[WSIS CS-Plenary] Civil Society and the OECD ministerial meeting

[karen banks]

Dear all,

Please find below some information about the 
upcoming OECD 10th ministerial meeting which wil 
take place in Seoul, South Korea, June 2008.

The OECD is an important public policy space - 
and it is encouraging that the secretariat has 
made efforts to outreach to civil society to 
increase participation in the process.

Like several intergovernmental bodies, the OECD, 
whilst having participation mechanisms with the 
business sector, and whilst having had long term 
relationships with 'experts' and some civil 
society groups, is only now looking to increase 
CS participation in more formal ways, as noted in the briefing below :

"There is as yet no formal link to civil society 
organisations, but the OECD is currently 
considering its relationship to the 
non-governmental sector with a view to greater inclusion."

If you would like to disseminate this message 
further, that's fine - but please let me know 
where you would be distributing it as the 
coordinating group has drawn up an outreach list 
which includes many networks and individuals, and 
we don't want to cross-post the message if we can avoid it.

thanks and regards

karen
====

Greetings,

APC and the Internet Governance Project, together 
with EPIC and their Public Voice initiative, is 
working with the OECD secretariat to increase 
participation of Civil Society groups in shaping 
the agenda of the 10th Ministerial meeting - "The 
Future of the Internet Economy' - June 17th/18th, 
in Seoul, South Korea, and in organising a one 
day stakeholder pre-event on June 16th 2008.

This message contains general background 
information about the OECD and the 10th 
Ministerial meeting, and some of the 
opportunities for civil society participation.

A second message will soon follow, outlining 
these opportunities in more detail, include some 
of our preliminary thinking about priorities for 
civil society engagement with this process, why 
we think you should get involved and how you can get involved.

We look forward to working with you on this!

Jeanette Hofmann, Karen Banks, Milton Mueller

About The Event
=============
The OECD, an inter-governmental organisation that 
consists of 30 member Countries, will hold a 
Ministerial Meeting on “The Future of the 
Internet Economy” in Seoul, Korea, on 17-18 June 
2008. www.oecd.org/futureinternet.

The OECD Ministerial Meeting aims to formulate 
guiding principles and policies for the future 
development of the Internet economy. Recognizing 
that the world depends to a growing degree on the 
Internet, the goal is to help governments 
establish policies responding to new developments 
and concerns arising from the changing role of 
the Internet in our society and economy.

The Ministerial meeting will be preceded by a day 
of “stakeholder fora” on June 16 2008, to give an 
opportunity to civil society and the business 
sector to present their viewpoints on the future 
development of the Internet economy. More 
information on the Ministerial and Stakeholder fora are available online.

The OECD Ministerial Meeting offers a broad 
international public space to discuss the 
economic and societal implications of the 
emerging information economy. Civil society 
groups active in the area of information society 
related issues should use this opportunity to 
network among themselves and collectively express 
their visions on guiding policy principles for 
the development of the Future of the Internet economy.

About The OECD
=============
Membership in the OECD includes the majority of 
European countries, Canada, the United States, 
Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Turkey, Japan and 
Korea. The OECD headquarters (the secretariat) is based in Paris.

The OECD provides a setting where governments can 
compare policy experiences, seek answers to 
common problems, identify good practice and work 
to co-ordinate domestic and international 
policies. The OECD engages in policy analysis, 
data gathering, monitoring, and forecasting in 
many different areas but in particular for 
economic, environmental and social issues. In the 
fields of digital economy and information 
society, the OECD covers many areas that are of 
interest to civil society, such as privacy law 
enforcement, user-created content, network 
neutrality and gender in ICT employment. Reports 
of the OECD Committee of Information, Computer 
and Communications Policy can be found at (www.oecd.org/sti/ict)

The OECD has relationships with about 70 
non-member countries and a number of 
non-governmental entities such as the Business 
and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) and the 
Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC). There is 
as yet no formal link to civil society 
organisations, but the OECD is currently 
considering its relationship to the 
non-governmental sector with a view to greater inclusion.

Public Consultation – open until September 14th 2007
=====================================
The OECD Online Public Consultation provides an 
opportunity for all stakeholders to comment on 
the topics and issues to be discussed at the 
OECD’s Ministerial meeting on the Future of the 
Internet Economy. The online consultation is open 
until September 14th and can be found here:

http://www.oecd.org/document/9/0,3343,en_21571361_38415463_38985417_1_1_1_1,00.html

If you have any difficulty accessing or 
completing the online version, please write to FutureInternet at oecd.org.

Opportunities for Civil Society Engagement
=================================
The next message will contain more detailed 
information about opportunities for Civil Society 
participation in the 10th Ministerial process including:

o  Linking work in other public policy processes 
(such as the World Summit on the Information 
Society and The Internet Governance Forum) with the OECD Ministerial meeting

o  Gathering Civil society statements and reports 
that deal with future development of the internet

o  Preparation of a Civil Society Declaration

o  Preparation for a one day civil society stakeholder event on June 16th 2008

o  Information about preparatory events in the run up to the meeting

o  A time-line of the process and important dates

References
=========
The Public Voice has a resource site with links 
to useful background documents, a calendar of 
related events and a schedule for the Public 
Voice monthly calls: http://www.thepublicvoice.org/events/oecdministerial.html

About the OECD: 
http://www.oecd.org/pages/0,3417,en_36734052_36734103_1_1_1_1_1,00.html

About the 10th Ministerial Meeting: www.oecd.org/futureinternet

The OECD Public Online Consultation:

http://www.oecd.org/document/9/0,3343,en_21571361_38415463_38985417_1_1_1_1,00.html

The OECD Organising Committee: www.oecd.org/sti/ict