[governance] Remote Participation

[Deirdre Williams]

Following the discussions of the last few days I have taken the liberty of
putting together the contributions into a single document. I have not
included Imran's option B  (to make some consultations/MAG meetings remote
only and which I like very much myself) because no one else has said
anything about it yet

I have also not included in the text, although it is still there below the
text, a large part of Sala's contribution which seems to me to deal with
direct suggestions for improving remote participation at the IGF itself,
and therefore (again my opinion only) would perhaps have a greater effect
in a second document of practical suggestions.

*Internet Governance Civil Society Caucus (IGC) *

*Statement on remote participation*



We would like to reiterate that remote participation is a crucial part of
organizing the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) and we appreciate the effort
to provide remote participation for the Open Consultation, the
Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) meetings, and the MAG meeting this
month - February 2012 - which was opened to observers.



We would like to commend the excellent work of the technical team
from Politecnico di Torino, (The Polytechnic University of Turin) which was
originally brought by our colleague Vittorio Bertola.



However, we would like to point out some difficulties that occurred with
the system during the open MAG meeting. On the third day, morning session,
(the second day of the open MAG meeting), remote observers were effectively
excluded because they had no access to live transcript. Also MAG members
trying to participate online had difficulty in contacting moderators,
partly because the moderators were serving more than one function.



We strongly urge MAG and IGF secretariats and ourselves to consider the
following for the future IGF organizing work and the IGF itself, and work
together to bring them about:

l      Ensure equal participation between online and offline participants

l      Prepare a clear guideline for remote participation and its moderation

l      Always assign exclusive remote participation coordinator/moderators
(who do not have other jobs at the same time, and are responsible to
interact between the meeting’s physical participants/current speaker, the
Chair and the remote participants).

l      Establish a clear procedure that would encourage remote participants
to intervene. Such a system is desirable both for  those physically present
in Geneva and those observing the meeting remotely.

l      Provide as much interactivity as possible.

l      Provide plural means – video, voice and text channel, as well as
real-time transcription and video streaming - of coverage of the meeting

l      Enable the meeting and remote participation through interactive
presentations access through RP.  (This needs clarification)

l      Create a select task force or Working Group created that has
representatives from the Government, Private Sector and Civil Society that
is dedicated to seeing  improvements of Remote Participation

Because only limited funds are available for direct participation, this
issue is crucially important to all stakeholders from all constituencies
who are entitled to participate in the meetings, and who wish to do so from
a remote location.


[This text was originally proposed by Izumi and is close to the wording of
his intervention at the end of the MAG meeting. Subsequent contributions
from other people have also been included.]



*This is the rest of Sala’s suggestion. Two points are included above.*

We have to move beyond advocacy to listing and creating tangible outcomes
to make improved remote participation a reality.

There are regions around the world where transportation is extremely
expensive and one such region is the Pacific which has 22 countries and
territories. Remote participation was the only way that any of these
countries could access the IGF. However there is room to improve processes
and create an IGF culture where remote participation is prioritised through
setting up parallel screens that enable people to chat and stream in to the
sessions where those who are at the meeting can read these chats or feeds
in text form and also see the various hubs who are participating.

These improvements transcend having the appropriate technical solutions and
should also include the following:-

·    Outreach;

·    Mapping local and regional stakeholders;

·    Coordinating with people on the ground 10 months before the IGF in a
series of strategic roll out;

·    Identifying how the private sector, civil society and governments can
be better involved in the remote hubs etc



Deirdre








-- 
“The fundamental cure for poverty is not money but knowledge" Sir William
Arthur Lewis, Nobel Prize Economics, 1979
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