IGF 2020 Pre-Event #16 UNESCO’s launch of IGF Dynamic Coalition on Internet Universality ROAM-X Indicators and presentation of national assessments

Time
Monday, 2nd November, 2020 (10:00 UTC) - Monday, 2nd November, 2020 (16:05 UTC)
Room
Room 3
About this Session
For each session, Q and A is reserved for audiences. pls type your questions in the chat and/or take the floor directly.

UNESCO

Organization's Website
https://en.unesco.org/internet-universality-indicators
Description

UNESCO is organizing a 5-hour special  pre-event on Internet Universality ROAM-X Indicators (IUIs) at IGF 2020 from 11 am to 5 pm CET on Day 0, Monday November 2nd, to showcase the national assessment results from 21 countries across the five continents, in order to share cases of good practice and the lessons learned from conducting assessments of IUIs at a national level. UNESCO also takes the occasion of this pre-event to launch a Dynamic Coalition on Internet Universality ROAM-X indicators. In addition to this event and as invited by MAG, UNESCO is welcome to report to the IGF plenary on the major outcomes of the IUis assessments event to inform the national policy makers for fostering policy changes. 

Objective 1: Presentation of the national assessments in 21 countries

The list of countries of IUIs is as follows with the assessment in Brazil, Benin, Senegal and Kenya completed and the rest ongoing: 

  • Benin, Senegal, Kenya, Ghana, Niger, Ethiopia in Africa,   
  • Thailand, Nepal, Pakistan, Uzbekistan in Asia,   
  • Tunisia, Sudan Jordan, Palestine in the Arab region,  
  •  Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay in Latin America,   
  • Germany, France and Serbia in Europe

 

Objective 2: Launch of the Dynamic Coalition on Internet Universality ROAM-X indicators

 

Based on its deep engagement with IGF community in the past 15 years, UNESCO is launching this Dynamic Coalition on Internet Universality ROAM-X indicators at the IGF 2020, as a new shared space for advocating ROAM principles worldwide, sharing experiences and raising awareness of the value of these ROAM-X indicators and good practice in applying them in more countries. This Dynamic Coalition will also be used to strengthen UNESCO’s synergies and partnership with IGF MAG and all stakeholders, National and Regional IGFs (NRIs), Best Practice Platforms (BPP) and other DCs to jointly advance the evidence-based Internet and policies at national, regional and global levels. 

 

The Dynamic Coalition seeks to engage with all countries and all stakeholders worldwide to promote free, open and accessible Internet for all and provide a space for multi-stakeholder dialogue and collaboration. The coalition will serve an umbrella platform for facilitating collaboration on countries’ alignment to UNESCO’s ROAM principles via national assessments and implementation of recommendations to harness Internet and advanced technologies’ potential to achieve the 2030 sustainable development agenda.  

 

Overall Facilitator: Xianhong Hu, Project Focal Point of Internet Universality Project, UNESCO.

Rapporteurs: Karen Landa and Octavio Lara (UNESCO)

 

 

Agenda

 

Time : 11:00 – 13:15 CET / 14:35 – 17:05 CET

Time

Sessions

11:00 – 11:15

 

15’

5’ Welcome remarks by Guy Berger

10’ Project presentation: Launch of Internet Universality Indicators and implementation process

 by Xianhong Hu and David Souter

 

Moderator: Guy Berger

 

11:15 – 12:15

 

60’

Country assessments in Africa

(Benin, Sénégal, Kenya, Ghana, Niger in Africa)

 

Speakers:

 

10’ – Kenya: Grace Githaiga, KICTAnet

10’ – Senegal: Elvis Michel Kenmoe, UNESCO Office in Dakar

10’ – Benin and Niger: Alain Kiyindou, Université Bordeaux Montaigne   

5’ – Ghana:  Dorothy Gordon, IFAP Chair of UNESCO

5’ – Ethiopia: Lydia Gachungi, UNESCO regional advisor in Addis Office

 

15’ – Q&A

 

Moderator:  Guy Berger

 

12:15 - 13:15

 

 

 

60’

Country assessment in Asia Pacific and Arab States

(Thailand, Nepal, Pakistan, Uzbekistan in Asia;

Tunisia, Sudan Jordan, Palestine in the Arab region)

 

Speakers:

 

10’ – Tunisia: Karima Mahmoudi, Instance Nationale des Télécommunications

10’ – Thailand: Simon Ellis, Independent Consultant

5’ – Sudan: Paul Hector, UNESCO Cairo

5’ – Nepal: Nirjana Sharma, UNESCO

5’ - Pakistan - Sadaf Khan, Media Matters for Democracy (MMFD)

5’ - Uzbekistan: Emil Faxreyev, Modern Journalism Development Centre

5’- Jordan: Issa Mahasneh, Jordan Open Source Association (JOSA)

5’ – Palestine :  Ms. Mona Shtayya, 7Amleh

 

10’ – Q&A

 

Moderator: Xianhong Hu

 

13:25 – 14:25

Break

14:35 – 15h20

45’

Inaugural session of the Dynamic Coalition of Internet Universality Indicators

 

5’ Introduction remarks of the DC and Online Platform by Guy Berger

 

Speakers from multi-stakeholder partners:

