NATIONAL, (SUB)REGIONAL AND YOUTH IGF INITIATIVES
- Virtual Meeting VII, 5 September 2018, 13:00 p.m. UTC -
SUMMARY REPORT
About
- The 7th virtual meeting of the National, Subregional, Regional and Youth IGF Initiatives (NRIs), took place on 5 September 2018 at 13:00 p.m. UTC.
- 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.
Summary of key points
- The meeting was opened with a few updates shared from the IGF Secretariat, related to the status of the preparatory work for the IGF 2018 annual meeting. These updates were the following:
- Mandatory online registration to attend the 13th annual IGF meeting is open until 3 November 2018
- The BPF on Gender and Access launched a Survey to help developing the final output document. The NRIs were invited to contribute to this process: https://www.intgovforum.org/content/bpf-gender-and-access-0
- The 4th phase of the CENB project calls for inputs until 30 September 2018. The NRIs were invited to contribute to this process: https://www.intgovforum.org/content/cenb-%E2%80%93-phase-iv-0
- It was reminded that the Call for registering Remote Hubs is open until 15 October: https://www.intgovforum.org/igf-2018-remote-hubs
- Following the inquiry from one of the participants, it was informed that the final set of updates on the IGF Village will follow during the next week.
- From the Italian IGF, the coordinator briefed that for this year’s annual meeting, this initiative will launch a Youth IGF Initiative, and currently they communicate with many Youth IGFs for exchanging practices. In addition, this IGF collaborates with the Mission Publiques, an association that helps organizing educational sessions for the community to understand how they can be involved in Internet Governance.
- The coordinator from the Colombian IGF briefed that the 2018 annual meeting of this national IGF will be hosted during this month. On the agenda there are many sessions, such as the multistakeholder model application, access in rural areas, digital economy, human rights etc. The Chair of the MAG will take active participation during the opening ceremony.
- The Host invited participants to review the so far received inputs for developing the policy questions for the NRIs Main Session (Annex A3).
- From the Lebanon IGF, it was suggested to structure the session to allow specific view at the way regional IGFs apply the multistakeholder model for achieving consensus while discussing the Internet policy.
- The IGF-USA followed to the above proposal nothing that this can be addressed under the challenges the NRIs face while applying the multistakeholder model for discussing the Internet governance matters.
- The IGF-USA coordinator suggested that all NRIs look at workshops that are addressing the same or similar subject as the NRIs main session, for understanding the aspects that will be represented in the overall programme. It was underlined that this session should allow visibility for all NRIs through showcasing good practices related to outcomes and challenges on the topic matter.
- From the Korea IGF the importance of the multistakeholder model was emphasized, along with noting that a concrete impact on particular topics though the implementation of the multistakeholder model should be addressed (for example the AI and Ethics). The IGF-USA coordinator followed with a suggestion to keep this approach for the NRIs collaborative sessions.
- The coordinator of the Colombia national IGF added that it is important to hear about the changes the multistakeholder model can make or has made on local levels. It was added that the upcoming annual meeting of the Colombia IGF will specifically discuss this topic, and the outcomes will feed into the IGF 2018 annual meeting.
- The Nigeria IGF and the West Africa IGF coordinator added that it is important to hear perspectives from different stakeholder groups as they vary in substance.
- Some participants noted the importance of addressing the multistakeholder model application on the global level, and in that sense the future of the IGF, as suggested by the Finnish IGF and Ecuador IGF.
- It was agreed that the IGF Secretariat will review all received inputs, and suggest a set of potential policy questions to be reviewed, potentially edited and approved by the NRIs. The soft deadline should be mid of September.
- The NRIs moved to discussing the format of the session. The Host reminded that the IGF-USA has suggested to use the ‘Town Hall’ approach, with structuring the session across the following segments:
- Segment One: 25minutes
- 2 minute statements by 15 -17 NRIs, with regional diversity, and equal treatment of all NRIs - e.g. no special treatment of a regional or sub regional over and National IGF.
