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During the first phase of the Summit, since no agreement could be reached on
Internet Governance, it was decided as stated in the Plan of Action to :
ask the Secretary General of the United Nations to set up a working group on Internet governance,
in an open and inclusive process that ensures a mechanism
for the full and active participation of governments, the private sector and civil society
from both developing and developed countries, involving relevant intergovernmental and
international organizations and forums,
to investigate and make proposals for action, as appropriate, on the governance of Internet by 2005.
The group should, inter alia:
The WGIG is not a group which depends from the ITU, but directly from the UN general-secretary The first WGIG meeting dealt with the selection process and the possible composition of the WGIG bureau. the possible composition of the WGIG bureau. Currently, there are several opinions among the states. A major western entity advocates 1/2 governments 1/4 Private 1/4 CS while some other countries advocate 1/3 1/3 1/3 Therefore one expect that the number of CS representatives would vary between 5 and 7. The duty would consist in about 3 to 4 meetings lasting each one about 4 days or a week, between November and June 2005. Of course, being at meetings is only part of the task. Each member is to study reports and write them. Each member is expected to contribute in writing the final report of the WGIG. So this would be a pretty heavy workload. We tentavily suggested that the Civil Society, because of its own specific constraints, should be able to designate a member with his/her alternate/backup to ensure a reliable and inclusive representation of the Civil Society. This suggestion has been well received, but everything concerning WGIG will be decided at the Consultations on the establishment of the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) which will be held in Geneva on 20/21 September 2004. After this meeting, a tentative list of WGIG proposed members will be sent in New York, to the UN general-secretary that may choose CS representative in this list or outside the list. Page of the Internet Governance Caucus concerning the WGIG Nomination . The Civil Society Working Group on Internet Gouvernance after lively debates decided to make a formal call ( 07 September 2004 ) to all Thematic Working Groups in order to compose a list of representatives with their inputs : To Members of WSIS Civil Society, Caucuses and Working Groups The WSIS Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus hopes to assemble a list of candidates for membership in the Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG). The purpose of the list is to give Mr. Kummer and Mr. Annan a set of candidates from which they can select members for the WGIG. This list will not be the only input into the membership decision process, and does not prevent any group or individual from submitting her or his recommendations. We wish to provide the collective recommendations of WSIS caucuses and working groups. After much deliberation on the process by which the candidate list would be compiled, we, as coordinators of the Internet Governance caucus have made the decision to invite each of the WSIS civil society caucuses and working groups to suggest between one (1) and three (3) names for inclusion on the candidate list. There is not agreement for this course of action among members of the IG Caucus, but time is pressing and we feel WSIS Civil Society must have an opportunity to participate in this process. This can work if we all try to make it work. It means trying to think what is best for civil society, and not any particular interest group. Please read this note carefully. And refer to the draft statement on structure of the WGIG you can find at this URL http://www.too-much.tv/internet_governance (Spanish, French,English and Portuguese.) One of the goals for this candidate list is to make sure that all of the topical areas that might be included in the governance debate are covered. Indications are that the WGIG will take a broad view of Internet governance, and issues will include ICANN, Spam, information and network security, privacy and other ICT rights issues, intellectual property rights, and interconnection agreements to name just a few. Asking the other caucuses and working groups for recommendations is considered the best way to make sure that all topics of concern to WSIS civil society are present. Note that our recommendations about the structure of the WGIG (here http://www.too-much.tv/internet_governance ) say we think the group should be small, between 19 and 31 total core members. By asking for nominations from all of WSIS civil society we are inviting a potentially large number of names to be submitted. Some means of reducing the composite list we receive may be required. We look forward to your advice on how we might handle this situation, it is quite likely. We suggest discussions about this are started now on the CS plenary list. Please attempt to prioritize your nominations. If you are unable to do so please state clearly that your list is not prioritized. Coordination of nominations among caucuses/working group will be very helpful. Individual members of the CS plenary may also submit nominations. Individuals