[governance] Invitation => IG4D
William Drake
william.drake at graduateinstitute.ch
Sun Sep 12 23:50:33 EDT 2010
Hi Mawaki
Thanks for all this, I certainly think research is needed and am open to collaboration etc. I have a chapter in the Sharm book being released tomorrow on the development agenda thing that suggests inter alia the formation of an open ms working group (or whatever is the locally acceptable term, if WG is still banned) that would gather analyze share info and be supported by a secretariat research capability. I suppose the chances of anything remotely like that depend on whether the UNGA process provides some 2.0 push. In the more likely event that this doesn't happen, then it'd be up to interested researchers/institutions to break the ground and see if the effort garners support over time. If that doesn't gather big mo then still smaller individual efforts like a meeting/book project are always possible. All depends on whether the core view that IG4D is a worthy construct that matters and merits further consideration moves through the usual gauntlet and emerges intact; if it gets picked apart as unnecessary, not "constructive" and worth pursuing blah blah blah then the minimalist route will be all there is. Look what happened with the WSIS Principles discussion, we had one rather three hour session in Sharm, it was declared by those who matter to be unsatisfying rather than a useful if overly constrained first effort to build on, and now apparently that part of the IGF mandate doesn't merit any further collective work. IG4D could go the same way if people don't say we want more. I hope at least IGC will…
Anyway, yes let's keep the line open.
Best,
Bill
On Sep 12, 2010, at 7:19 PM, Mawaki Chango wrote:
> Hi Bill,
>
> Very interesting topic! Do you think you guys might also address or come up with some research agenda items on that? You may have noticed my "mission in action" status in policy advocacy or activism over the last couple years (and as you probably know, there's something dogging me I really needed and still need to get out of the way) but my past/recent experience in IG line of action has made me want to take on a research agenda on "IG and Economic Diversity" (or IG4D if you will)... So you all may take this either as a warning ;-) or... as a call for future collaboration.
>
> Seriously, I think a research agenda is warranted (in policy, political economy, or social sciences in general) and I'd be interested to hear about any developments on that front and to take part in any relevant effort when the time comes.
>
> From a practice perspective, I was involved (as Diplo fellow to WGIG Secretariat) in the effort led by Karen Banks among WGIG members to draft the final report chapter on development, but it was a beginning, a good one, and to my recollection the discourse at that point was rather generally ICT than specifically IG. Then it was the "ICANN nexus" as you point out that has been the most eye-opening for me. During relevant policy development processes on the GNSO council I repeatedly raised concerns about, among other things, the cost structure of new gTLD applications with in mind potential registry-wannabe's from developing regions. We discussed with fellow council members about options to address the issue, and I remember Marilyn Cade was trying to champion the idea of an ICANN foundation or rather funds-in-trust to help with that, if my memory is correct. I am not sure what has happened to that concern and those ideas since I left the council. We also had interesting process and relevant discussions with Lee and our colleagues in the Caribbean during their 2006 regional IGF in Grenada.
>
> Anyway, the reason why I'm now highlighting "economic diversity" as opposed to "development" (although I might retain the latter for international cooperation and UN types consumption) is that "development" brings up reflexes of assistance on both sides - and I contend even more on the "donor" side than we may want to think. I personally would rather take a more entrepreneurship-oriented approach in order to foster participation of developing countries in the information economy at all levels possible; I'd like to see a global IG regime that gives "equal opportunity" to players from all across the globe, not only those who can afford lawyers' fee in some country(ies) where they are the highest in the world (as if linguistic divide was not enough burden to many of them). And as a scholar, I'd like to be able to bring sound and robust arguments, based on research findings, to bear on that issue.
>
> In the mean time it will be useful to see, from your workshop, how IG issues can be framed in relation to the other development agendas in international affairs and global governance. I look forwards to hearing about your proceedings and conclusions. I wish every success to your workshop, Tijani's, the rest of the workshops, to all IGC participants and to the whole Forum.
