more and more aware of the social potential
of the Internet and the vastness this area offers for development
concerns. Though I don't want us to act  as the guinea pigs for
testing, instead, I believe that we should be aware of all the
development issues that influences the governance of our part of the
Internet.

I am sure that I had clearly conveyed to you during the brief meetings
we had in Geneva that I 100% pro-development agenda of the IGF and
have the motive to carry out every effort that can stimulate the IGF
process to adopt the Internet Governance for Development Agenda. Your
workshop could be that first step and that is my initial internet.
Secondly, if this workshop has shared something meaningful for the
past two years and it hasn't been conveyed meaningfully into the IGF
process and has not received the recognition and adoption to lead
towards the formulation of that agenda, we have to both stimulate it
to be recognized and include more people as the development agenda is
the people's agenda and there is no limit to the amount of people that
can be part of this agenda.

My ideas about a development agenda is very clear, that agenda that
affects my country and all the developing countries of the world. We
have a need, we have a voice and we have a focus that the IGF one day
shall carry the development agenda and come up as a meaningful process
to facilitate the development process of its member countries. The
Internet will always continue to be evolving and we will always
continue to face and counter the issues that arise and that demote our
right to development utilizing the Internet.

The political economy of the Internet is as equal to the developed as
to the developing. Our voice, our needs and our future with regards to
the governance of the Internet and how it will affect our governments,
businesses and civil society at large will be an issue to continue to
intervene on. An open, inclusive and collaborative space is that one
which lets new faces and new voices be heard. My country's problems
are not necessarily the same as those of Brazil and my region of South
Asia's problems are not similar to those of the region of Europe. My
country is not a member of the OECD and the OECD policies are that the
developed world abides by and influences development policies of the
World Bank and IMF towards our regions and countries.

Bill, the WSIS called for the Internet to be be politically driven to
shape the people centred and development oriented Information
Society.It is crucial for us members of the Civil Society to pursue
dialogue, capacity building of stakeholders, policy interventions and
supporting research and advocacy campaigns aimed at demanding the
establishment of a real development agenda in the area of ICTs with
respect to IG. We have to make the WSIS development outcome and
impact. We have to bring in more CS members to  equal the membership
of MAG in comparison with Governments and Private Sector. We have to
take every possible initiative together that encourages the
identification and realization of the development agenda. Five people
alone will not be the only simulators, there will be many of us and I
want to join the discussions meaningfully from South Asia, from
Pakistan, from Civil Society unless this is the usual academic and
research activity.

-- 
Regards.
--------------------------
Fouad Bajwa
@skBajwa
Answering all your technology questions
http://www.askbajwa.com
http://twitter.com/fouadbajwa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATVDW1tDZzA

On Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 4:56 PM, William
Drake<william.drake at graduateinstitute.ch> wrote:
> Hi Fouad,
> Hope this message finds you well...
> Thanks for your interest in my workshop proposal.  As you can see, at
> present I have five speakers lined up already, plus myself of course as the
> moderator.  I am also waiting to hear on another invitation that would bring
> us to six speakers plus moderator.  My experience with the first two
> workshops I organized on this topic clearly indicates that in either
> configuration we already have too many speakers with two little time
> available to each, especially when I add in the back and forth dialogue
> between speakers after their presentations and then the Q&A.  As such, I
> cannot squeeze in another without seriously cutting into the time of each,
> which is not the way to treat senior policy makers etc.
> However, I understand that there is some discussion of an option I mentioned
> in the proposal to expand the workshop to a three hour slot.  Were that to
> occur, this would allow me to add more speakers.  I gather that there are
> some stakeholder groups that would expect to be included in an expanded
> event, which could result in some new crowding and difficulties in managing
> the balance.  But in principle and a priori, it may indeed become possible
> in this case to include your ideas in the mix.  So let's see what is decided
> by people in a position to decide things and then go from there.
> In the meanwhile, perhaps you could help me get my head around the expanded
> scenario by sharing just what your ideas on the development agenda proposal
> are?  Bear in mind, this is not a workshop on "development is good"
> generically, but rather on a particular set of institutional architectural
> options for moving forward.  I'm not familiar with your thinking on the
> ideas we've been discussing over the past few years, so it would help me a
> lot to know.
> Thanks again,
> Bill
>
> On Aug 5, 2009, at 6:28 PM, Olga Cavalli wrote:
>
> Dear Fouad,
> thanks for the email.
> William Drake had this innitative that I am happy to contribute to, so he is
> the right person to answer your request.
> Best regards
> Olga Cavalli
>
> 2009/8/5 Fouad Bajwa <fouadbajwa at gmail.com>
>>
>> Dear William and Olga,
>>
>> I wanted to extend my participation in the workshop organized by
>> yourselves titled "316. Implementing the WSIS Principles: A
>> Development Agenda for Internet Governance" as either a speaker and/or
>> moderator.
>>
>> As William knows about my interest and interventions at the open
>> consultations on the subject in May 2009, and, furthering the Internet
>> Governance for Development within the IGF process, I would like to
>> equally participate and provide considerable input valuable to the
>> event.
>>
>> I look forward to your comments.
>>
>> --
>> Regards.
>> --------------------------
>> Fouad Bajwa
>> @skBajwa
>> Answering all your technology questions
>> http://www.askbajwa.com
>> http://twitter.com/fouadbajwa
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATVDW1tDZzA
>
>
>
> --
> Olga Cavalli, Dr. Ing.
> www.south-ssig.com.ar
>
> ***********************************************************
> William J. Drake
> Senior Associate
> Centre for International Governance
> Graduate Institute of International and
>   Development Studies
> Geneva, Switzerland
> william.drake at graduateinstitute.ch
> www.graduateinstitute.ch/cig/drake.html
> ***********************************************************
>
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