[Icann-see] SEEDIG: some updates

Tue Sep 29 15:44:40 CEST 2015

Dear all,

While the past month has been rather silent on our mailing list, work has been done during this time, and, on behalf of SEEDIG’s executive committee, I am writing to give you some updates on this work. But, first, I would like to thank you for supporting my colleagues and me in our role as members of the executive committee for the SEEDIG 2016 cycle; we are honoured by your support and we remain committed to work closely with you in the run-up to SEEDIG 2016.

1.   Date and location for SEEDIG 2016

In line with the decision taken in August, SEEDIG 2016 will be organised as a stand-alone event, in the South Eastern European region, and it will be an integral part of the EuroDIG process. We are now pleased to inform you that the meeting is scheduled to be held on 22 April 2016, in Belgrade, Serbia. It will be hosted by the Serbian National Internet Domain Registry (RNIDS), and it is supported by EuroDIG, ICANN and the IGF. (Discussions are currently underway with other potential supporters and partners.)

A public announcement regarding SEEDIG 2016 will soon be published on the EuroDIG website. Once this happens, we will share the link via the mailing list and kindly invite you all to distribute it among your respective communities.

2.   Indicative milestones for the SEEDIG 2016 process

The preparatory process for SEEDIG 2016 will be launched in early October, with a call for issues to be discussed at the meeting. Other indicative milestones in this process are detailed below:

  *   Call for issues: October - December 2015
  *   Inventory of proposals and draft programme (including public comment): January 2016
  *   Face-to-face/virtual planning meeting (tbd): Mid/late January 2016
  *   Participation in the EuroDIG planning meeting: Late January 2016
  *   Registration opens: 1 February 2016
  *   Final programme: By 15 February 2016
  *   Building the sessions: February - early April 2016
  *   Registration closes: 15 April 2016

3.   Building the programme for SEEDIG 2016

As mentioned above, the first step in the preparatory process for SEEDIG 2016 will consist in a public call for issues. This will be a joint EuroDIG-SEEDIG call for issues, and the online form will be available on the EuroDIG website. (Once this happens, we will inform you via the mailing list.)

After the call for issues, the following guidelines are intended to guide the process for building the SEEDIG 2016 programme (in line with the indicative timelines and deadlines mentioned at point 2 above):

  *   Submitted proposals are compiled by the executive committee and made publicly available. A public discussion on the submitted proposals is held in a face-to-face or a virtual meeting.
  *   A draft programme outline is built by the executive committee, based on the submitted proposals.
  *   The draft programme outline is put for public comment.
  *   A final programme outline is built by the executive committee, based on the draft programme and the comments received during the public comment period.
  *   Organising teams are formed for each session included in the final programme. Organising teams are open to all those who have submitted proposals, as well as to any other interested individual.
  *   Each organising team will have one or two focal points, designated as such by the executive committee. The role of the focal point(s) is to lead the work of the organising team and to maintain communication with the executive committee.
  *   Organising teams work on building the sessions (deciding on the session titles, descriptions, formats, key participants, moderator/facilitator, remote moderator, rapporteurs, etc.) in an open and transparent manner, and in line with the session principles (under development).
  *   The activity of the organising teams is coordinated by the executive committee, whose role is to assist the teams, where necessary, and to ensure that the sessions principles are complied with.

4.   Inter-sessional activities

It has been previously underlined that SEEDIG aims to be more than just an annual meeting, but rather a process. In line with this aim, we believe SEEDIG could benefit from engaging in inter-sessional activities (between two consecutive SEEDIG annual meetings). Options for such activities include:

  *   periodic webinars on specific Internet governance issues seen as relevant for the region;
  *   an online survey addressed to stakeholders in the region and aimed at gathering information about how Internet governance is perceived, what the level of awareness of Internet governance issues is, what the most challenging Internet issues are at a national and regional level, etc. The results of such a survey could then be presented at the SEEDIG 2016 meeting.
  *   contributions to other IGF initiatives (IGF, EuroDIG, national IGF initiatives).

As these are some initial thoughts on possible SEEDIG inter-sessional activities, we would like to kindly invite your comments in this regard:

  *   Please let us know your views about the above-mentioned options for inter-sessional activities.
  *   If you think webinars could be organised, please suggest possible topics to be discussed at such webinars.
  *   Please make suggestions for other activities that can be undertaken inter-sessionally.

5.   Your contribution to the SEEDIG process

As it has been the case so far, your active participation in the SEEDIG process is of paramount importance. We therefore count on your continuous support and we kindly invite you to contribute to this process, through:

  *   responding to the call for issues to be discussed at SEEDIG 2015;
  *   later on, joining a session organising team and contributing to building the programme of the
  *   meeting;
  *   participating in our virtual meetings, as they will be announced via the mailing list;
  *   contributing to SEEDIG inter-sessional activities;
  *   helping us spread the word about SEEDIG and attract more participation; suggestions on fund raising opportunities for SEEDIG 2016 are also welcome;
  *   participating in the SEEDIG 2016 meeting and contributing your views and experiences to the debates.

Thank you all! And we look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Sorina
(on behalf of SEEDIG’s executive committee)

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Sorina Teleanu
Parliamentary assistant
Chamber of Deputies
Parliament of Romania
2-4 Izvor Street, Bucharest, Romania
Tel: +40 21 414 1842
E-mail: sorina.teleanu at cdep.ro
Website: www.cdep.ro