[governance] Towards true remote participation (was Re: Next IGF in Geneva? How about Berlin?)

[Norbert Bollow]

On Sat, 10 Dec 2016 07:48:32 -0400
Deirdre Williams <williams.deirdre at gmail.com> wrote:

> I suggested we make the technology work for us so -
> earlier in the week I was discussing remote participation with
> someone and the possibility of a "signup sheet" of some type for each
> session was suggested to solve the problem of getting correctly
> spelled names and correct affiliation into the transcript. However
> this has difficulties for those who prefer anonymity.
> The scheduling software which has been used (the circles with
> initials or pictures) might be a way to create the "signup sheet" -
> with the proviso that if you wish to be anonymous or don't want to
> talk you don't sign up?

How about instead of a "signup sheet" creating a "list of active
participants" for each session, where the "active participants"
are those who make an intervention?

I'd envision this per-session "list of active participants" to
include contact information.

When an in-person participant makes an intervention from the floor, the
protocol for collecting this contact information could be as simple as
giving a business card to the person who passes the microphone around.

For panelists and for remote participants, name and contact information
is already collected anyway.

Just listening to a session should IMO not lead to personal information
about that being recorded in any way, and that should IMO be
independent of whether you listen by being personally in the workshop
room or whether you listen via the Internet.

I think it's different when you make an intervention. The IGF is a
public policy process and there is a need for transparency also in
regard to who says something. This need for transparency is not absolute
however. There needs to be room for justified exceptions. For example
it must IMO be accepted for human rights NGOs to arrange for anonymous
interventions from people in situations where their freedom of speech
is not adequately protected. In such cases, the concerned human rights
NGO can still provide some form of contact information. 

Greetings,
Norbert

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