NATIONAL, REGIONAL AND YOUTH IGF INITIATIVES
- Virtual Meeting IV, 20 June 2018, 14:00 p.m. UTC -
SUMMARY REPORT
About
1. The 4th virtual meeting of the National, Regional and Youth IGF Initiatives (NRIs), took place on 20 June 2018 at 14:00 p.m. UTC.
2. The meeting was hosted by the IGF Secretariat’s NRIs Focal Point. Agenda is attached to this document as Annex A1 and a list of Meeting Participants as Annex A2. The list of shared documents is attached to this report as Annex A3.
3. The Host asked the participants to review the shared agenda for its final approval. From the IGF-USA, it was suggested to add under the AoB a discussion on the potential identification system of the participants at the NRIs meetings. With this addition, the agenda was adopted (Annex A1).
Summary of key points
4. The meeting was opened with a few updates shared from the IGF Secretariat, related to the status of the organizational process for hosting the 2018 (13th) annual IGF meeting. These updates were the following:
• The thirteenth Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will be hosted by the Government of France at the headquarters of the UNESCO in Paris from 12 to 14 November 2018.
• The second Open Consultations and Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) meeting of the IGF 2018 preparatory cycle will be hosted from 11 to 13 July in Room XI at the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), Switzerland. Registration is open until 8 July.
• Calls for: DC Sessions, Open Forums, an IGF Village are OPEN until 29 June 2018.
• IGF Workshop proposals are published at the IGF website (total number received: 346), currently subject to MAG’s evaluation process.
• The outcome document on the ‘Youth Engagement at the IGF and ways for improvements’ is available for public comments until 6 July 2018.
• IGF Secretariat and the MAG Chair have attended EuroDIG. During the meeting, the NRIs Assembly was hosted, that brought interesting perceptions from the NRIs and from other stakeholders on the NRIs integration in the IGF programme. One said that the NRIs should feed into the existing sessions, while others said that the NRIs should work on improving formats of its sessions. The Host noted that it was in particularly useful to meet with a number of the national IGFs present, as well as with several supporting organizations to various NRIs and the IGF.
• Status of the NRIs publication: the IGF Secretariat is currently interviewing the NRIs from the GRULAC region. Some NRIs were interviewed during the EuroDIG meeting.
• Newly recognized NRIs are the national IGFs of El Salvador and Gambia.
5. From the Arab IGF, participants were updated that this regional IGF has reinitiated the process after the 2-year evaluation of the so far implemented process in finalized. The new Arab IGF Charter has been adopted, and the first Open Consultations and the MAG meeting should be hosted from 17 to 19 July 2018. It was noted that the annual meeting is expected to be hosted by the end of this year. The Coordinator remarked that the most important characteristic of the Charter is that the community asked for the Secretariat’s role to be rotated. In this sense, the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) Egypt will carry the Secretariat’s responsibility for the 2018 Arab IGF cycle, and after that, a process for rotation will be initiated.
6. After these updates, the participants moved to discussing the next agenda item focused on the topic of the NRIs Joint/Main Session at the 2018 IGF.
7. The Host reminded that the MAG did not finalize its decision on allocating the main sessions. It was added that the MAG was informed about the NRIs request to organize a main session, through sending a formal Explanatory Note to the MAG Chair. It was briefly said that some of the MAG members expressed opinion that the NRIs participation should aim for their integration at the existing sessions, and not for developing separate session track; while some other MAG members noted that the collaboration with the NRIs is important and that the Network should have a dedicated slot in the programme, with some MAG, members adding that before making any decision, it is important to know the substantive focus of that session, in order to avoider any duplications with other topics.
8. The Host added that this year’s IGF annual meeting will be shorter for one day, and in total its duration will be three days.
