A draft report released by the World Bank maintains that mobile telephony is rapidly shrinking the digital divide and that the main role of governments is to clear a path for private investment. The report basically calls into question the point of having a UN world conference on bridging the digital divide. The World Bank…
Civil Society in Intergovernmental Negotiations as a Two-Stage Game
Thinking about the WSIS Prepcom II, the issues of inter-civil society negotiations and civil society-governmental negotiations can be seen as a two-stage game, to take a concept from political Game Theory. That is, among civil society organizations there is a jockeying for resources and attention that must be negotiated while at the same time CSOs…
Wolfgang’s Performance Art Rant on WSIS Drafting
“There will be a 7:30am meeting in Salle 19 of the ad hoc working group on Para 26Abis+++ with all interested delegations, after multi-stakeholder consultations based on a draft text prepared by the Group of the Friends of the Chair which integrated views from a compilation document prepared by the executive secretariat which stemmed from…
My comments on the proposed Global Alliance on ICT Policy
I delivered the following statement on behalf of CONGO to the open consultation on the Global Alliance for ICT Policy and Development today (21 February 2005). Comment from Rik Panganiban, on behalf of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations on the proposed “Global Alliance for ICT Policy and Development” 21…
The UN Activist Gadget Guide
For those of us on the UN conference circuit as NGO activists, there are some essential geek tools that make our lives so much easier. Among the notable ones: Cell phone. This is an essential tool for any wired activist. Lots of options, depending on your budget. The cheapest solution is often to get a…
Navigating Civil Society through WSIS Policy Space
In this short treatise, I conceptualize the work of NGOs in a given policy arena as existing in a three-dimensional policy space in order to get a better understanding of how can work most effectively together in the WSIS process, and beyond. I conclude with some recommendations for how civil society operates in the immediate…
Proposal for a Global Alliance Collaboratory
The Internet Governance Project has put forward a proposal for transforming the Global Alliance on ICT Policy into a policy “collaboratory” facilitated by virtual collaborative technologies. While I am in principle supportive of the ideas and analysis, I think it kind of jumps the gun, since no one has decide on the what the point…
A new “Global Alliance” on ICT policy?
The UN ICT Task Force will soon be out of a job, which will be met by applause by penny counters at the UN, but with sadness by others who have participated in this innovative forum on ICT issues. In a couple of weeks there will be an open meeting on the creation of a…
WSIS Prepcom II and Tunisian “civil society”
It looks like I will be in Geneva for the next couple of weeks for the second Preparatory Committee of the World Summit on the Information Society. It will be a key meeting where we will see if much has advanced since the disastrous first Prepcom in Tunisia last year. Much will depend on what…
What are the despots afraid of?
I am at another “Table of Controversy” on building a new democratic world order sponsored by the Bridge Initiative at the World Social Forum. I am interested in the topic, but I must admit that I am more interested in the air conditioning in the tent. There are speakers from the World Bank, the 50…