[governance] Feb IGF12 Consultations / Draft Notes

Fri Mar 2 17:51:09 EST 2012

Wanted to share with the list my very summarized notes from the Open IGF consultation & Open MAG meeting that took place this past Feb in Geneva

Azerbaijan – Information regarding 2012 IGF

-	Will take place in November (Week of Nov 5th): Nov 5 (Monday) Ministerial meeting,  Nov 6 (Tuesday) IGF Start
-	Several venues are being considered: The Baku Expo Centre or Hilton+ Park Inn
-	Key hotels: Park Inn, Hilton Hotel & Marriott (Park Inn & Hilton are next to each other)
-	Shuttle buses will be arranged. Special vehicles will be provided for those with limited mobility

Venue:
 	Proposal that Opening & Closing session take place at the Heydar Aliyev Palace.
 	Organizing committee is proposing that the IGF not take place at one single venue, but instead be “split” among 3 key hotels

 	NOTE: the comment that the venue would be “split” caused an immediate reaction from some of the key private sector and civil society representatives at the Open Consultation.

*	Concern that multiple venues will make logistics very complex and increase time required to move around different “IGF spaces”
*	IGF Secretariat mentioned that the UN Security team has – NOT YET – visited the (proposed) venue
*	Bakutel (18th Annual Azerbaijan International Telecommunications conference, 7-10Nov) is also taking place in Baku.  (http://www.bakutel.com)
*	Concern by many that this would fragment and/or dilute IGF audience
*	Concern that with 2 events taking place at the same time accommodation will be at a premium and difficult to obtain
*	Concern that Bakutel and IGF might be hosted at the same venue.

Visas : Arrangements with Azeri foreign ministry are being negotiated. 
 	An expedited process is likely to be arranged so as to make “process as easy as possible”.
 	Normally can take up to 5-7 days for a visa to obtained. This will be expedited for IGF participants.
 	Comment made that “will try and see if Visas can be obtained upon arrival” by IGF participants.
 	Information about visas will be announced no later then 3 months before event (Aug 2012)

Flights: 
 	Airport : Heydar Aliyev International Airport  (IATA: GYD)
 	Served by several airlines:
*	Aeroflot (Moscow), BMI Codeshare (London) , Austrian Airlines (Vienna), Turkish Airlines (Istanbul), (Dubai), Qatar Airlines (Doha), (Milan) and Lufthansa (Frankfurt)
*	Air Baltic also offers flights with good prices from/via Riga.
*	Comprehensive list of Airlines servicing Baku can be found here  - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heydar_Aliyev_International_Airport

Accommodation: 
 	A variety of options will be available – from “Guest Houses” to 5 star hotels
 	Request is made for people “not yet to book hotels”, as “preferred rates will be negotiated”
 	Host country website where one will be able to obtain additional details and IGF negotiated rate will be available in 2-3 weeks (by 1st week in March)

Refs:
	http://wikitravel.org/en/Baku
	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku
	Map of Baku - http://goo.gl/8iEgy
.	Google Map for Baku - http://g.co/maps/r25zm

Summary of key Interventions and/or announcements

1.	A variety of organizations and/or countries announced they were contributing funding to the IGF secretariat:
	(Number Resource Organisation (NRO) 
	ISOC (will increase funding from 10K to 50K USD
	UK. Will make 15,000 £ donation (Approx 24, 900 USD)

2.	Azerbaijan – Details of 2012 IGF
	Will take place in November (Week of Nov 5th)
	Will start with (closed) ministerial meeting on the 5th, and IGF will start on the 6th
	Concurs with the Chinese delegation’s view that Human rights should not appear in the nor in the title of the next IGF nor as a key cross cutting theme. 

3.	Brazil – Creation of a UNESCO Regional Centre on the Information Society
	For training of Govts & Civil Society on Internet Governance
	Hopes regional centre will contribute to enhanced knowledge and participation of developing countries at IGF

4.	Argentina – South-South School on Internet Governance
	Will take place 19-23 March in Bogota
	http://www.south-ssig.com.ar/

5.	Kuwait Information Technology Society : 1st Annual Arab IGF
	Will take place in Early Oct, in Kuwait
	Contact : Qusai Al-Shatti, qshatti at gmail.com

6.	IGF Secretariat – IGF update
	Call for MAG candidates was extended until Feb 24th (mostly due to requests by Govts, who have not yet named their reps)
	Special Advisor to the Secretary General has not yet been named.
	This is a prerogative of the Secretary General

	Executive Coordinator Position has not yet been filled

	The UN recruitment office reviewed over 100 applications. Short list has been developed. IGF trust fund does is not yet large enough to support the position and run the secretariat. Filling the position on hold until “adequate funds” are available to appoint someone to the position

	Call for workshop proposals will be issued in March
	Renewed MAG will meet in May (during WSIS week) – week of May 13th. Open IGF consultation – 15 May, Open MAG meeting – 16, 17 May

8.	Proposed Topics (Proposed at the open consultation, not the open MAG meeting)

	Economic development (China)
	Accessibility & Disability (Hungary)
	There should be a focus on “current developments” (Egypt)
	A ministerial meeting should take place the day before (Egypt)
	Cloud Computing (Indonesia)
	Cyber Security (Indonesia)
	Access (Indonesia)
	Multi-Linguisim (Indonesia)
	Internet Filtering (Argentina, CitizenLab, LACNIC, ISOC)
	Privacy (CitizenLab, LACNIC)
	Human Rights (Sweden, Finland, Argentina, APC, CitizenLab)
	Developing Country Perspectives (ICC)
	Economic Growth & Job Creation (Walt Disney/ICC, EU)
	Security, Openness & Privacy (UK, EU, Walt Disney/ICC)
	New Models of sharing content (Argentina)
	Internet Governance for Sustainable development (Pakistan & China)
	Internet Intermediaries
	Critical Internet Resources
	ICTs for disaster management/preparedness 
	ICT for development (Azerbaijan)
	Creating an enabling environment (UK)
	Cloud Computing, particularly in Developing countries (GIIC)
	Social Networks & Role of Youth (Azerbaijan)

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