IGF 2014

European Network between Belgian and Romanian colleges to improve education through ICT. 

Speaker: Professor Anne-Marie Laulan (female), CNRS-ICC

How young displaced Syrians use Raspberry Pi to create a future for themselves? 

Speakers: 

Professor May ABDALLAH (female), Beirut, Lebanon, international e-diaspora specialist

Mr. Farid Toumi (Agadir, Morrocco), specialist in Berber language on the internet through the diaspora

The Internet Society decided to establish a legal structure with the objective of achieving stable and sustainable funding for the IGF. The constituent General Assembly of the Internet Governance Forum Support Association, as it will be named, will be held on 1 September, 12:30-14:00 in Room 4. Main objective of the Association will be to raise funds to contribute to the United Nations IGF Trust Fund and support related activities. The Association will provide a complementary funding mechanism to the IGF Trust Fund and will also fund national and regional IGF initiatives and additional fellowships for participation in IGF-related meetings at national, regional and global levels.

More details: http://www.internetsociety.org/news/internet-society-establish-association-support-internet-governance-forum

The even will host discussion on Internet applications in six African languages ​​spoken in three countries, to assist migrants in their daily lives and a MOOC ICT training in local African language.

The Internet is viewed as a source of employment growth in the ICT sector and in creating new opportunities in the overall economy. However, it is also clear that the Internet is imposing a significant reorganization on businesses, affecting labor demand and therefore employment.
The net effects of the Internet on jobs are still poorly understood. Unemployment represents a significant challenge in OECD countries. In particular, the level of youth unemployment is alarming. The necessary condition to tackle these challenges is to reignite growth and ensure people have the necessary education, skills and Internet access to take advantage of new opportunities.
Technological change has always had disruptive effects on employment, at least at the early stage of its diffusion. Nonetheless, while for earlier technologies, such as the steam engine or electricity, the growth of productivity, employment and median income was in the same direction, with ICTs the growth of productivity has seemingly been decoupled from jobs and income. According to Brynjolfsson and McAfee this divergence is created by the very nature of the digital economy able to offer goods and services to an increasing number of additional customers at a cost close to zero.
The workshop will focus on how the Internet could help in reducing this divergence, contributing to the creation of the new ICT and entrepreneurial skills required by the labor market and allowing for increasing significantly scale and customization of actions. Furthermore, the workshop will explore how more inclusive global Internet governance could improve social equality.

Members of the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee, GAC, welcome all interested to this Open Forum. We plan for it to be an opportunity to get to know and better understand the GAC and its role in the internet governance ecosystem. Volunteer GAC-members will describe the operation and dynamics of the GAC that leads to the Communiqué that follows each GAC meeting. You will take part of examples of how GAC-members prepare at their capitals for GAC-meetings, how the GAC agenda and work priorities are established and how members interact during the meeting and intersessional to arrive at consensus GAC positions. Presentations will include the role of GAC and GAC advice in the ICANN by-laws. GAC-members may share narrations of negotiations in the GAC. The purpose with this information session is for the GAC to reach out and increase transparency and understanding of our role and deliberations. We plan a format with presentations and lively interaction. Your active participation is very welcome!

Agenda:
1100 Welcome 
Moderator: Anders Hektor, Sweden
Background and purpose for this session and what will happen. 

Remote moderator: Ana Neves, Portugal 

1105 GAC Basics 
Thomas Schneider, Switzerland
Institutional and political context: GAC in the By-Laws, & GAC Operating Procedures, Members, Representatives & Observers, Chair & Vice-Chairs, and related.
+ GAC web, Online register, support from ICANN for travel, training, newcomers, etc. 

1115 Preparing to participate, Intersessional work and Working Groups 
Jandyr Santos , Brazil / Wanawit Ahkuputra, Thailand / Ashwin Sasongko, Indonesia / Olga Cavalli, Argentina / Peter Major, Hungary
The moderator interviews members on their position or role in their government, other responsibilities in their work portfolio, resources/opportunity to participate in GAC meetings and intersessional work, preparing for meetings etc. 

Manal Ismail, Egypt
Overview of Working Groups and the degree of work going on outside of meetings.

