IGF 2014

This roundtable will explore the challenges that Internet development innovators faced when trying to make the leap from ideas to solutions, focusing on those ones posed by access to funding, funding mechanisms and business development.

Short interventions from speakers representing the interest from governments, aid agencies, traditional and alternative funding mechanisms, crowd funding platforms, grant and awards competitions will provide a background for funding mechanisms available for those generating innovative solutions for Internet development. Contributors will identify the strengths and weaknesses of those mechanisms.

Short interventions from the Seed Alliance award winners (newcomers to the IGF) will provide examples of the limitations they see in their specific contexts to make use of those mechanisms such as language, proposal development, business case development, regulations, to name a few.

The interventions will be prepared to encourage the audience to make recommendations.

The group will discuss how to incorporate/develop a culture of social responsibility on the IT sector. Key topics to discuss will be social responsibility on a self-regulated market; Infrastructure ownership/management models; Equal opportunities for success in a competitive industry as a key component for growth and development.

In addition to the panellists mentioned, the roundtable will be completed with up to 15 award winners from the Seed Alliance regional programs (FIRE, FRIDA and ISIF Asia). Award selection processes are currently underway to be announced 1 to 2 months before the IGF. Names, affiliations and details to be confirmed once the selection process has being finalized. All winners have their travel to the IGF included as part of the awards prize. They are newcomers to the IGF. Winners come from Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and the Asia Pacific, and will be men and women of different backgrounds, all working on Internet Development.