Participate in the 2019 IGF Holding in Berlin, Germany through CITAD’s Remote Hub!

About the Internet Governance Forum

As a platform for discussions, the IGF brings various people and stakeholder groups to the table as equals to exchange information and share good policies and practices relating to the Internet and technologies. While the IGF may not have decision-making mandates, it informs and inspires those who do. It facilitates common understandings and knowledge exchange of how to maximize Internet opportunities and address risks and challenges.

The IGF also gives stakeholders from all countries, including developing countries, the opportunity to engage in the debate on Internet governance and it contributes to capacity building, allowing these stakeholders to build knowledge and skills that will facilitate their participation in existing Internet governance institutions and arrangements. Ultimately the involvement of all stakeholders, from developed as well as developing countries, from governments to international organisations, from the private sector to the civil society, is necessary for advancing dynamic public policies in Internet governance. The IGF serves as a laboratory, a neutral space, where all actors can table an issue for an informed discussion across stakeholders. As an open forum, rather than a membership forum, the IGF is for all people with a stake in the Internet. Since its establishment in 2006, it has gained global prominence among stakeholders as an open, inclusive, and transparent forum for dialogue and collaboration.

The host countries for the past 13 meetings of the IGF are:

– 2006: Athens, Greece;
– 2007: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;
– 2008: Hyderabad, India;
– 2009: Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt;
– 2010: Vilnius, Lithuania;
– 2011: Nairobi, Kenya;
– 2012: Baku, Azerbaijan;
– 2013: Bali, Indonesia;
– 2014: Istanbul, Turkey;
Р2015: Jọo Pessoa, Brazil;
– 2016: Jalisco, Mexico;
– 2017: Geneva, Switzerland.
– 2018: Paris, France.

The mandate of the IGF is set out in paragraphs 72 to 80 of the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society (the Tunis Agenda):

“We ask the UN Secretary-General, in an open and inclusive process, to convene, by the second quarter of 2006, a meeting of the new forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue—called the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The mandate of the Forum is to:

– Discuss public policy issues related to key elements of Internet governance in order to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of the Internet;
– Facilitate discourse between bodies dealing with different cross-cutting international public policies regarding the Internet and discuss issues that do not fall within the scope of any existing body;
– Interface with appropriate inter-governmental organizations and other institutions on matters under their purview;
– Facilitate the exchange of information and best practices, and in this regard make full use of the expertise of the academic, scientific and technical communities;
– Advise all stakeholders in proposing ways and means to accelerate the availability and affordability of the Internet in the developing world;
– Strengthen and enhance the engagement of stakeholders in existing and/or future Internet governance mechanisms, particularly those from developing countries;
– Identify emerging issues, bring them to the attention of the relevant bodies and the general public, and, where appropriate, make recommendations;
– Contribute to capacity building for Internet governance in developing countries, drawing fully on local sources of knowledge and expertise;
– Promote and assess, on an ongoing basis, the embodiment of WSIS principles in Internet governance processes;
– Discuss, inter alia, issues relating to critical Internet resources;
– Help to find solutions to the issues arising from the use and misuse of the Internet, of particular concern to everyday users;
– Publish its proceedings

Centre for Information Technology and Development’s (CITAD) Remote Hub

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) is going to run a remote hub equipped with facilities to enable interested Nigerians to connect with the sessions and proceedings of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF 2019) scheduled to take place from 25^th-29^th November, 2019 in Estrel Congress center, Sonnenallee, Berlin, Germany.

The remote hub is meant to serve the following purposes:

1. To serve as a medium through which interested Nigerians can follow the IGF 2019 holding in Berlin.
2. To give Nigerians who are unable to be in Berlin the space to contribute in the discussions by channeling their inputs to the sessions and speakers.
3. To widen the scope and coverage of the IGF by way of connecting members with live discourse of the forum.
4. To let the Nigerian public understand the relevance of the Internet Governance Forum and the impact the yearly forum is making.

As an ICT-focused organization and member of several IT unions/associations within and outside the country, CITAD has made all the necessary plans to ensure that it’s remote hub serves the remote participants very well. While the forum takes place in Germany, people here have a direct access to instant discussions, and that is one of the benefits the internet as a whole offers. CITAD has ran similar remote hub last year when the forum took place in France.

The remote hub will give it’s participants steady six hours live access to the main forum in Berlin. Starting on 25^th November, the hub is scheduled to open at 10:00am and close at 4:00pm. A schedule of different sessions holding at different times will be presented to each participant and guides and operators have been reserved to support and respond to the participants’ questions and/or need for guidance as forum goes on. A number of sessions will hold as such plans have been made to ensure that when parallel sessions hold concurrently the remote participants can make their choices and be where they want to be. Presented below are the themes and sessions for discussion during the 2019 Internet Governance Forum (IGF).

• Access (Digital Inclusion)
• Accessibility (Digital Inclusion)
• Affordability (Digital Inclusion)
• Anonymity (Security, Safety, Stability & Resilience)
• Artificial Intelligence (Digital Inclusion)
• Big Data (Data Governance)
• Capacity Building (Security, Safety, Stability & Resilience)
• Child Online Safety (Security, Safety, Stability & Resilience)
• Civic Engagement online (Security, Safety, Stability & Resilience)
• Commons (Digital Inclusion)
• Community Networks (Digital Inclusion)
• Cyber Attacks (Security, Safety, Stability & Resilience)
• Data privacy & protection (Data Governance)
• Digital Divide (Digital Inclusion)
• Digital inclusion of women (Digital Inclusion)
• Digital literacy (Data Governance)
• Digital Literacy (Digital Inclusion)
• Digital skills (Digital Inclusion)
• News Media (Data Governance)
• Online gender violence (Security, Safety, Stability & Resilience)
• Outreach (Digital Inclusion)
• Social Inclusion (Digital Inclusion)
• Surveillance Capitalism (Data Governance)
• Trust and Accountability (Security, Safety, Stability & Resilience)
• Universal Access (Digital Inclusion)
• Users rights (Data Governance)

Sessions:

• Dynamic Coalition on Child Online Safety
• Dynamic Coalition on Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media on the Internet
• Dynamic Coalition on Gender and Internet Governance
• Dynamic Coalition on the Internet of Things
• Youth Coalition on Internet Governance

Conclusion

The Internet Governance Forum happens only once in a year and there are numerous benefits to be reaped by individuals, organizations, institutions, businesses, etc through connecting themselves with the remote hub CITAD set in place. Therefore, this yearly chance should be strategically utilized by people as they are in long run going to be beneficiaries of the robust discussions taking place in Berlin. Numerous experts and professional from different walks of life are scheduled to speak and engage participants on a number of themes and areas such as the ones listed above. Interested members of the public can reach out to Kamaluddeen Umar via email (kamal@citad.org) so that space can be reserved for them.

Signed:

Engr. Kamaluddeen Umar,
Technical Officer,
Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD)