After raising the slimmest of hopes, the GA keeps civil society out in the cold. For those of us who have been active at the United Nations on the role of civil society in the institution, we were hopeful that the report of the High Level Panel on UN-Civil Society Relations would open the possibility…
The banality of UN commissions
Why can’t “independent” experts make more interesting recommendations? I recently was an unofficial observer of a panel of experts selected to advise the United Nations on the financing of information and communications technologies in developing countries. The so-called UN Task Force on Financing Mechanisms met a few times under the auspices of the UN Development…
“Newthinking” at the UN ICT Task Force
Returning from the UN ICT Task Force meeting in Berlin last week, I’m struck by how much the somewhat ad hoc arrangement has developed into an innovative policy and collaboration space in the United Nations. The UN ICT Task Force Meeting in Berlin last week, only the seventh in its history, has been evolving into…
The Future of Virtual Conferencing
The internet governance symposium I participated in at Syracuse University was a fascinating physical and virtual experience. These are interesting times we live in. Spent a lovely couple of days in Syracuse New York, participating in a symposium on internet governance sponsored by Syracuse University on November 12. Milton Mueller and Derrick Cogburn were the…