L I R N E . N E T

According to the outcomes of the Regional IGF Preparatory Meeting that took place in Montevideo, Uruguay on 20 August, an online platform has been convened to debate and identify relevant issues and priorities for Latin America and the Caribbean that need to be included in the discussions and agenda of the Third Internet Governance Forum (IGF) that will meet at Hyderabad, India, in December 2008.

The online discussions, taking place during 8-11 September, will be structured around four subjects: ‘How to reach the next billion users?‘, ‘Promoting Cybersecurity and Trust‘, ‘Critical Internet Resources‘, and ‘Emerging Issues‘. Each topic will be developed during one-day online discussions.

Click here to access the registration form for the four lists and for further information.

Click here to access panellist presentations and the webcast files of the Montevideo meeting.

Click here for the reflections and conclusions of the meeting organised and presented by Alicia Richero and Valeria Betancourt.

(more…)

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) has posted a series of position papers and commentaries on equitable access to ICT infrastructure. The papers in this series formed part of a wider programme on equitable access including a workshop organised by APC; a joint APC-LIRNE-IDRC session for the 2007 Internet Governance Forum in Rio; and an online dialogue hosted by LIRNE and APC.

Click here to go to the APC Equitable Access resources page.

(more…)

The 3rd GigaNet Annual Symposium will be held in Hyderabad, India, on 2 December 2008, one day prior to the United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The GigaNet Annual Symposium is an opportunity to showcase some of the best current research on internet governance from around the world and provides a venue for scholars to discuss and debate these crucial issues. The GigaNet Program Committee encourages all scholars in the field to submit proposals on their current Internet Governance related research.

Deadline for submissions is 15 July 2008.

Click here to go to the GigaNet website.
Click here for the Symposium webpage.
(more…)

The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) has released a paper identifying and documenting the main areas of discussions and ‘recommendations’ that were generated under the access theme at the second Internet Governance Forum (IGF), held in Rio de Janeiro in November 2007. The paper summarises the discussions emanating from the thematic IGF workshops on Access, as well as the proceedings of the Access plenary session.

Click here to download the paper from the APC website.
Click here to go to the APC access news item.

Click here to go to the APC and WDR dialogue on Regulatory Frameworks for Improving Access.

(more…)

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada is supporting the participation of eleven young researchers who are reporting in their blogs on the five 2007 IGF topics: access, diversity, security, openess and critical internet resources.

Shamistra Soysa is reporting on access. She is a LIRNEasia researcher, primarily involved in research projects on ICTs, Transaction Costs and Traceability in Agricultural Markets project and has worked on improving the TRE methodology for Measuring ICT Sector and Regulatory Performance.

Andrea Molinari, also reporting on the access theme, is a researcher with DIRSI, working on the Mobile Affordability in Latin America project.

Laura León, previously the DIRSI Coordination Assistant and now pursuing a Masters degree at Manchester, UK in Information Technology for Development, is blogging on openess.

To see all of the IDRC bloggers and links to their IGF blogs, click here.

(more…)