NRIs Virtual Meeting VIII

NATIONAL AND REGIONAL IGF INITIATIVES

- Virtual Meetings VIII: 19 June 2017, 14:00 p.m. UTC -

SUMMARY REPORT

About

The eighth virtual meeting of the National and Regional IGF Initiatives (NRIs), took place on 19 June 2017 at 14:00 p.m. UTC.
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. Annex A3 contains supporting documents.
The purpose of the meeting was for the NRIs to reflect the discussion happened during the second IGF Open Consultations and MAG Meeting.

Summary Report

The Host reminded the participants that the transcripts from all three days of the subject meeting are available at the IGF website, as well as the MAG mailing list archives.

The coordinator of the African IGF opened the floor with providing a brief reflection into the historic development of the NRIs. It was noted that the NRIs have made a long progress in terms of their collective representation at the IGF annual meetings.

Many noted that the main session is a very effective mechanism for the NRIs to bring inputs to the global IGF, and that it serves as a unique opportunity for the NRIs to work together. The NRIs communities benefit from it, due to the availability of the interpretation to six official UN languages.

In regards to the requested NRIs collaborative sessions, some were of the opinion that these should be organized during the Day 0, while others thought that these should be integral part of the regular IGF meeting days. All participants agreed that the collaborative sessions are essential. Some of the NRIs noted that they need to apply through one stakeholder group, as they as the NRI couldn’t comply with the formal workshops requirements.

Some participants shared their previous IGF personal experience, saying that the Day 0 has a very rich substantive programme, with significant number of different stakeholders participating. Additionally, Day 0 would allow for all the
NRIs organized sessions not to be fragmented, but to be in line within one unique track and make it more effective for exchanging good practices.

On the above, the Host noted that many stakeholder already requested slots to organize sessions on Day 0, and that organizing 12 (twelve) NRIs session may be challenging in terms of fitting them within one day and venue.

Some participants noted that organizing sessions outside of the meeting days would imply that the NRIs are not considered as an integral part of the programme. Additionally, it will bring extra costs to the NRIs. This was seen as important, since funding is one of the biggest challenges of the NRIs.

In regards to some of the arguments that the NRIs collaborative sessions are competing with the workshops, it was said that the NRIs apply different methodology when working, and that their direct inputs could augment the overall programme of the IGF annual meeting.

The Host read the summary of the emails from the NRIs that came through the NRIs list as an input to this meeting. These emails are attached to this document (Annex A3).

On the issue of challenges for the NRIs to attend the IGF meeting in person, one participant suggested to focus on using the online participation tools and save the costs.
Some pointed that it is unfortunate that the Day 0 is on Sunday and outside of the venue, but that this should be taken into account for the next years in order to be avoided.

It was noted that unlike the regular meeting days, the sessions on Day 0 maybe won’t have captioning and webcasting, as it is not mandatory to have those facilities during the non-regular meeting days.

In regards to the main sessions, it was explained that the MAG didn’t finalize its decision, and that it will most probably be decided on during the next virtual MAG meeting. It was reminded that the NRIs asked for a 180 minutes long slot, that is subject for MAG’s approval.
The Host asked the NRIs to think about previously mentioned proposals by some of the NRIs coordinators for an NRIs Working Group to be formed to focus on developing the format of the NRIs sessions.

The NRIs agreed to continue working on developing proposals for the NRIs collaborative sessions.

Participants were briefed about the objectives and work development of the Best Practice Forum on Cybersecurity. All NRIs were invited to contribute to the work, and subscribe to the mailing list.

Next Steps

The Secretariat will send the summary report to the NRIs mailing list.
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.
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 VIII, 19 June 2017, 14:00 p.m. UTC

ANNEX A2:

MEETING PARTICIPANTS (in alphabetical order):

Abdeldjalil Bachar Bong, IGF Chad
Aleksandar Icokaev, FYR Macedonia IGF
Anja Gengo, IGF Secretariat
Bruna Santos, Youth Observatory
Carlos Vera, Ecuador IGF
Élisson Diones Cazumbá, Youth Observatory
Fotjon Kosta, IGF Albania
Israel Rosas, National Digital Strategy Mexico, IGF Host Country Representative to the MAG
Jennifer Chung, APrIGF
Judith Hellerstein, IGF-USA
Luis Bobo Garcia, IGF Secretariat
Makane Faye, IGF Africa
Marilyn Cade, IGFSA, IGF-USA
Markus Kummer, BPF Cybersecurity, IGFSA
Mary Uduma, IGF Nigeria
Oksana Prykhodko, IGF Ukraine
Renata Aquino Ribeiro, MAG member, LACIGF, Brazil IGF
Sandra Hoferichter, EuroDIG
Sorina Teleanu, SEEDIG
Susan Chalmers, NTIA, IGF-USA
Zeina Bou Harb, MAG member, Arab IGF, Lebanon IGF
Zoraida Frias, Spain IGF

ANNEX A3:

All emails available at the NRIs mailing list archives, under the following subject:

Re: [Igfregionals] Fwd: [IGFmaglist] On equal footing: an alternative proposal for NRIs at the IGF

These came from the following NRIs coordinators: Afghanistan IGF, Germany IGF, Kenya IGF

Main menu