Internet Governance Forumand

Remote Participation

Internet Society Philippines Chapter(ISOC PH)

Internet Governance Working GroupChairperson: Charity Gamboa-Embley

Venue: ICT@c National Development Forum and ExhibitJuly 29 – August 1, 2009

Manila, Philippines

What is Internet Governance?

“govern”English(verb):

regulate/direct/influence/manage

Tagalog(pandiwa): isaayos/pangasiwaan/

inpluensyahan/pamahala

Definition: as the development and application by governments, private sector and the civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet

…an offshoot from the June 2005 report by the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) after a United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

Reference: http://www.worldsummit2005.de/en/web/762.htm

Internet Governance

Forum

IGF – is a multistakeholder forum for policy dialogue on issues pertaining to Internet Governance

formally introduced by the United Nations Secretary-General last July 2006

The IGF was created after the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society came up with a consensus statement released by the WSIS on November 18, 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Governance_Forumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunis_Agenda_for_the_Information_Society

TUNIS AGENDA

paragraph 72:- called for an open and inclusive process to

convene by the second quarter of 2006;- called for a meeting of a new forum for a

multistakeholder policy dialogue which is now called the Internet Governance Forum

Reference: http://www.intgovforum.org

IGF MANDATE

• Discuss public policy issues related to key elements of Internet governance in order to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of the Internet;

• Facilitate discourse between bodies dealing with cross-cutting international public policies regarding the Internet and discuss issues that do not fall within the scope of any existing body;

• Interface with appropriate inter-governmental organizations and other institutions on matters under their purview;

From the official Internet Governance Forum website[http://www.intgovforum.org]:

• Facilitate the exchange of information and best practices, and in this regard make full use of the expertise of the academic, scientific and technical communities;

• Advise all stakeholders in proposing ways and means to accelerate the availability and affordability of the Internet in the developing world;

• Strengthen and enhance the engagement of stakeholders in existing and/or future Internet governance mechanisms, particularly those from developing countries;

• Identify emerging issues, bring them to the attention of the relevant bodies and the general public, and, where appropriate, make recommendations;

• Contribute to capacity-building for Internet governance in developing countries, drawing fully on local sources of knowledge and expertise;

• Promote and assess, on an ongoing basis, the embodiment of WSIS principles in Internet governance processess;

• Discuss, inter alia, issues relating to critical Internet resources;

• Help to find solutions to the issues arising from the use and misuse of the Internet, of particular concern to everyday users;

• Publish its proceedings

Structure of the IGF

IGF SecretariatExecutive Director:

Markus KummerProgramme and Technology Manager:

Chengetai MasangoLocation:

Geneva, Switzerland

Functionof the IGF

Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG)• An advisory group• Set-up last May 17, 2006 by former UN

Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annan• Originally composed of 46 members from

governments worldwide, private sector, civil society, the academe and technical communities

• Chaired by Nitin Desai who is the Secretary-General’s Adviser for the WSIS

• Assist the Secretary-General in convening the IGFReferences: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Governance_Forum

Activities of the IGF

Dynamic Coalitions

• The StopSpam Alliance – http://stopspamalliance.org

• Dynamic Coalition on Privacy – http://wiki.igf-online.net/wiki/Privacy

• The IGF Dynamic Coalition on Open Standards (IGF DCOS) – http://igf-dcos.org

• The Dynamic Coalition on Access and Connectivity for Remote, Rural and Dispersed Communities – http://www.pacificit.org/dc

• Dynamic Coalition on the Internet Bill of Rights – http://www.internet-bill-of-rights.org/en/

…are informal groups, consisting of different stakeholders, and working on specific and relevant IG-issues

• Dynamic Coalition for Linguistic Diversity – http://maayajo.org/spip.php?article27

• A2K@IGF Dynamic Coalition (Access to Knowledge) – http://www.a2k-igf.org/

• Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media on the Internet (FOEonline) – http://foeonline.wordpress.com/

• Online Collaboration Dynamic Coalition – http://wiki.igf-online.net/wiki/IGF-OCDC