should submit their nominations based on the criteria explained below. As background for making the caucus/working group decision on the candidates, a draft of the WSIS Civil Society caucus's contribution on the WGIG can be found online at http://www.too-much.tv/internet_governance These notes discuss some of the contents of the contribution. We consider it critical that a balanced WGIG be drawn from a multi dimensional consideration of diversity. That is, diversity in terms of sector, region, gender, and language background, among others, must be considered in assembling the WGIG. It is also important that there be a balance between members from developing and developed countries. It is also considered very important that candidates have a degree of knowledge of the issues, including policy, legal and technical, involved in the Internet governance debate. We also suggest candidates should have experience working in an international committee environment, be aware of ICT for development issues and human rights. No candidate is expected to have all these qualities, but we are suggesting they should be people with broad experience. It is considered critical that though all participants come from different perspectives, they should be people who are willing to listen and consider carefully the views of others. It is expected that the best outcome for the WGIG will come from an assembly of open minded individuals who can share their knowledge and expertise in an cooperative manner. Finally it is considered important that any individual nominated as a candidate understand the amount of work this assignment would involve and indicate a readiness to participate. While the work plan of the WGIG has yet to be determined, it is expected that the WGIG will begin work in the final months of 2004 and finish by July 2005. The schedule will most probably involve, email discussions, teleconferences and up to four (4) face to face meetings. We anticipate that the working language of the WGIG itself will be English. It is expected, however, that there will be a great sensitivity to language issues as the WGIG conducts its work and consultations. In making your caucuses/working groups recommendation, we request that you submit the following information, which will be passed on to Mr. Kummer, with the names of the candidates: - Reliable contact information for the candidate; i.e. email, telephone, fax and postal address. - A statement indicating the qualities that the person would bring to the WGIG. While no particular content is being required, it is recommended that this section include a discussion of the concerns mentioned above and a discussion of the experience and perspective the candidate would bring to the WGIG discussions. - A statement of the person's governance related affiliations. That is information such as: which sector does the person belong to (government, industry or civil society), what caucuses/working groups do they participate in, employer, national background, and language skills. - An indication from the candidate that they understand the work load they are volunteering for and that they are available during the expected period of deliberations. - A short statement about your caucus/working group. Include information about the group's background and history, membership (numbers), and achievements or other information you think relevant. Please give a URL for a website if you have one. It is recommended that these statements be no more then two pages in length. Candidate information will be collated and published on the Internet http://www.too-much.tv/internet_governance/ (with candidates personal contact information removed.) Members of the Internet governance caucus will aggregate the names received and send them along with the name of the caucus/working groups that made the nomination to Markus Kummer. If any reconsideration of names is required in light of issues arising from the WGIG consultation on September 20-21 we will hold any relevant discussions about this on the plenary mailing list. Time is short on gathering the list of candidates and you are requested to submit the candidate statements within the next two weeks. The deadline for submission of candidate statements is 20 Sept, 2004. All statements should be sent to: [email protected] In concluding, we thank you for helping us complete this important task. Please try to coordinate your nominations with other caucuses and working groups. And please consider the qualities your nominations will bring to the WGIG carefully. If you have questions about the process please contact the coordinators of the Caucus: Jeanette Hofmann and Adam Peake Coordinators, Internet Governance Caucus Additional information : Please follow the format described below and send to this address: [email protected] We will collate all nominations. Please also send to the civil society plenary list if you wish, but suggest you strip any personal contact information before doing so. The format below only asks for information about the caucus or working group submitting the nomination(s), we should also have something about any individual making a nomination: who you are, your relationship with the nominee (typical conflict of interest issues.) This will not be necessary for a self-nomination :-) Format for submitting nomination(s) In making your caucuses/working