1135 GAC-Communique
Imad Y. Hobballah, Lebanon
Structuring, negotiating and writing the Communique. 

Alice Munyua, African Union Commission
Narrative of historical GAC-Advice that illustrates that outcome is a negotiated result. 

1155 Q&A
Questions and discussion / Feed-back & comments to improve future GAC Open Forums are welcome at gacsec@gac.icann.org

1230 End

Transparency reporting by international ICT companies about the legal requests they receive, demanding disclosure of user data or takedowns of content, is quickly becoming common. Less common is transparency reporting by governments, although some countries are beginning to issue rudimentary data about their requests to companies.

The growing prevalence of transparency reports raises important questions about the role of such reporting in the future of Internet governance. What standards are developing around these reports, and how can those standards be internationalized and enforced? How effective are these reports as a governance mechanism for insuring accountability and respect for human rights online by both ICT companies and governments, and how could they be made more effective? How have policy makers and civil society advocates been making use of this new set of data to impact how the Internet is governed, and how could it be used better?

Join us for a panel discussion bringing together academics, advocates and ICT companies to lay out the state of the art in transparency reporting, identify its strengths and shortcomings as a tool for Internet governance, recount the experiences of companies and advocates that have developed or made use of transparency reports to promote human rights and inform Internet governance processes, and propose goals and best practices for the transparency reporting field that we hope to see fulfilled in the future.

The session aims at identifying new trends in the production, distribution and sharing of creative content in the digital environment. We are in the middle of a great migration of content from analogue to digital. There is a change in roles of the different players along the value chain and an accompanying shift in how each of these players will be compensated for their work.
The online environment is providing access to an unprecedented, and, in some instances, overwhelming quantity of information and content. In the analogue environment, media, news, education, music, and gaming products are primarily created and distributed by the content industry. The Internet however is awash with a huge number of accessible creations generated by individuals. User-generated content (UGC) is experiencing a steady growth in terms of social and economic importance. The session will look at the main economic, legal and social challenges linked to emerging platforms and innovative business models flourishing on the web. In particular panelists will contribute to the ongoing debate around the intertwined relations between industry-generated content and UGC. Understanding their roles in sectors such as media, education or social networks will be crucial to approach challenges linked to IP regulation, both law and policy. Increasingly, media industry proactively engages with consumers and approaches UGC as an asset rather than an alternative to their business. Values of Paragraph 72 of the Tunis Agenda, such as “Facilitate the exchange of Information and best practices...” and “Identify emerging issues, bring them to the attention of the relevant bodies and the general public...” will serve as a framework for the discussion.

Copyright law has been struggling to adapt to the dynamic impact of Internet and digital technologies for some time. Originally a mechanism put in place to promote creation by ensuring fair rewards for creators, copyright laws have become, in important respects, a barrier to a strong digital economy and an impediment to promote access to knowledge and innovation. In this changing context, new beneficiaries of copyright protection, and new ways of framing copyright policy, have emerged.
This workshop considers the evolution of copyright policy and reform over the past half century, with the emergence of the Internet intensifying copyright debates and advocacy agendas. On the one hand, creators and distributors have, to a certain extent, benefited from stronger protections for their works online. On the other hand, users and consumers have more legitimacy in asking for improved access to information and culture online.
There is a greater diversity of stakeholders invested in copyright law and policy than ever before, with their own perspectives on the ultimate goals of copyright reform. In this environment, do our traditional understandings of the scope and purpose of copyright still stand?
Panelists will consider the evolution of copyright law over the past half century, and query whether our understandings of copyright law should be redefined for the World Wide Web and a sustainable Internet (Article 72, Tunis Agenda). If the answer is yes, this discussion will work towards identifying a redefined purpose of copyright, and key principles for a fully web-integrated copyright framework.

Workshop Agenda:
1. 5 min theme introduction and presentation of the main issues (Ellen Broad - IFLA)
2. 10 min for each speaker to answer the proposed questions
3. 25 for public debate

The Economic and Social Council has tasked the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) with conducting a ten-year review of the progress made in the implementation of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) outcomes.* As part of this review, the Economic and Social Council requested the Commission to collect inputs from all stakeholders. The objective of this consultation is to provide opportunity to all stakeholders to share any experiences and insights believed to be of value for the ten-year review.

