NRIs Virtual Meeting V: 11 May 2017

NATIONAL AND REGIONAL IGF INITIATIVES

- Virtual Meeting V: 11 May 2017, 14:00 p.m. UTC -

SUMMARY REPORT

About 

1. The fifth virtual meeting of the National and Regional IGF Initiatives (NRIs), took place on 11 May 2017, at 14:00 p.m. UTC.
    
2. Meeting was hosted by Ms. Anja Gengo from the IGF Secretariat. The agenda is attached to this document as Annex A1 and a list of Meeting Participants as Annex A2. 
    

Introductions

3. Participants introduced themselves stating which IGF initiative they are affiliated with, and were welcomed to share any updates on their activities and future plans.  The following updates were shared:

• The Central Asian sub-regional IGF will be hosted in Tajikistan from 22-23 June 2017.
• Youth LACIGF will be organized in parallel with the LACIGF in August 2017.
• Gabon national IGF has been rejuvenated and the preparatory process is underway.
• From the Japan IGF it was noted that there were two meetings in March: on fake news and an annual meeting. Reports on English will be available in the following days. On 26^th May there will be a bi-monthly meeting on IG telecom world followed by the case studies of Japanese companies reaching out to developing countries.
• 8^th edition of the APrIGF, will be from 26-29 July in Bangkok. 49 fellows were announced. The meeting agenda is available at the website. A Call for participants and fellows for the Youth IGF that will be organized along the APrIGF is published and available on this Initiative’s website.
• The UK IGF will host a planning meeting on Monday. The public call for suggestions is closed. It is planned to host a meeting in September 2017.
• From the national IGF of Armenia it was said that the first School of Internet Governance will be launched in July. The call for submitting applications to participate will be closed at the end of May.  
• African IGF is planned to be in November 2017.
• West African IGF will be from 27 to 28 July in Benin.
• Senegal national IGF will be hosted in Dakar on 18 May 2017.
• Nigerian IGF is planned to be in July 2017. There will be a capacity building for Youth.
• IGF-USA planning is continuing, and is scheduled to be on 24 July.
• From the IGF Ukraine it was noted that the Youth IGF will be organized in parallel with this national IGF.
• From EuroDIG it was reminded that the participants should register to attend the annual meeting to be from 6 to 7 June.
• From Nepal IGF, it was said they are reconsidering to reschedule the meeting due to the elections in this country be in the same period.
• A member of the IGF-USA Steering Committee announced that there is  an ongoing cooperating between some stakeholders for organizing a session on the Internet fragmentation, from the perspective of how this issue can be healed.
• IGF Chad will be hosting an annual meeting in this year as well.
   

4. The Host shared the agenda with everyone. A suggestion to have a quick update from the Working Group on Enhanced Cooperation (WGEC) of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD), CSTD Annual Session and the latest meeting of the ICANN Board on the IGF, was added under the AoB item. As such, the agenda was unanimously adopted.

Summary of received remarks  

5. The Host briefed the participants about the NRIs activities during the 2016 annual IGF meeting, with referencing to the main session, coordination session, joint booth and individual NRIs side meetings. It was noted that two recently received memos from the MAG Chair, called for a more concrete proposal on the format and substance of the proposed sessions by the NRIs, and suggested a new approach to the sessions that have been traditionally known as the main ones.
    
6. The Host informed that for the NRIs that would like to organize side events at the 2017 IGF, a formal request to the IGF Secretariat should be sent, to be able to allocate room in requested time.
    
7. Having said the above, the participants were asked to share comments on the following items:

• Feedback on the MAG Chair’s note on the new approach to the main sessions;
• Feedback to the MAG Chair’s note on the requested inputs from the NRIs regarding the format and content of the main session and other individual workshop-like session;
• How should the NRIs decide on the topics for both types of sessions?
   

8. Participants reiterated that the NRIs should continue with the same set of activities as last year, with improving the internal organization and aiming for better facilities for the session(s) in terms of the room setup as well as the material for a joint booth.
    
9. In regard to the proposed new approach to the sessions that have so far been known as the main ones, some participants commented that they find this approach to be good and appropriate as the proposed new terminology indicates the purpose of each of the sessions.
    
10. Regarding the NRIs session, it was noted that regardless of the name, for the NRIs it is the most important to be in a room of a bigger capacity like last year, and to have the interpretation to all six UN languages available.
     
11. It was agreed that the joint, main session of the NRIs should be on a particular topic. Participants recommended that the IGF Secretariat facilitates the process of gathering inputs, in a bottom up manner, through a survey.
     
12. In regards to the proposed NRIs individual, workshop-like sessions, many noted that the NRIs cover a lot of substantive topics on their annual meetings, with very important outcomes that they would find useful for the wider community to know. However, it was noted that there is no appropriate channel for the NRIs entering the annual programme of the global IGF, due to the requirements for regional diversity and stakeholder engagement within the workshop requirements. Similarly, the Open Forums are reserved for Governments, intergovernmental and international organizations, that also prevents the NRIs to be able to organize these types of sessions.
     