>
> Best,
>
> Mawaki
>
> On Sun, Sep 12, 2010 at 5:03 AM, William Drake <william.drake at graduateinstitute.ch> wrote:
> Hello Tijani,
>
> On Sep 12, 2010, at 1:38 AM, Tijani BEN JEMAA wrote:
>
>>
>> Workshop #: 61
>>
>> Theme: New gTLDs and IDNs for Development
>>
>> Date: Tuesday 14 September 2010
>>
>> Time slot: 09:00 - 11:00
>>
>> Venue: Room 3
>>
>>
>
> This looks very interesting, I wish it didn't overlap with the Setting the Scene session I have to attend (we'll be talking about some of the background papers included in the Sharm book, which are mostly by IGC members). I also wish it had popped up on the radars of the planning group for the IG4D main session; don't know how we missed it, very sorry. But while you're not listed as a "feeder workshop" for that session, it would be great if you could anyway provide an input on its main conclusions etc.
>
> BTW, the relationships between new gTLDs, IDNs and development will also be an element of a more broadly framed workshop, the fourth I've organized on the notion of a development agenda, description below. It'd be good if we could pursue some synergies between the two, as well as with other IG4D-related events, e.g. the main session, George Sadowsky's workshop WS 174 (which precedes mine in the same room), etc. Development is much more prominent on this year's agenda than in previous IGFs, but it would take some initiative to build on that going forward.
>
> Best,
>
> Bill
> ———————
>
> Workshop 165, Day 2, Wednesday, 15 September, 16:30-18:30, Room 3
>
> A Development Agenda Approach to Internet Names and Numbers
>
> A development agenda can be defined as a holistic program of analysis and action intended to mainstream development considerations into the procedures and policy outputs of global governance mechanisms. While there have been concerted efforts to pursue such agendas in the multilateral institutions dealing with issues like international trade and intellectual property, there has been no corresponding initiative with respect to global Internet governance. Hence, a series of interrelated workshops has been organized at the Rio, Hyderabad and Sharm el Sheikh IGF meetings to help foster dialogue on the possible establishment of such an initiative. Over the course of these events, participants have considered the potential value-added of a development agenda; fleshed out its broad institutional and substantive contours; identified some particularly important linkages between internet governance and development that merit further consideration; and in light of the WSIS principles, agreed that the IGF is the most appropriate venue in which to devise an approach to mainstreaming development within Internet governance institutions, as applicable. Building on these foundations, the next step in the process should be to test the general model in a specific issue-area and institutional context in order to identify possible refinements.
>
> Accordingly, the proposed Vilnius workshop would apply the development agenda approach to the field of Internet names and numbers, with particular attention being devoted to the ICANN nexus. In addition to advancing IG4D efforts within the IGF, the workshop also could provide food for thought to the growing dialogue within ICANN on how to better address development concerns. The three main elements of a development agenda to be considered would include: a) capacity building partnerships to enable the effective participation of governmental and nongovernmental actors in technical dialogues and decision making processes; b) institutional measures---e.g. with respect to information overload, working methods and culture, and possibly development-oriented focal points---that could facilitate increased engagement; and c) identification of the substantive policy issues that may raise distinctive developmental considerations and to which a developmental orientation could usefully be brought to bear.
>
> Speakers
>
> William J. Drake [moderator]
> Senior Associate, Centre for International Governance, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland
>
> Olga Cavalli
> Adviser for Technology, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Government of Argentina
>
> Rafik Dammak
> Research Student in Interdisciplinary Information Studies, the University of Tokyo; Tunisia
>
> Zahid Jamil
> Senior Partner, Jamil & Jamil, Barrister-at-Law; and Chairman, Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center; Pakistan
>
> Alice Munyua
> Convenor, East African IGF and Kenya ICT Action Network,
> Communications Commission, Government of Kenya
>
> Milton Mueller
> Professor, Syracuse University School of Information Studies; XS4All Chair, University of Delft; Partner, the Internet Governance Project; USA
>
> Mike Silber
> General Manager: Regulatory, Neotel; Management Committee member, South African Internet Service Providers' Association; Member of the Board of Directors, ICANN; South Africa
>
> Jean-Jacques Subrenat
> Member of the Board of Directors, ICANN; France
>
>
> Institutional Co-Sponsors
>
> Centre for International Governance, Graduate Institute for International Studies [lead; academic]
>
> Association for Progressive Communications [civil society]
>
> Government of Argentina (TBC) [government]
>
> Institute for Internet Policy & Law, Beijing Normal University [academic]
>
> Council of Europe [international organization]
>
> Faculty of Social Sciences, the University of Buenos Aires [academic]
>
> Federal Office of Communication, Government of Switzerland [government]
>
>
>
>
>
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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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