No matter what you may have heard or read, the 2012 Internet Governance Forum will not be held in Baku, Azerbaijan in November this year.
The IGF12 has already started, and it ends in Baku, on 9 November. Don’t kid yourself. If you are not working on the IGF now, or if you don’t get started soon, there will not be an IGF 2012 for you, your voice will not be heard, and you will not take advantage of the theme Internet Governance for Sustainable Human, Economic and Social Development to engage in the global IG policy process surrounding the most important IG meeting this year.
The tools are in place: The host website is now online and the online application form for workshop proposals will be open until 20 April. Registrations are open for the next Open Consultations and MAG meeting 15-17 May, at the ILO building in Geneva, and the draft of the programme paper for the 2012 IGF is online.
What do you need to get started? Let’s discuss it here or on the Diplo Community Site. The discussions and preparations are going on now. Can’t make it to Geneva for the open consultations? Attend online. There will be remote participation. No funding for Azerbaijan? No jet lag or visa if you attend online! There is already a proposal under consideration for a workshop to be held completely online: no in situ participants (although there will be a Baku hub). Watch this space for updates, or post your questions and concerns. Let’s do it!
