The Citizen Lab is convening a workshop at the global Internet Governance Forum 2013 (IGF) titled, “Internet Governance for the Next Billion Users” (WS344), which will take place on Thursday, October 24 on 9-10:30 AM.
This workshop will explore how we can increase effective communication and collaboration among stakeholders in the Global South with varying backgrounds and interests. The goal will be to develop a set of “best practices” for dialogue, advocacy, and sharing of regional points of view, especially as a means of setting the agenda for a discussion of cyberspace issues with the Global North. The term “Global South” is here used to refer to developing countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, the populations of which will soon make up the majority of the world’s Internet users. It is defined in contrast with the countries of the “Global North,” which control most of the world’s information infrastructure and possess a dominant influence on ICT policy. The workshop will convene a multi-stakeholder group of policy makers, academics, activists, and business leaders from countries across the Global South [and North] in order to establish dialogue and facilitate knowledge-sharing and capacity building. In doing so, it will seek to build bridges between stakeholders in different regions and spheres with an emphasis on identifying points of commonality between the challenges they face.
Panelists include (click on name to read biography) Jac sm Kee, Women’s Rights Advocacy Coordinator, APC; Hanane Boujemi, Internet Governance MENA Programme Coordinator, Hivos; Alice Munyua, Chair, Kenya Internet Governance Steering Committee; Sana Saleem, Director, Bolo Bhi; Laurent Elder, Consultant, IDRC. The workshop will be moderated by Ron Deibert, Director, Citizen Lab, University of Toronto and Kilnam Chon, Professor, KAIST.
Read more about the workshop.
View IGF 2013 draft workshop schedule [pdf].