[governance] The world has changed but we haven't.

[Akinremi Peter Taiwo (via governance Mailing List)]

Thanks Ian Peter for broaden the discussion. So the discussion about
merging has IGC, Bestbits and JNC in view.

Regards.
Peter.

On Wed, Dec 19, 2018, 12:13 AM ian.peter at ianpeter.com <
ian.peter at ianpeter.com wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> My state of health makes travelling on long flights to crowded halls in
> northern hemisphere winters too much of a risk, so my involvement in
> internet governance issues will remain peripheral. But I remain an
> interested observer and do hope that the efforts of those seeking change to
> create a more effective civil society presence do succeed. There is a lot
> to do out there and it would be good to see the way forward for effective
> civil society involvement.
>
> Forgive me for such a wide ranging post as this, but given the
> conversations that have started up here I think it is worthwhile to add a
> wider perspective to the discussions on civil society involvement in
> “internet governance”.
>
> There was a point of time when the Internet Governance Caucus (IGC) was a
> lively and all inclusive forum for civil society people and organisations
> interested in internet governance. That relates back to a time when the
> term was new, as was the internet to many people. In those days IGC was
> capable of working together and coming up with good joint statements on
> issues.
>
> But then there were political splits, and Just Net Coalition (JNC) and
> Best Bits (BB) sprung up to ensure that specific viewpoints were given
> emphasis.
>
> But of late neither BB or JNC has been very active – nor has IGC. (I note
> that the JNC website has no new entries in 2018, nor has its blog, and if I
> am not wrong their public mailing list has also been inactive for this
> period).
>
> So all three appear to be in a state of inertia. It is definitely time for
> something to happen, but what exactly is a bit of a dilemma.
>
> Lets say that we let bygones be bygones and all three groups decided to
> merge again into one? Will that create a useful civil society forum?
>
> Of itself, I don't think so. (3*0=0). What is needed is changes to make
> civil society involvement in these issues more widespread, representative
> and credible. And I think that is going to involve greater changes, and
> also a very strong outreach campaign.
>
> So let me begin by saying the term internet governance is becoming about
> as relevant as television governance. There is nothing generic left to do,
> but there are plenty of emerging issues around the internet where civil
> society needs to present a strong voice.
>
> Apart from digital inclusion, big issues out there include privacy, human
> rights, media domination, cybersecurity, cyberwarfare, digital distortion
> etc: and they come up in separate discussions concerning internet of
> things, artificial intelligence etc as well as in political discussions on
> terrorism, national security and related subjects. Mostly these days these
> issues are addressed in separate fora by different groups: often
> governmental, but sometimes also involving the big dominant players (Google
> Facebook etc.) In most cases civil society presence is either absent or
> weak, and its not sensible to think that the same people can represent our
> interests in this wide range of activities.
>
> So I think a new revived IGC would see its primary role as ensuring
> relevant groups and individual experts get involved in emerging fora
> looking at specific issues. Let eg Privacy International or Human Rights
> Watch be our representative when these issues come up: involve individual
> experts like Tim Wu and Bruce Schneier on issues such as media
> concentration and security:
>
> Then I think we are getting towards a meaningful role and involvement
> where civil society involvement will be respected, and IGC could play a
> meaningful ongoing role that extends well beyond getting together annually
> at an IGF (if it continues).
>
> Then there is what to do with CSCG. If, as I suggest, BB, JNC and IGC end
> up as one group again, What is the future of CSCG? Only APC remains as an
> active organisation at this stage. I think here thought needs to be given
> to outreach as well – if for instance there was an agreement that privacy
> and human rights were our two biggest issues, why not invite prominent
> civil society organisations in those areas to join in?
>
> Anyway, something needs to be done in all these areas. People whose terms
> of office have ended have not been replaced because of the inertia. I think
> and hope someone can jump up and take a lead to get civil society working
> well in these areas. I see lots of excellent new voices who want to do
> this, and I encourage action!
>
>
> Ian Peter (ex co-ordinator of IGC and also Chair of CSCG for a while way
> back then....)
>
>
>
>
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