The discussion will center around the following questions: 

• To what extent has a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society developed in the 10 years since the WSIS?

• How far do you consider the implementation of WSIS outcomes to have been achieved?

• What are the challenges to the implementation of WSIS outcomes and to the emergence of a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information Society?

• What should be the priorities for stakeholders seeking to achieve WSIS outcomes and progress towards the Information Society in the post-2015 development agenda?

* More information of the CSTD's ten-year review of the implementation of WSIS outcomes is available at:
http://unctad.org/en/Pages/CSTD/WSIS-10yearReview.aspx

Digital technologies and the Internet offer tremendous opportunities for the creation and distribution of content, enabling users to express themselves and reach their audiences in unprecedented ways. At the same time, the advancement of digital technologies relating to identification and rights management has brought to the market increasingly efficient and affordable solutions to deal with potentially illegal material.

However, due to the complexity of the contextual assessments required to determine the legality of such material, these solutions are far from perfect. For this reason, it is crucial that technical solutions be deployed in conjunction with safeguards preventing their abuse, and ensuring the respect of due process, privacy and freedom of expression of the parties involved.

Increasingly, these safeguards depend on the terms and conditions adopted by online platforms, and the procedures through which they operate. Therefore, it seems appropriate to shift the discussion on intermediary liability to a focus on “responsibility”, in order to promote human rights-compliant procedures to content management.

This workshop aims to bring together a variety of stakeholders to discuss the problems associated with content removal in two distinct scenarios: copyright infringement and offensive (including indecent and defamatory) content.

While each of these scenarios presents peculiarities that may call for different approaches, they share in the need to provide a quick and effective remedy for potential victims without unduly restricting human rights. Ultimately, the workshop aims to identify best practices that Internet platforms can adopt to that end.

During IGF 2013, a session was held to discuss emerging issues related to fair trade and taxation of virtual goods. During the session, and throughout the week, issues related to the need for payment standards on the Web were raised. These issues were taken to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Technical Plenary (TPAC 2013) and discussed. The result of those discussions solidified into a plan to hold a global Web Payments workshop in 2014.

In March 2014, the W3C hosted the first ever Workshop on Web Payments in Paris, France. The result of the two day workshop was consensus around the desire to address a number of problems related to sending and receiving money on the Web. Potential standardization targets focused on identity, initiating payments, digital wallets, and verifiable digital receipts.

Trust is a fundamental part of many financial transactions, and while the role of establishing trusted identities on the Internet was seen as vital, it was clear that the policy discussion would require a more in-depth multi-stakeholder approach.

Ensuring that any identity standard will be flexible enough to 1) align with national and international laws, 2) protect privacy and anonymity, and 3) not aid mass surveillance initiatives, while 4) working in concert with international anti-terrorism-funding laws requires input from civil society, government, intergovernmental organizations, private sector, and the technical community.

Agenda
------

1. An Introduction to Web Identity (15-20 minutes, by panelists)
2. Web Identity Use Cases (30 minutes, group discussion)
3. Privacy and Regulatory Concerns (30 minutes, group discussion)
4. Government Input and Coordination (15 minutes, group discussion)

Attendees are urged to watch the speaker presentations BEFORE the event as only a brief “less than 5 minute, no slides overview” will be provided for each during the event. In this “no presentations” 90 minute group work session, attendees will generate input that will be fed into this year's W3C Technical Plenary (October 2014). The input provided by the IGF community will include comments on what an Internet Identity system should and shouldn’t do from a technical, privacy, surveillance, taxation, and legal policy perspective.

Policy Questions
----------------

1. Should the Web/Internet have an extensible identity mechanism as a part of it's core architecture?
2. Should the identity mechanism be globally decentralized, centralized at each government, or something else?
3. Should privacy and pervasive monitoring be primary design concerns?
4. How should the technology interface with the regulatory environment in the nations in which it operates?
5. What regulatory hurdles does such a technology face?
6. Which groups and governments should have an ongoing interest in this activity?