9. The Host presented the final results of the NRIs Call for inputs for determining the final topic for the NRIs session. As agreed, the results were clustered in line with the IGF’s thematic tags, and in the order of a priority. The presented results were the following:
• 34 NRIs responded to the Call (27 national IGFs, 5 (sub)regionals, 2 youth IGFs);
• Priority tags and first results:
o Cybersecurity, Trust & Privacy (35 inputs received);
o Digital Inclusion & Accessibility (14 inputs received);
o Emerging Technologies (15 inputs received);
o Evolution of Internet Governance (20 inputs received);
o Human Rights, Gender & Youth (7 inputs received);
o Development, Innovation & Economic Issues (11 inputs received);
o Media & Content (0 inputs received); and
o Technical & Operational Topics (0 inputs received).
10. The Host reminded on the agreed approach of the NRIs to submit to the MAG the three best rated topics in the order of a priority, for satisfying the criteria of the diversity among the IGF programme discussion topics. In this context, the Host reminded that the IGF MAG is in the process of reviewing the received workshop proposals; but that however among the overall number of received workshop proposals, the biggest number was focused on the cybersecurity. In addition, this year’s IGF intersessional work is focused on the cybersecurity through its Best Practice Forum.
11. Given the above indication, and the nature of the IGF process implemented at the national and regional levels, all participants have agreed that the NRIs Joint/Main session should be focused on the second placed tag: Evolution of Internet Governance.
12. The Host invited all present participants to share views on what should be the objectives of this sessions; what do the NRIs want to achieve and on what concrete aspects the session should focus on.
13. There were a couple of proposals shared. From the EuroDIG, it was said that the structure of the NRIs Joint/Main session could be similar to the NRIs Assembly hosted during the 11th EuroDIG’s meeting. It was explained that this session allowed for an expert speaker to liaise with the NRIs on the importance, implementation and improvements of the multistakeholder model. This approach allowed for raising some very important aspects of the multistakeholder model, such for example is the way decisions are made through consensus, but also how do different communities understand this notion. It was said that many participants were satisfied with this approach, and were very engaged in the discussion process. The full report for the NRIs Assembly is available at the EuroDIG’s website: https://eurodigwiki.org/wiki/NRI_Assembly_2018#Report. In addition, it was advised to avoid using the term ‘Internet Governance’ in the session title, given that many communities have different understanding of it, and also that the translation to other languages is challenging and can be misleading. It would be more pragmatical and clear if the NRIs would title the session with using concrete term that falls under the Internet governance. The EuroDIG suggested as an example the title: ‘Is the multistakeholder model sustainable for the future?’, and added as an example, a title from one of the EuroDIG 2012 sessions: ‘Who sets the rules for the Internet?’. A number of the NRIs noted that focusing the NRIs main session on the principle of multistakeholderism is a good approach. The IGF of Italy suggested as a potential topic: ‘How to push the multistakeholder model?’, with suggesting that it could be useful to develop some drawing for explaining the elements the multistakeholder model consists of. The Ukraine IGF added a suggestion: ‘The influence of national IGFs on decision making process on IG issues in countries’. From the Benin IGF, it was noted that explain the multistakeholder is important, as different understandings across countries and even stakeholders are misleading. This view was supported followed by the Ukraine IGF. The Trinidad and Tobago IGF however, underlined that many countries have not yet reached significant level of debates on the multistakeholder approach, given that they are struggling with showcasing the relevance of implementing the IGF process.
From the IGF-USA, it was said that the NRIs should not avoid using the term Internet governance, as by their nature, that is their core focus and the burden of explaining its true meaning is on the NRIs. This initiative endorsed the proposal from the Trinidad and Tobago IGF, that the NRIs main session could focus on the ‘Interplay between the national, regional, youth and global IGF’.
14. Several suggestions were raised in regards to the importance of the format of the session. The Host took note of all suggestions, and proposed that the participants now focus on defining the title, and have the format discussed after the title is defined, with noting that all participants said that the last year’s format needs improvements in order to achieve the best quality of the session. The Host suggested that the NRIs Session Principals from the 2017 could be review by the NRIs, refreshed and adopted for this IGF cycle.
15. It was agreed that the NRIs will consult their core organizing teams on the particular aspects the NRIs Joint/Main Session should focus on within an agreed broad topical orientation that is: Evolution of Internet Governance. It was agreed to set up a soft deadline of seven working days for informing the Secretariat about final views of the NRIs on this matter.
