IGF 2019 – Day 1 – Raum IV – DC on Blockchain Technologies

The following are the outputs of the real-time captioning taken during the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Berlin, Germany, from 25 to 29 November 2019. Although it is largely accurate, in some cases it may be incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. It is posted as an aid to understanding the proceedings at the event, but should not be treated as an authoritative record. 

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>> CARLA REYES: A little bit about this session.  This is an interactive session, not a panel discussion.  If you are going to be spoken to for an hour and‑a‑half, this is not your room.  If you are interested in working with us to build the work program for the next year and to contribute to the products for the next year, this is absolutely your room.  Be prepared to participate.  There was a panel last year and the panelist discussion of the session, there was a nice little group that organically created itself about legal frameworks.  And they've been working all (?) And the topics to come from participants setting up coalition.

So that's what this session is intended to do to have you all have an opportunity to design the next year intersessional work product.  There will be six working groups and I need ‑‑ we have one in the middle there and let folks see who you are.  Two on the side if you are willing to facilitate which just means take notes.  You don't have to facilitate.  That's my job.  But if you are willing to take notes and make sure people sign in.  I knew you were going to do it.  Anybody else?

One down there.  I'm going to come down and assign you.  And probably, we can do one more down in the corner.  And so the first 13 minutes, you have instructions in your seats.  The first few minutes is to get to know each other and learn about why you came today.  And then from there, you'll be able to decide the coalition.  If you are part of one of these small groups, you aren't necessarily obligated to continue with the work product throughout the year.  We would love it if you would volunteer to do that.  The idea is to scale up participation and enable you all to (?)  Okay.  If you have questions, I'll be coming around.

[ Group discussions ]

>> CARLA REYES: So whichever one your group is interested in.  You might get instructions and (?)

[ Group discussions ]

>> CARLA REYES: Ways you'd like to see the Dynamic Coalition contribute to solutions to the problems you are discussing so far.  In what ways could coalition build tools or anything that would help address the governance problem you are brainstorming at this point.  Okay.  I'm coming around if you have questions.

[ Group discussions ]

>> CARLA REYES: One more.  If you are a facilitator, you are on page 2 of the notes with the arrow.  You are going to take notes, just a reminder.  Take notes, please.

[ Group discussions ]

>> CARLA REYES: If I can have your attention please.  Hopefully at this point you have found solutions to the governing problems you identified earlier.  At this point then, you might want to begin evaluating those potential solutions.  There are four criteria on the instruction sheet for you to consider at the starting point.  They may not be the only criteria.  These are criteria designed to ensure we can actually achieve something in the next year on the item that you identified at your priority topics.  And also with the goal of helping you identify which solution to those priority topics might be your priority for the future year.  You don't have to do it that way.  It's one way to make it easier for your potential ideas in order to waddle it down.  I'll be coming around if you have questions.  Please do sign in on the sign‑in sheet in your group somewhere so that we can make sure to include you going forward.  Thanks.

[ Group discussions ]

>> CARLA REYES: [ No audio ].

>> CARLA REYES: Okay.  At this point, our group discussions have come to an end or our time for our group discussions have come to an end.  I recognize you are still actively discussing.  Nevertheless, if you could turn your attention to the whole group.  At this point, I'd like to ask each group to report out on the one or two, as the case may be, project ideas that they'd like to see move forward and the very next steps that they think are required in order for that to happen.  Perhaps starting with the group that just told me they were done.  Do use your microphone and say who you are when you speak.  And if you were a note taker, before you leave the room, please do connect with me so I can get the notes and type up a report to distribute to the whole Listserv after the fact.

All right.  Group one.

>> AUDIENCE:I'll start.  My name is Wilido.  I'm one of the co‑founders of special interest room.  We've been before in panels in the last IGF.  I was happy to moderate the group that had nine members.  Out of them, we have a diversity of backgrounds, and I'm happy to report that we have come to a conclusion, an output, we'd like to propose.  The group that's already committed, actually, to go on with the steps.

Before I even present the output, let me say that we wanted to see to it that this project can be of value to the community as a whole.

So we gave, overall, a score of 4.  Above 4, if you take the average.  We have a lead already that's agreed to take on, Leah Richard.  She might want to say what the output will look like.  So I give her the word.

>> AUDIENCE:  Still super fresh but we're thinking of launching a mapping exercise.  Aiming at relying on the personal data (?) Related to block chains.  To be extremely concrete when you look at hashes, public addresses, et cetera.  The exercise would be to take use cases for the different use cases see whether or not they can be considered personal data.  So that requires a first phase of interviews with businesses, government, if they have blockchain projects going.  See how they process their data.  See if they have any specific awareness around how they process those, et cetera.  And depending on what they do making an assessment of whether or not this data can be considered personal data.  And then going back into a visualization exercise of where you could see an internal system for the use case versus their blockchain system versus the blockchain versus the internet and how they are integrated.

>> CARLA REYES: Thank you.  Group two.  We have four minutes before we get kicked out.

>> AUDIENCE:I just wanted to ask the question, is that in relation to European kind of approach to personal data and GD PR?

>> AUDIENCE: The baseline, yes.  Starting from the definition of personal data of GD PR.

>> AUDIENCE: Okay, group 2.  I'll try to keep it short.  We had to raise on two topics.  One of them was GDPR in terms of how to get clarity into that.  But the topic we agreed on that is most pressing and needs solving is we imagine that we need some kind of blockchain.  And we would propose to create that kind of collaborative approach with a multi Stakeholder attitude or approach to create this Viki within the next 12 months.

>> CARLA REYES: Group three.  Two minutes.

>> AUDIENCE:  We had very intense discussion about topic number two.  The relation between blockchain technologies and governance.  In the end, we came up with the idea that ‑‑ let me find my notes.  That data governance would be very good topic for blockchain.  Actually, data ownership and serenity.  So how can the government make sure that the use of personal data can be granted and then revoked to companies, to hospitals, to other people.  Yeah.

>> CARLA REYES: Thank you.

>> AUDIENCE: And also, sorry, the identity.

>> CARLA REYES: Group 4.

>> AUDIENCE: We came with three proposals.  It was how to educate the public on blockchain.  The second idea was setting up a framework for a multi‑Stakeholder organization that can certify government blockchains have integrity.  And the third one was establishing a government readiness index or set of standards for blockchain.  The second one multi‑Stakeholder framework.  I'm going to pass it.

>> AUDIENCE: As the blockchain is emerging technologies, and we'll ask to the expert groups and the multi‑Stakeholder groups to finalize a framework of the blockchain.

>> CARLA REYES: Thank you.  And group 5 in 30 seconds.

>> AUDIENCE: 30 seconds?

Okay.  We viewed the blockchain in the web and the challenges that will bring.  We found the decentralized web is designed primarily by engineers and (?) rather than a design consideration.  And also thought there were challenges to identity and how modern identity online will differ from the identity we currently know on the web.  There needs to be a baseline of knowledge within governments that allow them to discuss these issues from a point of on top of what is a blockchain?

That tends to be a stumbling point.  Outputs were organization is responsible for educating and delivers a set of resources, organizes conferences and basically a support for policy makers to help to design these policies.  We think it's 4 out of 5 super useful.

>> CARLA REYES: Thank you.  I'm super encouraged by the fact several of you came up with similar ideas.  Even though it was your second choice, it's still going to go forward; right?

So we'll have five exciting work products to work on for the next year.  And I look forward to working with you on each of them.  Now, if you have sign‑in sheets or notes pages, see me before you leave the room.  If you can help me put the chairs back where they go for the next session, that would be much appreciated.  Thanks very much.

[ Applause ]

[ End session ]