IGF 2017 WS #168 The Role of Internet Governance Content in Shaping our Digital Futures

Proposer's Name: Ms. DALILA RAHMOUNI and Ms Olga Cavalli
Proposer's Organization: French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Argentina Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Co-Proposer's Name: Mr. Dustin Phillips
Co-Proposer's Organization: ICANNWIKI

Co-Organizers:
Ms., Dalila RAHMOUNI, Government, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr., Emmanuel ADJOVI, International Organization, International Organization of La Francophonie

Dustin Phillips - Civil Society – ICANNWiki

Adrián Carballo - Civil Society - CCAT LAT Centro de Capacitación para América Latina y el Caribe

Julio César Vega Gómez - Private Sector - Asociación de Internet MX

Session Format: Debate - 90 Min

Speakers

Speaker: David MARTINON
Speaker: Emmanuel ADJOVI
Speaker: Lionel Fabre

Session Format: Debate - 90 Min

Content of the Session:
In 1990, 75% of the Internet users lived in developed countries. Today, more than 66% of Internet users live in developing countries. In 2030, an overwhelming majority of users will access the Internet from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

With multistakeholder processes and a global set of actors, Internet governance (IG) is often viewed as an inclusive ecosystem. It’s true that the IG community has made progress in becoming more inclusive in recent years, but there is still a lot of work to be done to give everybody a voice in shaping their digital futures. This panel will examine this task through the lens of Internet governance content.

WSIS+10 Outcome Document recognizes that there is a digital divide among developed and developing countries, with a primary dimension being content accessibility.The approach to closing the digital divide must be multidimensional, looking beyond mere connectivity to understand the quality of access to linguistically relevant and localized content. The creation of high quality, multilingual Internet Governance content is one way to help developing countries and the Internet community at large understand the complexity of Internet services and addressing the challenges of regulations, cybersecurity and other technological developments that directly shape their everyday lives.

Promoting an inclusive Internet governance ecosystem is essential to the future of the globally connected Internet. If strides aren’t made toward closing the digital divide and people don’t have a voice in shaping the very resource that shapes their lives dramatically, there will be negative effects for the Internet as a whole.

The debate will be opened under these general ideas:
How inclusive is Internet governance?

How can the different stakeholders contribute to the Internet governance model?
What risks do we face if Internet governance fails to be a truly inclusive ecosystem?
What role does Internet governance content play?
How can we improve Internet governance content?
How can this content be created considering the multilingualism?
How can we go beyond multilingual content to localized content?
What are the challenges related with different scripts? Have IDNs helped?

Relevance of the Session:
In 1990, 75% of the Internet users lived in developed countries. Today, more than 66% of Internet users live in developing countries. In 2030, an overwhelming majority of users will access the Internet from Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The future of the Internet Governance depends on the capacity of the Internet community to be representative of the diversity of world in terms of stakeholders, culture, language, regional representation and gender inclusion.

Tag 1: Access and Diversity
Tag 2: Internet Governance and the role of the different stakeholders
Tag 3: Multilingualism and Local Content

Interventions:
-introduction word by moderator
-first intervention by E.Adjovi to explain the importance of the diversity of the Internet for Africa
-second intervention by D.Martinon to explain how can we improve diversity in the Internet governance

Diversity:
- one participant representing African countries
- moderator (person from the civil society)

Onsite Moderator: Najma Bichara – Olga Cavalli
Online Moderator: Jacqueline Treiber
Rapporteur: Dalila RAHMOUNI

Online Participation:
ICANNWiki has extensive experience in managing online audiences. We plan to
use their experience in encouraging the virtual audience in submitting
questions and comments.
ICANNWiki, jointly with the SSIG and the Internet Society Argentina and Washington, DC
Chapters will send previous communications to targeted audiences which will
participate remotely so they are aware of the content and purpose of the
workshop.
This will let them have information to make their participation more active
and profitable.

Discussion facilitation:
Panelists will each give 3 minute brief perspective illuminating their discoveries on the subject at hand. Afterward, panelists and participants will have the remaining time of the workshop to debate and exchange different points of views.

Some triggering questions to facilitate discussion to a deeper discussion on methods and the path forward:

-Invite participation of attendees with questions such as “How many of you have definitive resources on Internet Governance in your native language?”

-Asking panelists what efforts they’re making toward creating a multilingual resource on Internet governance.

-Creative space towards end of discussion for participants to relay their experiences with exchanging information on Internet governance through language barriers.

Conducted a Workshop in IGF before?: Yes
Link to Report: https://www.intgovforum.org/filedepot_download/4098/237

Link to Report: https://www.intgovforum.org/filedepot_download/4098/239

Additional Reference Document Link: http://wsms1.intgovforum.org/content/no69-teaching-internet-governance-developing-countries#report