IGF 2014

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Roundtable: Do the elements required to promote the Information Society/Knowledge Economy complement "basic" infrastructural development needs?

Running concurrently with the 2014 IGF is the 3rd International United Nations Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which will be held from 1 to 4 September 2014 in Apia, Samoa (preceded by activities related to the conference from 28 to 30 August 2014, also in Apia, Samoa). The Conference will focus the world’s attention on a group of countries that remain a special case for sustainable development in view of their unique and particular vulnerabilities.

Indeed, this focus is more than timely, given the increasing interest in the economies of SIDS by international Telecommunications companies, matched with the ongoing social, economic and environmental challenges faced within.

Within small island states, basic infrastructural challenges at the social and economic levels have often taken precedence of what may termed "higher order needs".

In other words, issues such as the availability of affordable healthcare, free universal primary and secondary education, safe, potable drinking water, food security, roads and transportation, crime and safety, among others will, in any Government national agenda, naturally take precedence over the development of a knowledge economy, increased and more equitable access to information and knowledge as well as the ability to compete, on more equal terms with counterparts in the developed world.

The 2014 SIDS Roundtable will tackle this constant dilemma and profer solutions to countries engaged in this balancing act on a daily basis and answer the provocative question - "How can issues relating to Internet Governance and Development in Small Island Developing States contribute to solving social and economic challenges?"

AGENDA

1. Opening & Introductions : Moderator (10 mins)

2. Discussant Statements: Maureen Hilyard, Carlton Samuels, Patrick Hosein, Karim Attoumani Mohamed, Anju Mangal (20 mins)

3. Roundtable Discussion with "Kickstart" Questions (30 mins)

- How can issues relating to Internet Governance and Development in Small Island Developing States contribute to solving social and economic challenges?

- Do the elements required to promote the Information Society/Knowledge Economy complement "basic" infrastructural development needs?

4. Discussant Final Responses and Statements (15 mins)

5. Setting the Research and Action Agenda - Next Steps and way Forward (15 mins)

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.

Explains the role and importance of IXPs in encouraging the development of local digital content catalyzing the development of the domestic Internet economy.
The panel will look at the technical, policy and economic principles surrounding domestic Internet traffic exchange and the beneficial impact of IXPs, in developed and developing economies.
Themes addressed will include: the role of IXPs in making regions economically autonomous; how IXPs foster development of local content and culture; how IXPs facilitate cybersecurity and other critical infrastructure like the Domain Name System and Internet businesses.