IGF 2014 sub theme that this workshop fall under

IGF & The Future of the Internet Ecosystem

Description

Ever since the WSIS and WGIG a decade ago, many have argued that there is an important gap in the distributed institutional architecture of global IG. We lack ways to perform holistic, ongoing monitoring and analysis of policy-related developments, and to aggregate and disseminate information needed to make fully informed decisions. This is especially the case with so-called “orphaned” and multidimensional issues that do not fit neatly within any single organization. Where then can governments and stakeholders turn for accessibly formulated and usable information on policy, best practices, and lessons learned, and to connect with sources of experience and expertise in order to construct governance networks that can help identify forward-looking solutions?

Recently, there has been a number of proposals about this informational function. They vary not only in their details but even in how they label what is proposed, e.g. a clearing house, knowledge bank, observatory, policy network facilitator, IGF+, etc. While none of the labels fully capture the ideas in play, there is growing interest in moving forward, as is evidenced by the dialogues and initiatives in the IGF, WGEC, NETmundial, the High Level Panel, EC, ISOC, civil society, academic organizations, etc. Accordingly, the NonCommercial Users Constituency of ICANN (includes 94 organizations and 252 individuals in 81 countries) proposes this workshop to help advance and give shape to the discussion. The panelists and audience would brainstorm on such questions as: What, substantively and operationally, would be entailed by the function? What would be needed to institutionalize and perform it effectively? Which organizations would be involved, with what kinds of interrelationships?

Name(s) and stakeholder and organizational affiliation(s) of institutional co-organizer(s)

Joana Varon Ferraz
Civil society/ Academia
Researcher and Project Coordinator, Center for Technology and Society (CTS/FGV)

Lee Hibbard
Intergovernmental Organisations
The Council of Europe

Lea Kaspar
Civil Society
Programme Lead, Global Partners Digital

Tarek Kamel
Technical Community
Senior Advisor to the President for Government Engagement, ICANN

Markus Kummer
Technical Community
Vice President of Public Policy, The Internet Society

William Drake
Civil society/ Academia
Media Change and Innovation Division, Institute of Mass Communication and Media Research, University of Zurich

Paul Diaz
Technical Community
.Org The Public Interest Registry

Thomas Schneider
Government
Federal Office of Communication, Government of Switzerland

Has the proposer, or any of the co-organizers, organized an IGF workshop before?

yes

The link to the workshop report

http://www.wgig.org/igf/cms/2013/workshop.254.report.docx

Type of session

Panel

Duration of proposed session

90 minutes

Subject matter #tags that describe the workshop

#internetgovernance #IGclearinghouses #IGobservatories #NCUC

Names and affiliations (stakeholder group, organization) of speakers the proposer is planning to invite

Tarek Kamel
Technical Community
Senior Advisor to the President for Government Engagement, ICANN
Confirmed

Lea Kaspar
Civil Society
Programme Lead, Global Partners Digital
Confirmed

Wolfgang Kleinwachter
Civil Society/ Academia
Professor Emeritus at the University of Aarhus and Member of the ICANN Board
Confirmed

Markus Kummer
Technical Community
Vice President of Public Policy, The Internet Society
Confirmed

Alice Munyua
Intergovernmental Organisations
Advisor to the Government RNL, African Union Commission
Confirmed

Megan Richards
Intergovernmental Organisations
Principal Adviser, European Commission
Confirmed

Name of Moderator(s)

William Drake

Name of Remote Moderator(s)

Joana Varon

Description of how the proposer plan to facilitate discussion amongst speakers, audience members and remote participants

To make the discussion as interactive and participatory as possible, the workshop would eschew the model of serial talking heads giving detailed stand-alone presentations. In advance of the meeting, the moderator and panelists would agree online to a baseline set of questions to be addressed. The workshop would begin with brief opening position statements from the panelists, followed by interactive, “talk show” style discussion of the questions, prompted by the moderator. About half-way through the session, the floor would be opened to bring the in-room and remote participants into the conversation.

Description of the proposer's plans for remote participation

The moderator will pose questions to the in-room and remote participants. The remote moderator will convey any interventions by remote participants.

Background paper

background paper