Open Regional Dialogue on Internet Governance (ORDIG)

This programme takes place in two phases, both of which rely on ICTs and in-person exchanges to support dissemination of ideas and strategies related to internet governance. To begin, organisers convened an Asia-Pacific Internet Governance Advisory Panel (AP-IGAP), comprising 13 senior public officials responsible for ICT policy-making, scholars and researchers from the internet development community, representatives of civil society organisations, and high-level internet entrepreneurs from the private sector. The Panel is tasked to advise UNDP-APDIP on all activities related to ORDIG and carries out its work in online consultations and face-to-face meetings. Information gathering and sharing activities are meant to foster the policy-making enterprise related to internet governance. Among the activities envisioned or ongoing as part of ORDIG:

• Web-based efforts:
  • the development of a community-managed portal for ICT policy-issues - "a one-stop centre on Internet Governance in the Asia-Pacific."
  • a moderated online discussion forum on internet governance launched with active participation internationally - "To ensure that the consultations and Open Regional Dialogue are not limited to only those who make it to the face-to-face meetings but to anyone interested in contributing to the dialogue..."
  • an e-primer on internet governance and public policies - "to help policy- and decision-makers to implement public policies on Internet Governance effectively at the national levels"
• Research efforts:
  • surveys and fact-finding activities in more than 15 countries in the region to identify priority concerns for further research and direct information sharing with the UN Working Group on Internet Governance in the run-up to the second part of the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to be held in Tunis in November 2005, with regional submission(s) - "conducted by engaging local expertise but under the overall technical supervision of a consultant who has experience with such surveys."
  • literature review conducted on internet governance and a background paper prepared and disseminated to countries - "documents will be shared widely throughout the region prior to the country surveys and consultations being undertaken."
  • research papers on select topics and issues - "These studies should help to feed into the formulation of a regional perspective on Internet Governance."
• Capacity-building efforts:
  • "Public Policies and Internet Governance Sub-regional Workshops" (South Asia, South-East Asia, East Asia and the Pacific Islands) consultations completed - "The findings, salient points, and recommendations from the regional and sub-regional consultations shall be inputs to the entire process and feed into the research papers, portal, online discussions, input paper to WSIS, etc."
  • internet governance course and training materials on internet policies adapted/developed - "Together with an Asian partner, Diplo's course and training materials on Internet policy and governance will be adapted and modified to suit Asia-Pacific needs and requirements and to be offered in the region."
  • training and awareness workshops on internet public policy and courses on internet resource management for senior government officials and others.

Participation on the part of those not often central to the process - young people and members of the general public - has been a key organising force in this effort. For instance, as part of ORDIG's Youth Consultation Project, graduate students specialising in information technology and development issues at the London School of Economics were invited to bring student and youth voices into the debate. A project was undertaken to consult with students from 13 Asia-Pacific countries via online discussions; the goal was to find their priority concerns and issues in information technology policy-making and internet governance. Click here for more information, and access to the final report. Furthermore, national awareness campaigns are being carried out through the press and other media at the time of the national consultations. Information will be exchanged through websites, TV, and print media. As part of these country-focused awareness campaigns, UNDP-APDIP will cooperate with relevant agencies of national governments and UNDP country offices. The aim is to get members of the public involved in internet governance issues.

The core premise of this initiative is that internet governance is neither abstract nor the exclusive domain of industrialised countries or engineers. "Internet policies, standards, rules and guidelines are established directly or indirectly, by a very wide range of institutions globally. Different institutions may have responsibility for specific functions and/or geographic regions, and exercise these responsibilities in a variety of ways, through direct authority, coordinating responsibility, or facilitation of bottom-up consensus processes." This project seeks to galvanise those most impacted by internet governance issues in the Asia-Pacific region in online, in-person, and research-based efforts to communicate varied perspectives on the nature of this governance - what it is and what it should be. Additional background may be found in an APDIP e-Note on Internet Governance [PDF].

As part of Phase I of the project (which is slated to end in December 2005, followed by Phase II - to be completed sometime in 2006), ORDIG consulted over 3,000 stakeholders through sub-regional meetings, a region-wide online forum, and a region-wide, multi-lingual, issues-based online survey that looked at the internet governance priorities of the region. The result was "Voices from Asia-Pacific: Internet Governance Priorities and Recommendations", which was endorsed by delegates at the High Level Asia-Pacific Conference for the WSIS, in Tehran (May 31 - June 2 2005). Click here to learn more.