• Gender and Internet Governance (GIG) • Framework of Principles for the Internet• Dynamic Coalition on Child Online Safety• Dynamic Coalition on “Accessibility and Disability” –

http://www.itu.int/accessibility/DC

• Dynamic Coalition for Online EducationReferences: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Governance_Forum

Workshops (and main themes)

• Openness• Security• Diversity• Access• Critical Internet Resources (introduced in the

IGF 2007 Brazil)

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Governance_Forum

Over-all Themes of IGF Meetings

• IGF Greece 2006 in Athens: “Internet Governance for Development”- http://www.igfgreece2006.gr

30 October – 2 November 2006

• IGF Brazil 2007 in Rio de Janeiro: “Internet Governance for Development” (theme was retained) - http://www.igfbrazil2007.br

12 November – 15 November 2006

• IGF India 2008 in Hyderabad: “Internet for All”- http://igf2008.in

03 December – 06 December 2006

• IGF Egypt 2009 in Sharm El Sheikh: “Internet Governance – Creating Opportunities for All”- http://igf09.eg

15 November – 18 November 2009

References: http://www.intgovforum.org

Remote Participation in the IGF

Courtesy of:IGF Remote Participation Working

Group

The Problem

• Some people, for different reasons, cannot attend the IGF

• Some groups particularly suffer the lack of resources and financial support

• The disabled and handicapped may find it easier to attend from home

• Some professionals cannot dedicate the time necessary to travel and attend in person

What are IGF hubs?The hubs are local meetings, which exhibit the webcast of the IGF as well as interact with the people in the event, through text and video questions. They also holds panels and roundtables, to discuss the themes of the IGF from a local perspective. This forum serves as a starting point for the debate of local issues and for the development of a network of interested people. These groups will also add input to strengthen the IGF process.

Main Advantages of Creating a hub:

• Increases the visibility of the IGF meeting• Raises awareness on IG issues• Favors long-term commitment• Favors community building and networking• Favors follow-up initiatives• Supports the IGF goal of greater inclusion• Adds a new group of voices to the IGF

process

Interaction Between Hubs

Interaction Between Hubs

Features

Audio and video from host to hubs

PDF/PowerPoint from host to hubs

Audio/video from hubs to hosts (moderated)

Chat among hubs and host

Chat among hubs

Statistics of 2008• Dimdim was used in 8 different simultaneous rooms: the

main session as well as in the seven workshop rooms. • Dimdim was used for more than 450 event-hours after the

start of the event. • A total of 522 attendees joined the remote meetings over

all the 4 days of the event. This approximates to roughly 130 attendees per day and 16 attendees per room.

• On an average each webmeeting had approximately 4 remote hubs connected.

• On an average there were 15 physical attendees in each workshop room in the venue. So the ratio of physical to remote attendees is approximately 4:1

Remote Hubs Registered for the IGF 2008

• Buenos Aires, Argentina• São Paulo, Brazil• Bogota, Colombia• Pune, India• Lahore, Pakistan• Belgrade, Serbia• Barcelona, Spain• Madrid, Spain (2 hubs)

Belgrade Hub

Sao Paulo Hub

Testimonial

"Remote participation possibility is a unique chance to become involved in the process and feel a part of it. (...) I even posted a message and just in a couple of minutes I heard that it was announced for the participants. This make me feel as if I were there and took a microphone and said whatever I wanted to say. That is why it is a great tool and this experience of remote participation should be continued for future meetings as well”.

(Siranush Vardanyan, Armenia)

For further questions/information:http://www.isoc.ph/portal

www.igfremote.org (best viewed using Mozilla Firefox; new face for

the website will be out soon)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Governance_Forum

(translated in Deutsch, Francais, Chinese, Portugues, Kinyarwanda, Tagalog)

http://tl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagpupulong_sa_Pamamahala_ng_Internet

Contact:

info@igfremote.orgCharityG@diplomacy.edu

References:

• http://www.intgovforum.org• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Internet_Governance_Forum• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Tunis_Agenda_for_the_Information_Society• http://www.worldsummit2005.de/en/web/

762.htm