groups recommendation, we request that you submit the following information, which will be passed on to Mr. Kummer, with the names of the candidates. Individual members of the CS plenary may also submit nominations. Individuals should also submit their nominations based on the criteria explained below. - Reliable contact information for the candidate; i.e. email, telephone, fax and postal address. - A statement indicating the qualities that the person would bring to the WGIG. While no particular content is being required, it is recommended that this section include a discussion of the concerns mentioned above and a discussion of the experience and perspective the candidate would bring to the WGIG discussions. - A statement of the person's governance related affiliations. That is information such as: which sector does the person belong to (government, industry or civil society), what caucuses/working groups do they participate in, employer, national background, and language skills. - An indication from the candidate that they understand the work load they are volunteering for and that they are available during the expected period of deliberations. - A short statement about your caucus/working group. Include information about the group's background and history, membership (numbers), and achievements or other information you think relevant. Please give a URL for a website if you have one. It is recommended that these statements be no more then two pages in length. Candidate information will be collated and published on the Internet http://www.too-much.tv/internet_governance (with candidates personal contact information removed.) Financial Assistance : According to reliable sources ( yet to be confirmed in writting ), travel expenses will be supported for people from developing countries, and on a case by case basis for people from other countries. Further clarification concerning deadlines (12 September) This was much welcome since there has been some confusion concerning deadlines. Dealine for comments on structure, methodology and scope of the consultation on the WGIG meeting ( September 20-21, Geneva ) : Monday 13th List sent to Markus Kummer (05 Oct 2004) A list of candidates, 9 recommendations for the working group and a second slate of 8 "connectors" were sent to Markus Kummer yesterday. Slate of candidates for the WGIG itself: * Carlos Afonso (Brazil) * Karen Banks (Australia) * Vittorio Bertola (Italy) * Avri Doria (USA/Israel) * William Drake (USA) * Raul Echeberria, (Uruguay) * Wolfgang Kleinwachter (Germany) * Marlyn Tadros (Egypt) * Ang Peng Hwa (Singapore) Slate of "connectors": * Jonathan Cave (UK), Scientific Information WG * Georg Greve (Germany), Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks WG * Gus Hosein (Canada), Privacy and Security WG * Joseph Sarr (Senegal), Cities and Local Authorities Caucus * Robert Sagun (Philippines), Youth Caucus * Hiroshi Kawamura (Japan), Persons with Disabilities Caucus * Aidan White (Ireland), Media Caucus * Jacqueline A. Morris (Trinidad and Tobago), Gender Caucus Note that the African Caucus sent a list of names separately to Markus Kummer, we did not know who was on their list until late yesterday so were unable to include their recommendations and did not try to duplicate. The recommendations were sent to Markus Kummer yesterday by Izumi Aizu. Izumi's emails to Mr. Kummer copied below. Thank you, Adam Some clarification of the Selection Process & Concepts ( 07 October 2004 ) After the first round of consultations in Geneva on September 20-21, the size, composition and mandate of the WGIG remain in discussion. This makes the selection of potential members from civil society a delicate issue that the Internet Governance Caucus wanted to address in the most transparent and inclusive manner. In its contribution to the September Consultations, the IG Caucus indicated its recommendations for the WGIG : - a limited size (20-30 members) - a facilitating role for a larger group of stakeholders rather than a high level decision-making group - a fully balanced composition (1/3 governments, 1/3 private sector, 1/3 civil society) The IG Caucus therefore decided to designate a slate of about 10 people, aiming as much as possible for a geographical, gender, age and profile balance. The Internet Governance Caucus also considered that although the origin of the WGIG creation was to address principally the Domain Name System and ICANN, it will progressively cover a broader definition of Internet Governance and will need to expand its competence pool accordingly. Finally, the main purpose of the WGIG should be to facilitate an iterative consultation and drafting process within the larger group of concerned stakeholders, via both physical meetings and online consultations. In that context, the IG Caucus not only determined a list of nominees for itself but also invited other regional and thematic civil society caucuses to identify potential candidates to be taken into consideration. This dual and bottom-up process process produced a list of 35 nominees and the profiles of nominees wer publicly posted on http://www.net-gov.org/wgig/ At the initiative of one of the Caucus co-coordinators, a small NomCom was formed to review the list of nominees and facilitate identification of an appropriately balanced slate to be transmitted to the Secretary General. This process