16. The Host reminded that the IGF MAG Chair was informed about the NRIs request for having the collaborative sessions be continued. It was added that the NRIs coordination session will traditionally continue, with the NRIs deciding the agenda starting from early September 2018. The Host confirmed that a request for the NRIs to have a booth at the IGF Village has been submitted.
17. From the IGF-USA, it was suggested that the NRIs develop an identification system for each of the meetings. The following identification categories were suggested:
a) Coordinator [Name of NRI]
b) Co-coordinator [Name of NRI]
c) Participant in [name the NRI]
d) Observer or Contributor: [who?]
The Host said the registration form for the online meetings cannot be changed or adjusted, as that is the fixed template from the 3rd company. There was a broad agreement that this approach can be taken when the NRIs participants at online and onsite meetings orally introduce themselves.
18. In conclusion, the Host reminded that all discussed items and meeting outcomes will be subject for the NRIs Network to comment on, and potentially object, within the next seven working days, for reaching the bottom up consensus.
Next Steps
19. A full summary report will be sent to the NRIs mailing list within the next three working days, for further consultations.
20. The IGF Secretariat will call all NRIs to suggest aspects the NRIs Joint/Main Session should focus within an agreed broader topical framework: Evolution of Internet Governance. All inputs should be sent to the IGF Secretariat within seven working days, starting from the day this Report will be shared.
21. Next meeting: A doodle poll will be sent in two weeks-time, for scheduling the next virtual meeting.
22. For any suggestions or questions regarding the Report, kindly contact the IGF Secretariat, NRIs Focal Point at: [email protected].
ANNEX A1
AGENDA: Virtual Meeting IV
1. Welcome and introductions (with NRIs and IGF Secretariat updates)
2. NRIs Joint/Main Session: final topic and general principles for its format
3. Brief reflections on the NRIs Collaborative Sessions, NRIs Coordination Session and NRIs Booth
4. NRIs registration process for meetings (added by IGF-USA)
5. AoB
ANNEX A2
MEETING PARTICIPANTS (in alphabetical order):
1. Anja Gengo, IGF Secretariat
2. Baudouin SCHOMBE, DR Congo IGF
3. Christine Arida, Arab IGF and North Africana IGF
4. Concettina CASSA, Italy IGF
5. Dajana Mulaj, Albania Youth IGF
6. Dušan Caf, Slovenia IGF and SEEDIG
7. Franck KOUYAMI, Bénin IGF
8. Judith Hellerstein, IGF-USA
9. Keisuke Kamimura, Japan IGF
10. Kristina Hakobyan, Armenia IGF
11. Lianna Galstyan, Armenia IGF and SEEDIG
12. Mahamat Silim Moustapha, Youth Africa IGF
13. Maheeshwara Kirindigoda, Sri Lanka IGF
14. Makane Faye, Africa IGF
15. Mard Diana, Indonesia IGF
16. Marilyn Cade, IGF-USA
17. Mary Uduma, Nigeria IGF and West Africa IGF
18. Michel LINZE, Cameron IGF
19. Nathalia Sautchuk, Brazil IGF
20. Oksana Prykhodko, community member
21. Paul Rowney, Namibia IGF
22. Sandra Hoferichter, EuroDIG
23. Sorina Teleanu, SEEDIG
24. Su Sonia Herring, Youth Turkey IGF, SEEDIG
25. Tracy Hackshaw, Trinidad & Tobago IGF
26. Ying-Chu Chen, community member
27. Zoraida Frias, Spain IGF
28. Tian Luo, China IGF
ANNEX A3
LIST OF SHARED INPUTS:
• NRIs Joint/Main Session: overview of received inputs: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/170tBzmT58MZ7zpC83g36SXTwl_i6ipY…;
• EuroDIG 2018: Full report for the NRIs Assembly: https://eurodigwiki.org/wiki/NRI_Assembly_2018#Report.
• Updates from the IGF Secretariat [see in the attached .pdf]
• Overview of the receivd results to the Call for inpouts for the NRIs Joint/Main Session [see in the attached .pdf]