- Segment Two: 25 minutes
- 2 minute comments from 15 NRIs [seeking to have different NRIs from Segment One] to reference the key challenges to effect national level changes - 1 minute on challenge/1 minute on concrete recommendation to address the challenge referenced
- Segment Three: 15 Minutes - Open Mike/Q and A - including inclusion of comments/questions received from remote participants
- Summing Up: 10 minutes Rapporteurs and co-moderators sum up with identification of specific messages
- Close by Chair/Host; 3 Minutes
- The Italian IGF coordinator inquired about the criteria this proposed format uses for deciding which of over a hundred recognized NRIs will speak in first two segments.
- The IGF-USA coordinator added that the NRIs will sign up themselves to commit to actively participate in the preparatory proves and speak at the session, as in past years. According to the past experience, between 40 and 50 NRIs attended the 2016 and 2017 IGF annual meetings in person. The majority agreed to have the NRIs Network reminded on the doodle poll where they can indicate their commitment to participate in organizing the NRIs main session, and commitment to speak onsite/online during the session.
- Some raised questions about the allocations of minutes per policy questions as well as when to open the floor for interaction with the wider audience and for how long the speakers should speak. In addition, it was added that knowing the layout of the room would be helpful in deciding on the final session format. The Nigeria IGF and West Africa IGF added that allocating less time to the Q&A form the floor, could allow for more time for the NRIs interventions.
- The Host added that usually the majority of NRIs confirm their onsite attendance closer to the meeting, due to financial counterstains for funding their participation.
- The IGF-USA coordinator suggested that it would be helpful if the NRIs speakers would send their written statements beforehand, for keeping the speaker’s interventions within the limited agreed time and for helping the moderators to prepare.
- The Host added that this is a similar suggestion to the one came from the Brazil IGF during the NRIs Coordination session at the 2017 IGF annual meeting, for documenting the whole preparatory process.
- It was agreed that the IGF Secretariat will take into account all these comments, and come back to the list with proposed alternative models for the format, to be reviewed, updated where necessary and approved by the NRIs.
Next Steps
- A full summary report will be sent to the NRIs mailing list within the next three working days, for further consultations.
- The IGF Secretariat will develop a set of policy quotations based on received inputs from the NRIs, and share with the NRIs for their review and final approval.
- The IGF Secretariat will develop alternative approached to the session format based on received inputs from the NRIs, and share with the NRIs for their review and final approval.
- The IGF Secretariat will remind all NRIs to continue indicating their attendance at the IGF 2018 meeting and commitment to contribute to the NRIs-related activities, via this doodle poll: https://doodle.com/poll/55v68bbpz7pdm3q5
- Next meeting: A doodle poll will be sent in two weeks-time, for scheduling the next virtual meeting.
- For any suggestions or questions regarding the Report, kindly contact the IGF Secretariat, NRIs Focal Point at: anja.gengo@un.org.
ANNEX A1
AGENDA: Virtual Meeting VII
- Welcome and introductions (5 min)
- Updates from the IGF Secretariat and the NRIs Coordinators (10 min)
- NRIs Main Session: policy questions (20 min)
- NRIs Main Session: format (10 min)
- AoB
ANNEX A2
MEETING PARTICIPANTS (in alphabetical order):
- Anja Gengo, IGF Secretariat
- Concettina Cassa, Italy IGF
- Dajana Mulaj, Albania Youth IGF
- EunChang Choi, Korea IGF
- Fanny Salyou, observer
- Fotjon Kosta, Albania IGF
- Julian Casasbuenas G., Colombia IGF
- Katarina Gevorgyan, observer
- Konan Montresor, observer
- Kristina Hakobyan, observer
- Lucien Castex, France IGF
- Makane Faye, African IGF
- Marilyn Cade, IGF-USA
- Mary Uduma, Nigeria IGF, West Africa IGF
- Michel TCHONANG LINZE, Central Africa IGF
- Oksana Prykhodko, Ukraine IGF
- Paul Rowney, Namibia IGF
- Vinicius Santos, Brazil IGF
- Ying-Chu Chen, Taiwan IGF
- Zeina Bou Harb, Lebanon IGF
ANNEX A3
LIST OF SHARED INPUTS
- NRIs inputs to developing policy questions for the NRIs Main Session: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XtftJ6DPVxPnGk8XVK6Zkz_VAZVU7nNSC8Zmf8HH1ck/edit?usp=sharing