was not easy and resulted in two complementary sets of names. First, a limited slate of candidates for the WGIG itself : - Carlos Afonso (Brazil), Technical Development Director, RITS - Karen Banks, (Australia), Association for Progressive communications - Vittorio Bertola (Italy), Chair, ICANN At Large Advisory Committee - Avri Doria, (USA), Lulea University, Sweden - William Drake (USA), President, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility - Raul Echeberria, (Uruguay), LACNIC CEO - Wolfgang Kleinwachter (Germany), Professor for International Communication Policy and Regulation, University of Aarhus, Denmark - Marlyn Tadros, (Egypt), Executive Director, Virtual Activism - Ang Peng Hwa, (Singapore), Dean of School of Communication & Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Second, based on the submissions from other Civil Society thematic caucuses, a list of "connectors" has been established to facilitate interaction with various thematic constituencies as the process expands to a broader range of issues : - Jonathan Cave (UK), Professor, Warwick University (corrected, not the RAND Europe) connector for the Scientific Information Working Group - Georg Greve (Germany), President, Free Software Foundation Europe, connector for the Patents, Copyrights and Trademanrks WG; - Gus Hosein (Canada), Fellow Information Systems, London Schoold of Economics and Senior Fellow, Privacy International; connector for Privacy and Security WG; - Joseph Sarr (Senegal), President, NTIC Commission of the Dakar Regional Council; connector to the Cities and Local Authorities Caucus - Robert Sagun (Philippines), Policy Coordinator of the WSIS Youth Caucus - Hiroshi Kawamura (Japan), Japanese Society for the Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (JSRPD), Daisy Consortium Board member; connector to the Persons with Disabilities caucus - Aidan White (Ireland), General secretary of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), connector for the Media caucus; - Jacqueline A. Morris (Trinidad and Tobago), connector for the Gender Caucus. (A full list of Civil Society caucuses and Working Groups is available at : http://www.wsis-cs.org/caucuses.html ) These connectors will follow closely the work of the WGIG and participate in its process to help ensure a good articulation between the different issues. Should the WGIG decide to create sub-groups on thematic issues, these connectors will also help mobilize the relevant actors. This dual list intends to cover on the one hand the immediate nomination needs in the WGIG creation phase and, on the other hand, to anticipate its future activities. No list or suggestion can be perfect and the members of the NomCom tried their best to pay tribute to the broad range of competences available. We hope the above-mentionned lists - that will be sent to Markus Kummer for his meetings in New York tomorrow - will facilitate the full participation of civil society in the WGIG. The NomCom was composed of Adam Peake, Renate Bloem, Izumi Aizu, Valeria Betancourt and Bertrand de La Chapelle. Establishment of the Working Group on Internet Governance (11 November 2004) WGIS Mission : to investigate and make proposals for action, as appropriate, on the governance of the Internet by 2005. The Group was requested to: -- Develop a working definition of Internet governance; -- Identify the public policy issues that are relevant to Internet governance; and -- Develop a common understanding of the respective roles and responsibilities of governments, international organizations and other forums, as well as the private sector and civil society from both developing and developed countries. The WGIG includes 40 members from governments, private sector and civil society The Working Group is not a negotiating forum The first meeting of the Working Group is scheduled to take place in Geneva from 23 to 25 November. On 24 November, the meeting will be held in an open format, allowing all governments and other stakeholders to interact with the Working Group. Contact
List of Members ( see also Official List ) Chairman:Nitin Desai. Members: -- Abdullah Al-Darrab, Deputy Governor of Technical Affairs, ICT Commission of -- Carlos Alfonso, Technical Director, RIT, -- Peng Hwa Ang, Dean, -- Karen Banks, Director, GreenNet, Association for Progressive Communications, -- Faryel Beji, President and CEO, Tunisian Internet Agency; -- Vittorio Bertola, ICANN at-large Advisory Committee, -- Jose Alexandre Bicalho, Member, Brazilian Internet Steering Committee; Advisor, Board of Directors, National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel); -- Kangsik Cheon, Chief Operating Officer, International Business Development, Netpia, -- Trevor Clarke, Permanent Representative of -- Avri Doria, Technical Consultant, -- William Drake, Senior Associate, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, -- Raul Echeberria, Executive Director, LACNIC, -- Dev Erriah, Chairman, ICT Authority of -- Baher Esmat, Telecom Planning Manager, Ministry of Communications and Information -- Mark Esseboom, Director, Strategy and International Affairs, Directorate General for Telecom and Post, Ministry of Economic Affairs, the -- Juan Fernandez, Coordinator, Commission of Electronic -- Ayesha Hassan, Senior Policy Manager for E-Business, IT and Telecoms, International Chamber of Commerce, Paris; -- Qiheng Hu, Adviser, Science and Technology Commission, Ministry of Information Industry, -- Willy Jensen, Director, Norwegian Post and Telecom Authority; -- Wolfgang Kleinwachter, Professor, International Communication Policy and Regulation, -- Jovan Kurbalija, Director,
