[At-Large] Pre- Internet Governance Forum [Update]

[Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro]

Dear All,

The Pre- Internet Governance Forum starts tomorrow. Remote participation is
available over IPv6! :)
To see the schedule for tomorrow's pre-IGF kindly visit:
http://igf2013.or.id/preevent/

Snippets from Today

*At Large*
It was great to see alot of the ALSes at the IGF. There was a fantastic
opportunity in meeting some of the chapter representatives and inviting
them to apply to join the At Large. I invited both ISOC Japan and ISOC
Kenya and they have verbally confirmed that they would apply to be an ALS.
It was also great to see At Large representative to the Board, Sebastien
Bachollet and other ALSes here bringing colour and diversity to the IGF.
 Natalia and I are here and we are expecting to see Olivier and Rinalia
tomorrow. There are various ALS members who are
facilitating/moderating/coordinating workshops at this year's IGF. Staff
have organised the directory on the wiki so you can access and select which
ones to attend. I would encourage the community to support each other by
tweeting, remote attendance, blogging or attending in person and to spread
ourselves across the different workshops.

I would also encourage ALS members who are on site to use the opportunity
when talking to organisations to consider joining the At Large community as
an ALS.

*Civil Society*
I had wanted to attend the Best Bits meeting but could not find the hotel
in which they were having the meeting and fatigue had set in from arriving
a little past midnight. Norbert Bollow attended this meeting whilst I
attended the ISOC sessions. Norbert will be attending the High Level
Leaders meeting as an Observer and representing the Civil Society Internet
Governance Caucus. Various civil society organisations also held their
meetings. The IGC will host its meeting on Tuesday lunch time.

Giganet starts tomorrow and promises to be exciting and for the full day.

*Internet Society*
Today, I attended a Workshop organised by the Chapters Division of ISOC for
ISOC chapters which created the opportunity to meet other ISOC Chapter
members and discuss various challenges, strengths and opportunities for
growth and expansion for chapters. There was also substantial dialogue in
terms of how Chapters can contribute to the dialogue on Internet Governance
through meaningful participation and being relevant within their own local
communities through engaging in strategic engagement on various levels -
national, regional and global. There was also discussion on collaboration,
enhanced cooperation and meaningful participation. The dialogue is expected
to feed into the ISOC organised workshop during the IGF. |This was followed
by drinks and dinner for attendees.

*ICC Basis*
ICC Basis also organised sessions for their constituents which is mainly
private sector.

*Government*
The High Level Leaders meeting will start tomorrow and this is mainly for
Government representatives, select Invitees and a handful of observers.
Norbert Bollow will be officially attending as an Observer.
*
*
*General Observations and Thoughts*

Excitement is building up in Bali as civil society, private sector and
public sector prepare to engage in the IGF which starts on Tuesday after
tomorrow's Pre-IGF session. There was a call for policy questions to be
addressed in this year's IGF. To see a condensed list of the policy
questions that will be raised in the Workshops and various thematic
sessions, visit:
http://intgovforum.org/cms/Policy%20Questions%20to%20be%20addressed%20by%20the%202013%20IGF.pdf

Today and tomorrow will be more or less utilized by stakeholders for
preparing for engagement in the discussions in this year's IGF. This time
last year, stakeholders were apprehensive about the WCIT discussions and
outcomes. This year, there is a different type of excitement and
nervousness as stakeholders discuss diverse aspects of enhanced cooperation
in the face of an ongoing debate on multilateralism v multistakeholderism
and philosphical confrontation in the wake of increasing calls for
autonomy. This promises to be a very interesting IGF and whilst decisions
are not made in IGFs, it acts as a social, economic, political barometer
that stakeholders use to chart their strategies and effective participation
within the IGF and other foras. For those who are not physically in Bali,
remote participation is equal to participating onsite and your views will
be heard if you raise them and they become part of the Transcripts as is
the norm. It is even more important that you participate and air your views
during the workshop and even as you tweet in real time, you are also
enabling a much more broader discussion on the issues that have yet to
unfold.

*Social Media*
The twitter #IGF2013 is being used.

For those who are not used to tropical climate, it is advisable to increase
your water intake to avoid dehydration.


Kind Regards,
Sala