[governance] RE: WSIS Forum 2011

Mon Sep 6 17:58:34 EDT 2010

Dear Milton,

On Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 2:42 AM, Milton L Mueller <mueller at syr.edu> wrote:

>  I view the groundswell for Geneva on this list to be a bit self-serving.
> Of course your Geneva-based orgs want it to stay there. I don’t see why IGC
> should endorse that as a “pro civil society” position.
>

> The only argument of any merit is the visa difficulty issue – if, as Tracy
> calls into question, that difference still exists.
>

Europe is emotionally healthier than the United States.  US, in its
paranoia, has become a destination for strip searches and it is becoming
increasingly unpleasant for the rest of the world to travel to the US. Until
this changes, US is a destination unfit for international events, especially
the ones that require International Public participation.

Sivasubramanian M.

>
>
> I have my own self-interest, of course, but it seems to me that WSIS and
> IGF both are highly Euro-centric operations and it would be good to move it
> away from Europe for at least once. Whether its NY or Vancouver or Hong Kong
> or Panama matters less to me, although of course NYC is most convenient to
> me.
>
>
>
> Wolfgang’s argument that there are more CS organizations in Geneva seems
> false to me; there are probably more CS organizations in the 300-mi radius
> of NYC (which includes Montreal and probably also Toronto) than anywhere
> else in the world.
>
>
>
> As a strict empirical test of the “reduced participation” claim, let me
> point out that the March 2004 WGIG-inspired meeting in New York was more
> widely attended than any subsequent WGIG consultation. I think you can count
> on a bang-up turnout, if nothing else, if you hold it in NY.
>
>
>
> *From:* William Drake [mailto:william.drake at graduateinstitute.ch]
> *Sent:* Monday, September 06, 2010 3:23 PM
> *To:* Sivasubramanian M
> *Cc:* Governance List
>
> *Subject:* Re: [governance] RE: WSIS Forum 2011
>
>
>
> Hi
>
>
>
> Just read the ICC's statement, which states in part, "The WSIS action lines
> Forum events in Geneva have drawn upon the fact that many key organizations
> are located in Geneva, and the participation of many stakeholders, business
> included, has been facilitated by the fact that other WSIS related
> activities take place around the same dates. This has enabled participation
> by many because it took into account the limited time, financial and human
> resources of many across stakeholder groups. Organizing the WSIS action
> lines Forum 2011 in New York risks decreasing participation because it would
> require extensive travel for those participating in the other WSIS related
> activities in May in Geneva. Feedback from ICC BASIS members and other
> stakeholders indicates that obtaining visas for the US is extremely
> difficult for many particularly from developing countries. This would in
> turn decrease the range of participants. ICC BASIS supports having the WSIS
> action lines Forum 2011 hosted in Geneva, or by the next lead facilitator,
> UNESCO in Paris."
>
>
>
>
> http://www.iccwbo.org/uploadedFiles/BASIS/Documents/ICC_BASIS_stmt_re_WSIS_Forum_2011_venue_FINAL_6Sept10.pdf
>
>
>
> Is this a reasonable position from an IGC perspective…?
>
>
>
> Best,
>
>
>
> Bill
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sep 6, 2010, at 8:56 PM, Sivasubramanian M wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> 2010/9/6 William Drake <william.drake at graduateinstitute.ch>
>
> Hi,
>
> We can toss around ideas about where an ideal venue that causes the least
> hassle for the most people might be, but the WSIS Forum will be held in
> either New York or Geneva.   Lee is probably right about mainstreaming; the
> question is, on what/whose terms?  Personally, I have never noticed that all
> that many CS people actually attend the WSIS Forums in the first place;
> they're certainly not much in evidence on the panels, which are largely
> selected by ITU on an "expert" rather than "stakeholder" basis.  But to the
> extent that IG/ICT-oriented CS people do wish to attend, one would think
> there's probably greater synergies and cost effectiveness for them in
> keeping it in Geneva during the same two week bloc as the IGF consultation
> (assuming those remain in Geneva) and the CSTD.  For CS people working in
> the other areas that are in the UN NY's bailiwick, e.g. disarmament et al,
> NY is obviously more convenient, but would they be all that interested
> enough in the typical WSIS Forum topics to attend?  Unclear.  And I suppose
> one could widen the optic further and wonder whether this might fit in with
> larger discussions about the management of ICT-related activities connected
> to DESA…
>
> Should there be an IGC response to ITU's "Open Consultation" (means we can
> use their website, not enter the building), or would consensus being
> difficult to achieve?
>
>
>
> If CS does not assert its stakes in WSIS process, the WSIS panels could be
> engineered to lead to conclusions that the ITU desires, which would be a
> step back from the progress that the IGF has made.
>
>
>
> There needs to be an IGC response. Also, IGC could reach out to fair and
> neutral international organizations to  object to and alter the process.
>
>
>
> Sivasubramanian M
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Best,
>
> Bill
>
>
> On Sep 6, 2010, at 6:35 PM, Lee W McKnight wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > Speaking as an academic for whom I admit New York City is convenient and
> would lowering my personal costs and logistics hassles, we can agree that UN
> venue decisions have impacts that may vary depending upon where one is
> coming from. Geneva is a fine (expensive) city, New York has its virtues
> too.
> >
> > A move to New York for wsis 2011 would to me signal a mainstreaming of IG
> issues wthin UN system; as would establishment of a permanent secretariat in
> yet a 3rd (developing?) location.
> >
> > But Wolfgang, the argument that it would be more difficult to get
> media/public attention - in New York City -  doesn't make much sense to me.
> In principle it should be easier. There's certainly plenty of media outlets
> hanging around already looking for things to talk and write about.
> >
> > Anyway, as I suggested before, while civil society has some success at
> substantive issues around IG, venue/location decisions I am afraid remain
> power politics/business as usual choices.
> >
> > Lee
> > ________________________________________
> > From: "Kleinwächter, Wolfgang" [
> wolfgang.kleinwaechter at medienkomm.uni-halle.de]
> > Sent: Monday, September 06, 2010 11:33 AM
> > To: wsis-info at itu.int
> > Cc: governance at lists.cpsr.org
> > Subject: [governance] WSIS Forum 2011
> >
> > Dear friends
> >
> > I disagree with the argument that a move from Geneva to to New York of
> the WSIS Forum 2011 would improve outreach and bring WSIS implementation
> forward. In contrary I am afraid that a move to NewYork will weaken in
> particular the involvement of civil society and the academic community as
> important stakeholders in the WSIS process. A large number of civil society
> organisations, including represenations of organisations from developing
> countries, are based in Geneva or not far from Geneva. Moving the event to
> New York would create additional costs and logistic problems for them which
> would result in lower participation of civil society organisations. This
> would certainly undermine the multistakeholder nature of the WSIS
> implementaiton process.
> >
> > Another risk moving the WSIS Forum 2011 to New York would be that the
> important WSIS issues would be discussed in the shadow of more important
> political and security issues which dominate the day to day UN acitvities in
> New York. The WSIS Forum would be just "another conference" and would have
> difficulties to get the needed public attention.
> >
> > Finally I want to flag that in same week the European Union has its
> annual Future of the Internet Week meetings under the Hungarian Presidency
> in Budapest.
> >
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Wolfgang Kleinwächter
> > ____________________________________________________________
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> ***********************************************************
> 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
> www.linkedin.com/in/williamjdrake
> ***********************************************************
>
>
>
>
>
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