R: [WSIS CS-Plenary] UNICT TF => Global Alliance => CS-PS dialogue

Mon Feb 21 19:15:02 GMT 2005

Ciao to all. I really wish I could have stayed in geneva longer and
participated in the "Global alliance" meeting today. I am very interested
and concerned about follow ups as this is also where we should test if WSIS
has actually meant any kind of "sustainable innovation" in ICT governance.
Looking forward for report(s)

Wish you all the best for this week in Geneva

Claudia padovani

  _____  

Da: plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org] Per conto
di William Drake
Inviato: domenica 20 febbraio 2005 19.12
A: plenary at wsis-cs.org
Oggetto: RE: [WSIS CS-Plenary] UNICT TF => Global Alliance => CS-PS dialogue

Hi,

Thanks Rik for this reminder, especially since the meeting is not listed on
the WSIS side-event page
http://www.itu.int/wsis/preparatory2/pc2/parallel/index.html.  Perhaps it
should be added that while the room is reserved for three hours, the meeting
has a pretty minimalist agenda and hence is likely to be shorter---there
will only be brief opening remarks, and then discussion for as long as
people want to talk.  So anyone thinking of popping in might want to shoot
for the 10-11am range, or they could arrive and find things are breaking up
or even over.

Also on the subject of meetings not listed on the side-event page (not my
doing or preference), another reminder related to my original message below.
There will be a meeting on Wednesday 23rd from 13:00-15:00 in room XXII on
promoting dialogue between civil society and the private sector.  The agenda
for this one is as follows:

1. Procedural and institutional issues regarding the conduct of ICT global
policymaking, e.g. the importance of transparency, accountability and
inclusion (most notably, the participation of PS and CS actors):

a) within the context of WSIS
b) within the broader global policy arena (e.g. ITU, OECD, etc...)

2. Substantive issues where CS and the PS may have common or divergent
perspectives, separating:

a) the "low hanging fruit," e.g. issues like freedom of speech and open
standards where some broad concordance of view is likely
b) the more difficult issues where we probably disagree on some things, e.g.
trade and intellectual property.

3. How CS and PS could build out a dialogue going forward, in particular
making sure that we don't get bogged down or locked into legacy dynamics
from WSIS---the need to look beyond.

Hope interested people will attend.

Best,

Bill

PS:  Also, anyone interested in ICT4Peace is invited to
http://www.ict4peace.org/meeting_EN/ Tuesday 22nd, 12-1pm, room XI.

-----Original Message-----
From: plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org [mailto:plenary-admin at wsis-cs.org]On Behalf
Of Rik Panganiban
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 8:27 PM
To: plenary at wsis-cs.org
Cc: Governance
Subject: Re: [WSIS CS-Plenary] UNICT TF => Global Alliance (WSIS side
meeting, Feb. 21)

Further to the message from Bill Drake about the open consultation on the
Global Alliance, on Monday February 21, from 10:00-13:00 in Salle XXI,
Palais des Nations.

There is a background note posted on the UN ICT TF, which I reproduce below.

Rik Panganiban
CONGO
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Global Alliance for ICT Policy and Development
Note on issues for stakeholder consideration

The UN Millennium Summit, the G8 Digital Opportunity Task Force (DOT-Force),
the UN ICT Task Force, the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS),
and others, have launched a process of bringing stakeholders from
government, business and civil society together for global policy debate on
the Millennium Development Goals and ICT policy and development. A truly
effective and sustainable collaboration among the principal stakeholders
will be essential for follow up after the end of the mandate of the UN ICT
Task Force and the completion of MS + 5 and WSIS-Tunis in 2005 if the
potential of ICT to promote development is to be effectively harnessed.

Indeed, recent discussions, including those within the context of the WSIS,
have reiterated the need to sustain and strengthen substantive dialogue in a
global, multi-stakeholder, open, inclusive and transparent manner. The
concept of an open global platform has also been raised within the UN ICT
Task Force, and the Secretary General of the United Nations, endorsing such
a global networking approach, has asked the Task Force to develop, in
consultation with all stakeholders, concrete proposals for a global alliance
on ICT policy and development.

At this stage it is probably not feasible to outline the precise features of
any global alliance that may emerge. The note therefore does not reflect any
position of the UN ICT Task Force or its members but suggests some issues
for consideration and poses some questions to be asked all relevant
stakeholders
. 
In designing the concept and modalities of a global alliance issues and
questions will most likely center on the global context, the window of
opportunity, mission and value add, modus operandi, membership, governance,
and funding, and the relationship with MS+5, WSIS and the United Nations of
any emerging entity - all posed via rigorous critical analysis of prior
experience and in open consultation. 

Global Context - With the Millennium Project and the Millennium Summit + 5
the international community will this year lend unprecedented focus to the
issues of poverty and security confronting the developing world, but many
regions, groups and economies are falling short of the internationally
agreed development goals

If the Millennium Development Goals provide the compass, what policies and
changes are needed to unleash the ubiquitous, adaptable and increasingly
cost effective nature of ICTs to chart an accelerated course toward their
achievement by 2015?

Window of opportunity - The coincidence of MS+5 and WSIS provides a unique
and virtuous opportunity to develop policy approaches, to identify
bottlenecks and gaps and build bridges, and to strengthen synergies and
inter-linkages between the ICT and the broader development community.

