[WSIS CS-Plenary] the Internet Governance debate

[Tracey Naughton]

This is not a matter of who should have done what, nor what learning 
resources can be posted to the less knowlegable.  PrepCom 2 has been 
characterised by specialist debate intersecting with new participants 
from a very wide range of insert points. I have heard written output 
from PrepCom 2 referred to as 'manipulative', 'mediocre' and 'mush', 
none of which have contextualised or coped with the reality of the 
second phase which has involved new participants who have as much right 
as anyone to be there.

While the specialists have been getting on with the work, which in 
itself is a lot to do, others have been developing caucus responses, 
often in enlarged caucuses, from positions that reflect familiar 
terrain more than one that is resourced with specialist information. 
This is not a matter to be ashamed of, or annoyed about. Its a 
challenge and an opportunity. It wold be best if we can move the debate 
to a more informed level before the next PrepCom....

Everyone wants an information society that is humane, accessible and 
managed by people entrusted to do so, but not everyone knows what a 
root server or an IXP is, or  who governs the internet now or why ICAAN 
wants to control root servers or what would happen if the ITU did. That 
is the environment we are in. This is a challenge and an opportunity.

Some will choose to lobby from a position of knowledge, leaving many 
still wondering who governs the internet. Others will choose to develop 
awareness and bring WSIS participants, from all stakeholder groups into 
the debate. Both strategies, and many more, are appropriate and 
necessary.

There are ways and other ways of imparting knowledge and developing 
awareness. This is an area that calls for careful thought and skilled 
development of appropriate materials and their delivery, perhaps using 
existing resources. Karen Banks responded to calls for a learning phase 
and undertook at the last Content and Themes meeting of PrepCom 2. and 
undertook to give this situation the serious thought that it deserves 
and needs. She will raise the need for knowledge development in WGIG 
and find a way to develop a process that will enahnce knowledge and 
move toward a workshop at Prep Com 3, where people can hear a diversity 
of opinions, from a more informed basis.

I have lived in two continents in the developing world for most of my 
life and I know that sustainable changes cannot occur without shared 
information and that it is better to go slower and arrive safely than 
speed along leaving the pedestrians and donkey cart drivers behind. 
There is a Xhosa word, Zibonele, that means to walk together, at the 
same pace. There is a philosophy called Ubuntu that means that we only 
exist in relation to each other. These are among my reference points.

Tracey






Tracey Naughton
NYAKA
Communication for Development Consultant
201 Somerset hall
239 Oxford Road
Illovo     2196
South Africa

landline & fax:	+27 (0) 11 880 5030
cell / mobile:	+27 (0) 82 821 1771
email:		tracey at traceynaughton.com


Tracey Naughton
NYAKA
Communication for Development Consultant
201 Somerset hall
239 Oxford Road
Illovo     2196
South Africa

landline & fax:	+27 (0) 11 880 5030
cell / mobile:	+27 (0) 82 821 1771
email:		tracey at traceynaughton.com
skype:		tracey_naughton