LISTSERV - NCSG-DISCUSS Archives

2007/8/23, Milton L Mueller <[log in to unmask]>:

Greetings,

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development) is currently preparing its 10th
Ministerial Meeting on "The Future of the
Internet Economy", which will take place in
Seoul, South Korea, June 17-18 2008.

APC and the Internet Governance Project, together
with EPIC and their Public Voice initiative, are
working with the OECD secretariat to increase
participation of Civil Society groups in shaping
the agenda of the Ministerial meeting 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 Hoffman, 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

Please contact us if you have difficulty
accessing or completing the online version.

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
=========
o  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

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

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

o The OECD Public Online Consultation:
http://www.oecd.org/document/9/0,3343,en_21571361_38415463_38985417_1_1_
1_1,00.html

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