DiploFoundation, -- Iosif Charles Legrand, Researcher, California Institute of Technology and CERN, -- Donald MacLean, Director, MacLean Consulting, -- Allen Miller, Executive Director,
World Information Technology and Services Alliance, -- Juan Carlos Moreno Solines, Executive Director,
Gobierno Digital, -- Jacqueline A. Morris, Consultant, -- Olivier Nana Nzepa, Coordinator, -- Alejandro Pisanty, Director, Computing Academic Services, Universidad Autonoma de Mexico; ICANN board -- Khalilullah Qazi, Permanent -- Rajashekar Ramaraj, Managing Director, Sify Limited, Chennai; -- Masaaki Sakamaki, Director, Computer Communications Division, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, -- Joseph Sarr, President, NTIC Commission, -- Peimann Seadat, Permanent -- Charles Shaban, IT Manager,
Talal Abu- Ghazaleh International, -- Lyndall Shope-Mafole, Chairperson, Presidential National Commission on Information Society and Development, -- Waudo Siganga, Chairman, Computer Society of -- Mikhail Vladimirovich Yakushev, Director, Legal Support Department, Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, -- Peter Zangl, Deputy Director-General, Information Society Directorate General, European Commission, -- Jean-Paul Zens, Director, Media and Telecom Department, Ministry of SUMMARY - Carlos Afonso (Brazil), (second LAC Caucus that split from the original LAC Caucus ), selected - Karen Banks, (Australia),IG group, selected - Vittorio Bertola (Italy), IG group selected - Avri Doria, (USA),IG group selected - William Drake (USA),IG group selected - Raul Echeberria, (Uruguay) ( second LAC caucus that split from the original LAC Caucus ), selected - Wolfgang Kleinwachter (Germany) IG group , selected - Marlyn Tadros, (Egypt) ( Arab caucus ), not accepted - Ang Peng Hwa, (Singapore) selected - Jonathan Cave (UK), connector for the Scientific Information Working Group, not accepted - Georg Greve (Germany), connector for the Patents, Copyrights and Trademanrks WG, not accepted - Gus Hosein (Canada), connector for Privacy and Security WG, not accepted - Joseph Sarr (Senegal), connector to the Cities and Local Authorities Caucus, selected - Robert Sagun (Philippines), WSIS Youth Caucus, not accepted - Hiroshi Kawamura (Japan), connector to the Persons with Disabilities caucus, not accepted - Aidan White (Ireland), connector for the Media caucus, not accepted - Jacqueline A. Morris (Trinidad and Tobago), connector for the Gender Caucus, selectedSelection rate : main list : 89 %, connectors' list : 25 % All candidates from the IG group were accepted. Only one candidate proposed by the IG group to become a WGIG member was rejected. Two persons listed as "connectors" were unexpectedly selected.
Later on, people that have been selected as "connectors" began to wonder if this position
corresponds to any special status in regards to the WGIG.
The concept of "connector" has not been discussed beforehand within the Civil Society,,
and came as a complete surprise to everybody.
A disapointed "connector" asked Kummer for clarification.
Kummer's answer was :
As you may be aware, it is our intention to create a process that is as open as possible. In order to achieve this objective, we will have to respect some ground rules. One of them is that the closed meeting are closed to non-members of the WGIG. Opening up these meetings to some would be opening Pandora's box and would lead to pressures from representatives from Governments (more than 170 of them are not represented in the group) as well as other stakeholders. As you know, civil society is very well represented in the group and your are encouraged to work with and through the civil society members.
Therefore, the "connector" position is a non-existent notion concerning official relationships with the WGIG. It seems at best a position that may have a relative existence within the Civil Society. However, since the list of "Connectors" has been announced , and until now (mid-January 2005) neither the Internet Gouvernance Caucus, neither the CS members of the WGIG has made any formal call to the "connectors" and their "connected" working groups for input. "as the process expands to a broader range of issues.". Patents and Copyrights issues are now ( and not surprisingly, because this is unavoidable ) clearly on the agenda, since Vittorio Bertola posted "I am the "lead drafter" on intellectual property (and on privacy too)". No discussions (at least up to January, 22, 2005) on the substance of the questions that are being currently debated by the WGIG, are being held in the Internet Gouvernance (IG) working group, illustrating a lack of connection between the IG group and the members of the WGIG that are coming from the very IG group. If WGIG confidentiality rules are such that drafts cannot be circulated outside of the WGIG in this first phase, they do not prevent to held debates concerning the problems that are at stake. Neither the WGIG or the IG group have contacted the "connectors" and the thematics groups to get input on content issues.
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