13. One national Initiative gave an example for the above said. It was explained that they have actively participated and contributed to the IGF 2016 BPF on IPv6. After the outcome document was realized, many of the stakeholders from this country showed their interest to continue contributing on this particular topic. However, they couldn’t comply with the requirements for any of the IGF 2017 programme sessions. It was noted that having this opportunity, the global IGF community could benefit from having these types of inputs feeding into the IGF.
     
14. From one Initiative, it was said that they would like to partner with other NRIs on the topic of Internet shutdowns and present their findings in the global IGF.
     
15. Participants agreed that for these types of sessions as well, set of guidelines should be developed by the NRIs community, in a bottom up manner. It was advised to start looking at what has been said so far, and try building on it. In the meantime, due to time limitations, it was agreed to create another survey for mapping topics of mutual interest.
     
16. The IGF Secretariat’s Focal Point for the NRIs informed that a slot for the booth for the NRIs was reserved. Many noted that the NRIs should come to this year’s booth with their own material of relevance. The Focal Point said that this year a 4-pager with basic information about the NRIs network will be developed.
     
17. One participant noted that this year’s venue has its own limitations in terms of the room setup that has fixed furniture, and that would be useful if the IGF Secretariat could communicate with the NRIs on the room layouts, to together see what could be the best option that fits the NRIs purpose.
     
18. Regarding the deadlines for both surveys, it was agreed to have everything prepared for the 2^nd Open Consultations and MAG meeting (12-14 June). Therefore, it was advised to have surveys published in the next day, with giving approximately two weeks for submitting inputs, and a couple of days to the Secretariat to format received inputs. There was an agreement to submit three topics to the MAG, in order of priority in case there will be a need to avoid overlapping with any other sessions.
     
19. One participants suggested to establish a small Working Group to Conduct the work of gathering inputs through surveys and developing guidelines. There were no any reflections to this proposal.
     
20. Ms. Marilyn Cade gave a quick update form the open meeting of the ICANN Board on the IGF, noting the ICANN significantly supports the NRIs directly, and through the IGFSA. It was said that there was an endorsement on the current level of involvement and support to the NRIs. A quick update was given about the CSTD WGEC meeting and the CSTD annual session. Ms. Marilyn Cade committed to send a written update to the NRIs mailing list on both of these meetings.

Next Steps

21. The Secretariat will inform the NRIs network about the main outcomes of this meeting right after the meeting, and will call for comments.  The full summary report will follow the next day.
     
22. While the surveys are published, the IGF Secretariat and the NRIs will start developing guidelines for the individual sessions for the NRIs.
     
23. Next meeting: The Secretariat will distribute the Doodle poll for the members of the NRIs to cast the votes for the best time slots for the next virtual meeting.
     
24. For any suggestions or questions regarding the Report, kindly contact the IGF Secretariat, NRIs Focal Point at: [email protected].

ANNEX A1: 

AGENDA: National and Regional IGF Initiatives (NRIs)

Virtual Meeting V, 11 May 2017, 14:00 p.m. UTC

1. Welcome and introductions with quick updates from new NRIs (10 min)
2. Planning the NRIs joint session at the IGF 2017 meeting: how and when to decide on topic(s)? (20 min)
3. Other NRIs sessions at the IGF 2017 (10 min)
4. NRIs Booth update (5 min)
5. AoB

ANNEX A2:  

MEETING PARTICIPANTS (in alphabetical order):

1. Abdeldjalil  Bachar Bong, IGF Chad
2. Alaa Asly, Morocco IGF*                       
3. Anja Gengo, IGF Secretariat
4. Artem Goriainov, Centra Asian IGF               
5. Bruna Santos, Youth Observatory                  
6. Chengetai Masango, IGF Secretariat             
7. Élisson Diones Cazumbá, Youth Observatory
8. Fotjon Kosta, IGF Albania                    
9. Gervé Onanga Kingbo, IGF Gabone*              
10. Giacomo Mazzone, IGF Italy, EuroDIG
11. Imran Ahmed Shah, IGF Pakistan*
12. Israel Rosas, National Digital Strategy Mexico, IGF Host Country Representative to the MAG     
13. Izumi  Okutani, IGF Japan                                                  
14. Jennifer Chung, APrIGF                                                       
15. Julián Casasbuenas G., IGF Colombia                                                         
16. Laura Watkins, IGF UK                                                                       
17. Lianna Galstyan, IGF Armenia                                                        
18. Luã Fergus Cruz, Youth Observatory
19. MAHAMAT Haroun Adoum, IGF-Chad                        
20. Makane Faye, IGF Africa                                     
21. Marilyn Cade, IGFSA, IGF-USA                          
22. Mary Uduma, IGF Nigeria                    
23. Natasa Glavor, IGF Croatia   
24. Oksana Prykhodko, IGF Ukraine                                                   
25. Sandra Hoferichter, EuroDIG
26. Shreedeep  Rayamajhi, IGF Nepal                                  
27. Susan Chalmers, NTIA, IGF-USA
28. Vignesh Pamu, TBC
29. Youssouf  Abdelrahim, IGF Chad

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* In formation