DiploNews – Issue 215 – 2 November 2012

Diplo at the 7th Internet Governance Forum

The annual Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is now in its seventh year… and is only a few days away. Once again, it will bring stakeholders from all over the world to the same table to discuss issues that affect important aspects of the Internet. The IGF starts on Tuesday 6th November, with pre-IGF events on Monday, and runs till Friday 9th November.

We invite you to join Diplo’s events that will take place next week:

• A New delegates briefing session, organised especially for those who are following the IGF for the first time.
• A session on Capacity building as a key element to strengthen the multistakeholder model in the Internet Governance environment, bringing together various players which have developed capacity building programmes in IG during past years.
• Workshop on Remote participation: Reality and principles, which will address the policy challenges around free flow of information and freedom of expression.
• Workshop on Local content production and dissemination as a driver of access, which will look at whether the creation of local content that expands and deepens the pool of knowledge all of us share on the Internet is a driver of access.
• Workshop on Localisation of data and its implications for economic development, addressing local data directives and the challenges and trade-offs which developing countries face with implementing these directives.

A number of fellows sponsored by VeriSign and the Central European Initiative will attend workshops, discuss themes, and blog about main and emerging issues on Diplo's Internet governance community. An updated and more detailed list of Diplo’s IGF activities is available here.

The Emerging Language of Internet Diplomacy: Pilot study analysis to be shared during the Internet Governance Forum

Diplo will present the results of the pilot phase of the project The Emerging Language of Internet Diplomacy at the 7th IGF next week. The main aim of the project is to contribute towards informed Internet governance processes by providing evidence-based research. The research looks at the development of Internet diplomacy discourse focusing on the reference frameworks, concepts and approaches, terminology, and patterns of communication. During the pilot phase of this study, the project team databased and analysed transcripts of the 2006 through to 2011 IGF meetings. Follow the calendar of Diplo’s IGF activities for more updates.

Register Now: International Conference on Innovation in Diplomacy

DiploFoundation’s tenth birthday is an occasion to reflect on innovation in diplomacy. Over the last ten years, we have witnessed many important developments, including the introduction of the Internet to diplomacy, the increasing specialisation of diplomacy in fields such as climate change, and the higher involvement of civil society in international relations. New forms of communication, reporting, and access to information have changed the routines of diplomats and diplomatic services. Innovations are sometimes highly visible (Internet). In many other cases, they amount to small incremental improvements.

The conference will identify innovations that have survived the hype and have influenced substantially how modern diplomacy operates. A group of highly experienced practitioners and researchers will discuss the future innovation trends in diplomacy. They will reflect on different experiences in innovation in diplomacy including the big diplomatic systems (the United States and the European Union), emerging powers (BRICS), and small countries (Malta and Switzerland).

The conference will take place from 19-20 November 2012 in Malta. Please view the draft programme and registration information online.

What’s happening in Diplo’s blogosphere

Only 10 more weeks left in 2012. Where has the time gone? In Diplo’s blogosphere, we’ve been busy commenting on what’s happing in the world. Pete Cranston looks at Internet Governance – building up to Baku and at Canada's innovations in e-diplomacy.  He also cautions us to beware what we tweet.

Aldo Matteucci continues his exploration of Diplomats without borders and ventures into Availability bias where he cites an interesting question posed recently on the Internet: If you knew a woman who was pregnant, who had eight kids already, three of whom were deaf, two of whom were blind, one of whom was mentally retarded, and the woman herself had syphilis, would you recommend that she undergo an abortion? Check here for the consequences of your answer. Aldo also looks at the Red-lining in diplomacy and wonders if Multi-stakerism is a case of cargo cult in reverse?

Over on our e-diplomacy channel, Andreas Sandre looks Training and research for better diplomacy while on our Reading channel we look at Water wars? The last one was 4500 years ago. This snapshot in Foreign Affairs provides a good summary of the current state of international hydro-politics around the world. We also check out George Packer’s thorough and thoughtful analysis of the experience on the ground in Iraq. One hundred and fifty years ago the issue of slavery tore the USA apart. The Union survived thanks to military power, but also the efforts of President Abraham Lincoln and others, prominent among them William H. Seward, the Secretary of State. We take a quick look at a new biography of Seward and what it has to tell us of the efforts made to seek a political solution beyond necessary military victory.

Remember you, too, can have your say. Simply visit our blog and leave your comments. Let's engage.

Discussing Internet governance

A few weeks ago, Fatima Cambronero shared experiences from the recent LACIGF meeting. In another two blog posts, she talks about the various themes and emerging issues that featured during LACIGF, and attendance, collaboration and capacity building – themes that were also discussed at the meeting.

Participants of the Oman IGCB programme shared thoughts on various issues. Rozalin AlBalushi discusses the OECD Anti-Spam Toolkit; Yahya Nasser Al Hajri highlights the main points raised by participants of the first Arab IGF; while tutor Priyanthi Daluwatte discusses self-regulation in the light of class discussions on the subject.

Mayengo Tom Kizito discusses the need for DNSSEC, and questions why only a few countries in Africa have undertaken DNSSEC implementation. In another blog post, he refers to the Guidelines on Content, Services and Applications over Text and Multimedia Messaging, which the Uganda Communications Commission has published, and its implications on SMS and MMS spamming.

In Intellectual Property Rights vs owners’ rights, Trevor Phipps reports on a Supreme Court case involving a student who resold books which he acquired from outside the USA, while Arzak Khan discusses the ‘future or funeral’ of the mobile phone industry in Pakistan.

Keep abreast of what’s happening in the world of Internet governance, especially next week during the 7th Internet Governance Forum. Remember to subscribe to our IG blog, and follow blog posts shared by members of Diplo’s IG community.