Brief description:
The closing session of the third IGF-USA featured summary remarks from Marilyn Cade, president of ICT Strategies and convener of the steering group for the multistakeholder IGF-USA and Chengetai Masango, representative of the United Nations Secretariat for the Global IGF.
Details of the session:
Marilyn Cade, catalyst of IGF-USA, provided closing remarks to participants at this year’s conference in Washington, D.C., that mirrored, in some ways, her remarks from the previous year, as she described her view of the state of the Internet.“We were at the very beginnings of the earthquake way out in the middle of the ocean,” Cade said, referring to one of her discussions from last year.
“We were just beginning to detect some seismic activity that eventually, if not dealt with, could lead to a tsunami.”
This seismic activity, as Cade described, drives the need to deepen the involvement of people around the world in issues related to Internet governance.
“It’s possible we’re on the threshold of some bad outcomes and we need to deal with those now,” Cade said.
In light of potential threats to the use and access of the Internet as we know it, Cade encouraged 2011 IGF-USA attendees who were not previously a part of IGF to stay in touch and remain involved in discussions surrounding Internet governance.
Cade, along with Chengetai Masango, representative of the United Nations Secretariat for the IGF, urged conference participants to attend the 2011 Global IGF conference this fall.
The conference, which will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, Sept. 27-30, will be the sixth global IGF meeting. Masango said the main theme of the meeting will be “Internet as a catalyst for change: access, development, freedoms and innovation,” and it will include more than 90 workshops, best practices sessions, open forums and dynamic coalition meetings in addition to an IGF Village—a space where organizations can display their Internet governance activities.Masango stressed that these meetings are important to attendees and the future of the Internet, adding that every opportunity to connect creates “value at the edges”—a benefit of meeting and dialoging with others who have concerns about Internet governance.
Various remote-participation options will be available for those interested in being a part of the 2011 global conference but are unable to travel to Nairobi. Among the options are Webex, realtime transcription, a webcast, email, Twitter and Global IGF hubs—pre-arranged gatherings of interested people in remote locations or national IGFs that can connect together through Webex to take part together in observing and participating through online interactivity in the meeting in Nairobi.
To read more about the global IGF, click here.
Click here to go to the main site used by the organizers of IGF-USA.
– Natalie Allison
A selection of Twitter reports on this IGF-USA 2011 event:
In final remarks, Marillyn Cade notes we could be on the cusp of bad consequences if we don’t engage people in Internet governance now. #IGF11-USA
There are threats to the Internet as we know it now – more than ever before – so it is important for all to work together. -Cade, IGF organizer, #IGF11-USA
Chengetai Masango, representative of UN Secretariat for the IGF, urges #IGF11-USA conference participants to attend IGF-Kenya in Sept.
Main theme of Global IGF 2011 is “Internet as a catalyst for change: access, development, freedoms and innovation.” #IGF11-USA
At Global IGF people work together in more than 90 wkshops, best practices sessions, forums and dynamic coalition meetings.
The multimedia reporting team for Imagining the Internet at IGF-USA 2011 included the following Elon University students and alumni: Jeff Ackermann, Natalie Allison, Ronda Ataalla, Ashley Barnas, Joe Bruno, Kristen Case, Lianna Catino, Nicole Chadwick, Kellye Coleman, Colin Donohue, Steven Ebert, Jeff Flitter, Anna Johnson, Elizabeth Kantlehner, Melissa Kansky, Morgan Little, Brian Meyer, Julie Morse, Derek Scully, Rachel Southmayd, Katy Steele, Jeff Stern, Bethany Swanson and Carolyn VanBrocklin.