Videos
------
Check out the YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmwV_GNAvYmA4Qtssit6_U5AgLGYodxtI

ICANN holds an Open Forum at the IGF meeting every year to update participants on the progress that ICANN has made in its various processes since the last IGF. This year’s Open Forum is an opportunity for ICANN to engage in discussions with participants and exchange views with them on a number of developments that are underway such as: 
• ICANN five-year strategic plan (2016-2020);
• ICANN Strategy Panels;
• Implementation of Accountability and Transparency Review Team (ATRT) recommendations;
• New gTLD program; and
• Regional strategies and ongoing globalization efforts.
This is an interactive session with ICANN executives and representatives of its various constituencies engaging in an open dialogue with IGF participants on any ICANN related issues that might interest the audience. 
Anyone with interest in what ICANN does, from all stakeholders of governments, private sector, civil society, technical and academic community. 

Among the panelists will be ICANN President and CEO, ICANN Board Directors, and representatives from the broader ICANN community, including from ICANN’s Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees.

The adoption of (Internet) standards and best practices is a topic of much interest in improving cyber security and deterring cyber crime. In order for either standards or best practices to be effective, they must both be developed and be adopted. Achieving wide-scale adoption can be slow, as it requires building awareness and gaining consensus on practices. One key issue is who bears the responsibility for the implementation of standards and best practices. Another issue is the effect of (non-) adoption on Internet security.

In The Netherlands, standards and best-practice implementation is part of the Dutch government's medium-term vision for telecommunication, media and Internet. This discussion process is supported by organisations like SIDN, NLnet Labs, RIPE NCC, SURFnet; key players with global impact.

Adoption of standards and best practices promoting cybersecurity is a multi national topic. NLIGF proposes to organise a paneldiscussion on this issue, addressing it from a global scope. Topics include the stakeholders and bodies that can or should develop standards and best practices, cooperation between these bodies and the process of deciding which issues to prioritize. The roles of consumers, industry, government in (non-)adoption is looked at, as well as the cost allocation of implementation. The panel will also consider how to ensure that developing nations can contribute to and take advantage of standards and best practices for cybersecurity and discuss new partnerships. Panellists range as wide as the topics are. The respective points of view of the panellists are part of this proposal.

The African Internet Governance Forum (AfIGF) was launched on 30 September 2011, at a workshop organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Union Commission (AUC) held during the 6th IGF in Nairobi, to act as a platform for an inclusive multilateral, multi-stakeholder and multilingual discussion on issues pertinent to the Internet in Africa in general and Internet Governance issues in particular. As stated in its terms of reference, the AfIGF shall meet every year at different venue in each region and at the IGF venue and wherever possible during Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) consultation which are held between two Internet Governance Forum.
In this workshop proposal, we address the major issues for the future of Internet in Africa. The issues we may address include:

1. Advances on the ICANN front
2. dotAfrica status and way forward
3. Changes at the AfIGF secretariat + working methods

This year, 2014, has been declared the United Nations (UN) International Year of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) celebrating their ‘vibrant and distinct cultures, diversity and heritage’ and recognising their people being ‘at the forefront of efforts to address pressing global issues through ingenuity, innovation and use of traditional knowledge’.

The data that results from Internet access and mobile connectivity can aid better policy and programmes, to help SIDS improve Internet governance, cybersecurity and resiliency in their countries. The development of a rich technological ecosystem for SIDS, which connects them with continents and the world is therefore important and data and access to information and technology which the Internet facilitates can help to support this. SIDS must provide timely context-appropriate data directly to policy makers; data to software developers; and promote the generation and dissemination of data by the public and diaspora; and data-centric applications to consumers and development agencies. It follows that there is a direct link between the development of data infrastructure and Internet governance mechanisms.

In addition, given privacy and ethical concerns and the vulnerability of these regions to information security breaches it is important that ways that these threats can be avoided through better Internet governance mechanisms is addressed.

This workshop brings together a variety of stakeholders to discuss ways that Internet Governance frameworks relating to open data and big data can help to connect these unique states with each other, their diaspora communities and the rest of the world.