[Mmwg] With the elections over... can we get to the subject at hand ?

[Milton Mueller]

>>> Robert Guerra <rguerra at lists.privaterra.org> 2/22/2006 10:57:54 AM >>>
>I've been a bit surprised of the amount of time and energy 
>that has gone into the election vs. the IGF consultation that took 
>place last week.

Thank you, Robert. I agree strongly. I would put it even more bluntly. This WG is on the brink of complete failure and irrelevance. If it does not act in time for the Feb. 28 deadline it may as well go out of existence, as far as I am concerned. 

Got your attention?

Nitin Desai has issued a call for comments about the "modalities" of the "multistakeholder group" that will "manage" the Forum. In other words, he has asked for direction in precisely the area that this MMWG is supposed to be working on. Why aren't we responding?

The input Desai receives will form the basis of his recommendations to the UN SG. That will determine the structure of the initial MS group that determines the agenda for Athens. Once that is in place, a precedent will be set and vested interests will be formed. 

Therefore, I appeal to our new coordinators to lead us to a quick statement. I suggest the following basic points:

1. Yes, there is a need for a "MS Group" to assist in convening the IGF.
(BUT NOTE this question: are we talking only about the Athens meeting, or about a precedent regarding the Forum as an ongoing entity?)

2. The "MS Group" should be as small as possible. No more than 15 people should be on it (e.g., one Gov, Biz and CS from each geographic region). We must resist efforts by some to turn it into a gigantic body with perfect representation of all the factions that exist regionally and intergovernmentally.

3. The mandate of the MS group should be to accept proposals for "themes" from stakeholders and to authorize the creation of lightweight, email-based preparatory groups around those themes. It should also develop a conference structure for the first meeting, in consultation with the conference hosts (e.g., how many plenaries, how many breakouts).

4. The MS group should be formed by having each stakeholder group submit nominations to the current Secretariat (Kummer's group). There should be a neutral, online mechanism for submissions and a template for the required information.  

These are my immediate ideas. Some of them no doubt need improvement and modification. Hopefully we can reach some agreement in time to submit something. 

Dr. Milton Mueller
Syracuse University School of Information Studies
http://www.digital-convergence.org
http://www.internetgovernance.org