5’ - Minister of Telecommunications and Information Society of Ecuador (TBC) or Miguel Martins, Vice-Minister of Paraguay (TBC) and Virginia Pardo, Director of Information Society of AGESIC

5’- Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology of Palestine (TBC)

5’ - Christine M. Merkel, Head of the Division of Culture, Communication, Memory of the World at the German Commission for UNESCO and Andreas Salz, Programme Specialist, Division of Culture, Communication, Memory of the World at the German Commission for UNESCO

5’ - Constance Bommelaer, The Internet Society

5’ - Anriette Esterhuysen, MAG Chair

5’ - Anja Gengo, Secretariat for the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) (TBC)

5’- Antoine Vergne, Missions publique (TBC)

5- Mira Milosevic, Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD)

 

Moderator: Guy Berger

15:20-16:20

 

60’

Country assessments in Latin America

(Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay in Latin America)

 

Speakers:

 

10’ – Brazil: Alexandre Barbosa and Fabio Senne, CETIC.br

10’ – Paraguay: Maricarmen Sequera, TEDIC (TBC)

10’ – Uruguay: Juan Bertón, Digital Agenda division and SIC Observator

10’ – Ecuador: Roberto Roggiero, Nuevared.org

 

20’ – Q&A

 

Moderator:  Guilherme Canela de Souza Godoi

 

16:20-16:50

 

 

30’

Country assessments in Europe

(Germany, France and Serbia in Europe)

 

Speakers:

 

10’ – Germany: Wolfgang Schulz and Matthias C. Kettemann, Leibniz Institute for Media Research, Hans-Bredow-Institut, Germany 

5’ – France: Lucien Castex, Université Sorbonne-Nouvelle

5’ – Serbia: Miroslav Jankovic, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

 

10’- Q&A

 

Moderator: Xianhong Hu

 

16:50 -17:05

 

15’

Thematic debates on methodology and implementation process, lessons learned

 

Discussants

 

Moderators: Xianhong Hu and David Souter

 
Presentation
igf_iuis_presentation_2020_-_short_version.pdf
4. Policy Recommendations or Suggestions for the Way Forward
What policy sector(s) does this fall under? (leave blank if not sure)
Technical
Overarching governance issues
Issue and Recommendation
Panelists reaffirmed the importance of building an inclusive MAB, nurtured by active multistakeholder participation. It is necessary to find champions rather than representatives to avoid any tensions or conflict of interest in order to complete the most unbiased assessment possible.
What policy sector(s) does this fall under? (leave blank if not sure)
Technical
Issue and Recommendation
Experts discussed the methodology and process to complete the assessments, addressing issues such as the need for disaggregated data for inclusion issues. It was recommended that the collection of missing primary data could be done through surveys and private sector  participation. 
What policy sector(s) does this fall under? (leave blank if not sure)
Overarching governance issues
Issue and Recommendation
To implement the policy  recommendations  after  assessments, consultative follow-up committees should be established during and after the completion of IUIs report to monitor the implementation of the policy recommendations following  Benin’s initiative. In Senegal, the National Digital Observatory is being enhanced following the recommendation. 
Who should take it?
Governments
What policy sector(s) does this fall under? (leave blank if not sure)
Overarching governance issues
Issue and Recommendation
The newly launched  Dynamic Coalition of  Internet Universality Indicators (IUIs) allows UNESCO and its partners to create a global support community to tackle challenges of digital transformation in line with  UN SG’s roadmap of digital cooperation. UNESCO recommended that countries should join this coalition that aims to become a global support community, facilitating the data collection and methodology process leading to solid assessment of IUIs and the formulation of strong and powerful recommendations for policy reforms.
5. Other Initiatives Addressing the Session Issues
Initiative
In the context of the CO-VID 2019 pandemic, it is essential to understand the potential and impact of the IUIs framework in assessing the gaps exacerbated by the crisis. It also has potential to become a concrete tool to fight against disinformation, hate speech on the Internet.
Initiative
Regional institutions such as the African Union should have a more convening role in the IUIs process by helping African countries conducting their national assessments of IUIs with data collection and provide insights during the validation workshop. In addition to that, there is a need to create a more regional coalition with for instance where countries can discuss the impact of geopolitical issues and common goals on Internet governance.  
Initiative
A follow up assessment of IUIs is  needed for the assessed countries: to capture the rapid development of Internet  landcape,  it  is recommended to renew the assessment in a few years to  keep tracking  of the progress and gaps  through the ROAM prism every two years. 
Initiative
Several countries have noted that governments and policymakers need to focus on providing a strong and concrete legal framework to secure the implementation of the IUIs framework at national level.
Initiative
On the importance of institutional engagement to build both capacity and awareness around the impact of IUIs through regional, national and global advocacy events: stakeholder from various sectors, including the youth, were urged to engage more in the IUIs assessment process in order to raise awareness and build capacity throughout the implementation process.
Initiative
To express your interest in conducting the IUIs assessment in your country or in joining the IGF Dynamic Coalition on IUIs, contact and consult the UNESCO HQs focal point, Xianhong Hu: [email protected] and Karen Landa [email protected].



Kindly visit the Dynamic Coalition of IUIs webpage: https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/dc-on-internet-universality-indicators-dc-iui

and the "UNESCO launches Dynamic Coalition of Internet Universality Indicators" news story: https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-launches-dynamic-coalition-internet-universality-indicators-and-showcases-national