Post-2005, how can an open and credible platform be created post-2005 to
keep ICT at the forefront of the global political and development agenda,
avoiding a damaging policy hiatus, and taking advantage of a truly catalytic
opportunity for achieving the MDGs?

Mission and Value Add - Any kind of global alliance for ICT policy and
development must necessarily build upon previous initiatives and demonstrate
complementarity with and value added to existing efforts in addressing
substantive issues, drawing upon the outcomes of MS+5 and WSIS.

Will the key to success for a global alliance lie in filling the need for an
open, global, multi-stakeholder platform, a "think tank" for cross-sector
policy debate on key cross-cutting issues related to ICT policy and
development? Should it offer a flexible framework for pre-consensus and
inclusive debate on policy issues difficult to discuss elsewhere, further
strengthening existing knowledge networks, as well as permitting a
structured exchange of experience about monitoring progress in programmes
and plans of action emerging from MS+5 and WSIS? What types of framework can
be considered for a meaningful dialogue among stakeholders on substantive
policy issues?

Modus operandi, membership, governance, funding - An ICT global alliance
should by its nature employ the revolutionary collaborative methods of the
Internet but also be an effective advocacy platform at the highest levels of
policy making. Membership of recent innovative global alliance models has
been fully open and transparent to multi-stakeholder participation.
Meanwhile, any global alliance must be adequately resourced from the time of
its launch.

Will the optimum mix for a global alliance be periodic high level and
face-to-face interaction supported by online means? Should openness and
transparency be its fundamental guiding principal? Would an appropriate and
equitable funding strategy be one based, for example, on the principle of
ability to pay? 

Relationship with MS+5, WSIS and the United Nations - It is strategically
important to align the MS+5 and WSIS output and a number of options are
currently under discussion for the follow-up mechanisms to both summits.
Meanwhile, a global alliance could be direct initiative of the United
Nations Secretary-General for an open, multi-stakeholder platform for ICT
policy and development within the declared timeframe of the Millennium
Development Goals.

What are the mechanisms and elements that can be identified to bring
together the ICT and broader development communities that can lead to an
alignment of interests in MS+5 and WSIS outputs? What should be the short,
medium and long-term relationship of a global alliance with the United
Nations and its member organizations? 

Your input on these and other relevant issues will be very much appreciated.
Please address your comments to [icttaskforce at un dot org]

On Feb 4, 2005, at 2:06 PM, William Drake wrote:

Hi Karen,

(I'm having a problem posting to the governance list. Could you please
forward this there?)

The UNICT Task Force is considering a follow-up mechanism for when the TF's
mandate has concluded. The idea under discussion is to launch an open,
multistakeholder Global Alliance on ICT policy and development issues (there
are various proposals on the name, unresolved). The secretariat held a
small brainstorming meeting in New York a few weeks ago at which we
developed various ideas on substance and modalities, and these and other
inputs are to be discussed next by the TF bureau Feb 14.

There will be an open consultation meeting on the global alliance concept
during PrepCom 2. The session will be Monday 21, from 10:00-13:00, I'm told
in in Salle XXI of the Palais (don't think it's on the website yet). Amb.
Karklins has agreed to participate, and Mr. Ocampo may participate. Civil
society people are very much encouraged to attend and weigh in on this.

Separately, since the UNICT meeting in Berlin, there has been some
discussion among a group of civil society and private sector people about
the potential value of some ongoing dialogue between the two sides on global
ICT policy matters in WSIS and beyond---clarifying areas of agreement and
disagreement, etc. on substantive and procedural/institutional matters.
This could be linked to the global alliance concept, or it could be a
separate activity; it's an entirely fluid concept at present, which was part
of why I suggested we might want to briefly address the general question of
follow up mechanisms in the meeting on the 15th. Anyway, here too there's a
need for an open consultation to see what people think. That is the lunch
meeting currently penciled in for 23rd.

Presumably, when both meetings are fully nailed down there will be formal
announcements, but since everyone's schedules are filling up it's good to
get these dates on the table now.

Cheers,

Bill

-----Original Message-----
From: karen banks [mailto:karenb at gn.apc.org]
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2005 1:00 PM
To: Governance
Subject: RE: [governance] Re: [WSIS CS-Plenary] Re: WGIG - Caucuses
meeting?

bill

*A discussion of possible post-WGIG/WSIS institutional reforms/additions
that could address, on an open global multistakeholder basis, holistic
approaches and the horizontal institutional issues. There will be a
meeting, probably on the 21st, on the proposed Global Alliance

successor to

the UNICT TF, and there are various other ideas floating around about
reforms/new arrangements, the potential interrelationships of which are
unclear. It might be useful to have at least a brief discussion on
strategic orientations toward such initiatives.

as we're trying to confirm dates of second meeting, can you
clarify re the
above? is this different to the informal meeting proposed by
ayesha between
CS and CCBI now penciled for lunch on 23rd? can you send more details - i
don't see it in posts around the global alliance..

karen

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===============================================
RIK PANGANIBAN Communications Coordinator
Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations
(CONGO) 
web: http://www.ngocongo.org
email: rik.panganiban at ngocongo.org
mobile: (+1) 917-710-5524 

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