[WSIS CS-Plenary] Re: [governance] Should a "Global Alliance" succeed the UN ICT TF?

[Rik Panganiban]

Milton, et al,

Thanks for the work in preparing this paper, which echoes much of my 
own analysis of the traditional diplomatic process versus more 
innovative, ICT-driven policy processes.  I would certainly support the 
Global Alliance adopting more open, collaborative modalities.  However 
I think it somewhat jumps the gun, since we are not even really sure of 
what the purpose of the Global Alliance is going to be.

I should note that online, mediated communications can never replace 
the value of human face-to-face interaction.  The UN ICT Task Force is 
a perfect example of this, where most of the useful work was done in 
the hallways over coffee.  (Remember the complete break-down in Berlin 
when the caterers put out the coffee cups without putting out any 
coffee.)  The private sector reps (and civil society reps) who 
participate can justify their participation and support by showing how 
they are making new contacts and deals with governments and UN 
agencies.  It can be harder to create this kind of informal, collegial 
environment in an online space.

As the proposed Global Alliance, the basic questions that needs to be 
answered are:

*	What would be the purpose of the Global Alliance?  Would it simply 
extend the mandate of the existing UN ICT Task Force?  Would it have a 
mandate to oversee implementation of the WSIS targets?  (This might 
make sense, particularly if the ITU is rejected as the institution to 
monitor the post-WSIS implementation process.)

*	Who would sit on the Global Alliance?  Would the membership come from 
a slate chosen by the UN Secretary General?  What would be the balance 
of government - private sector - civil society.  (Only 4 members of the 
55 member Task Force are from civil society.)

I think these are the two questions that civil society should come 
prepared to respond to at the Global Alliance consultation in Geneva on 
February 21.  After these questions are resolved we can move on to how 
the Alliance should operate practically.

Regards,

Rik Panganiban
CONGO

On Feb 8, 2005, at 10:55 AM, Milton Mueller wrote:

>
> The Internet Governance Project (http://www.internetgovernance.org) has
> released its first analysis of the idea of a "Global Alliance" as a
> potential successor to the United Nations ICT Task Force.  Prepared as 
> a
> contribution to ongoing discussions of the concept, the Project 
> examined
> the how a multistakeholder alliance could contribute to international
> policy formulation on ICT, and why it should use new, Internet-based
> collaborative technologies to broaden participation. The paper reviews
> four examples of global alliances in other fields to see what lessons
> might be learned.
>
> The paper can be downloaded directly here:
> http://dcc.syr.edu/miscarticles/IGP-GA.pdf
>
>
>
> Dr. Milton Mueller
> Syracuse University School of Information Studies
> http://www.digital-convergence.org
> http://www.internetgovernance.org
>
>
>
>
===============================================
RIK PANGANIBAN       Communications Coordinator
Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations 
(CONGO)
web: http://www.ngocongo.org
email: rik.panganiban at ngocongo.org
mobile: (+1) 917-710-5524
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