Addressing the Challenges of a Unified SIDS Digital Platform

Audience

UNESCO has launched the Internet Universality Indicators project, which is currently running in 34 countries. It is a voluntary tool that aims to guide states in achieving internet universality, with UNESCO providing guidance rather than imposing regulations. The process is multi-stakeholder, involving relevant ministries, civil society organizations, academia, the private sector, and other stakeholders. Reports generated through the project are validated to ensure all voices are heard, informing national policies and digital strategies.

The project emphasizes multi-stakeholder participation and includes advisory groups to guide the process and validate the report. It benefits both developing and developed countries, with ongoing implementation in 34 countries, including Germany. The initiative addresses diverse areas and vulnerable groups, targeting youth, women, and marginalized groups. It aims to create job markets and provide training opportunities to reduce inequalities and promote gender equality.

The NextGen group is encouraged to develop projects, with opportunities to build on previous experiences and make connections with the Equalia area. Grant opportunities from organizations like Aaron, LACNIC, and the APNIC Foundation can provide additional resources for building a platform. Collaborating with the ITU-D regional office for the Americas and UNESCO’s regional offices can also offer support and resources.

In summary, UNESCO’s Internet Universality Indicators project guides states in achieving internet universality through a multi-stakeholder and voluntary approach. It informs national policies and digital strategies, emphasizes multi-stakeholder participation, and addresses the needs of diverse areas and vulnerable groups. The NextGen group, grant opportunities, and collaboration with regional organizations further enhance the project’s impact.

Michele Marius

The Global Digital Compact (GDC) holds great potential in driving a coalition for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The GDC covers eight areas that could be handled by subgroups to identify challenges faced by SIDS. This could help in identifying the challenges that SIDS might face towards commitments advocated for by the UN Secretary-General. The creation of subgroups is proposed to handle the various areas covered by the GDC and to make interactions more accurate and focused. Emphasis is placed on the need for SIDS to clearly identify challenges and provide possible solutions, as clear definitions can improve the efficiency of discussions and decisions. Utilizing existing proposals and frameworks like the GDC can ensure a focused and productive start. The GDC provides a global position and serves as a template to understand how SIDS may be affected. Overall, the Global Digital Compact presents a promising opportunity for driving a coalition among Small Island Developing States by creating subgroups, defining challenges, and utilizing existing proposals and frameworks.

Andrew Molivurae

The Pacific Islands chapter of the Internet Society recently hosted the fifth Pacific IGF, which took place in Brisbane. The event was supported by Dot A, ICANN, APTLD, and ITF. This face-to-face gathering provided a platform for participants to discuss various emerging issues related to the internet and make significant advancements in addressing these concerns.

Discussions during the Pacific IGF focused on emerging technologies, access policies, digital skills, cybersecurity, and regional collaboration. Participants engaged in fruitful conversations to explore ways to enhance meaningful connectivity and bridge the digital divide in the Pacific region. The event served as a valuable opportunity for knowledge sharing and networking among stakeholders from different sectors.

One significant development highlighted during the event was the enactment of laws on cybersecurity by several island states. These legislative efforts indicate the growing recognition of the importance of cybersecurity in the Pacific region. Such advancements are a positive step towards ensuring a secure digital environment and protecting individuals and organizations from potential cyber threats.

Andrew, a participant at the Pacific IGF, expressed his belief in the potential and need to improve cybersecurity and related legal frameworks across the region. He emphasized the importance of achieving a uniform level of cybersecurity measures to effectively address cyber risks and challenges. Andrew suggested pooling resources together to upgrade security levels and enhance cybersecurity legislation in the Pacific region. This collaborative approach would foster stronger security practices and contribute to a safer digital landscape for all.

In conclusion, the fifth Pacific IGF brought together stakeholders to discuss emerging issues and make significant advancements in the Pacific region’s internet landscape. The event showcased the importance of topics such as emerging technologies, access policies, digital skills, cybersecurity, and regional collaboration. The enactment of laws on cybersecurity by several island states demonstrated progress in protecting against cyber threats. Andrew’s belief in the need for improved cybersecurity and uniform legal frameworks highlighted the ongoing efforts to enhance security measures in the Pacific region. Overall, the Pacific IGF provided a platform for dialogue and collaboration, facilitating the development of a more secure and inclusive digital future for the Pacific islands.

Rodney Taylor

The small island developing states (SIDS) are a diverse group in terms of languages, cultures, and economies. Some SIDS have economies based on oil and gas, while most rely heavily on tourism. This diversity highlights the fact that SIDS are not a homogeneous group.

One key aspect that needs attention is the increased involvement and participation of SIDS within ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). ICANN has recognized the importance of SIDS and has initiated a study on their involvement. This highlights a positive sentiment towards including SIDS in discussions and decision-making processes regarding internet governance.

However, hosting a common event for all SIDS poses challenges due to differences in time zones and the sheer volume of meetings. The negative sentiment towards hosting a common event for SIDS underscores the difficulties in coordinating gatherings that are accessible and convenient for all SIDS.

Given the limitations of small island developing states in terms of size and resources, there is an argument for giving them special consideration. SIDS face unique challenges in actively participating in international discussions and decision-making processes, especially when compared to larger economies. The positive sentiment towards giving SIDS special consideration acknowledges the need to address their specific limitations and provide them with opportunities for meaningful engagement.

Another important aspect for SIDS is the need for greater emphasis on digital governance and digital policies. This positive sentiment highlights the recognition that SIDS need to enhance their capabilities and strategies in the digital arena to effectively address their specific challenges and harness the benefits of the digital age.

Rodney Taylor, in his advocacy for actively engaging with SIDS, emphasizes the importance of intersessional engagement and digital platforms for facilitating productive discussions and exchange of ideas. This positive sentiment towards intersessional engagement and digital platforms underscores their potential in promoting collaborative dialogue and driving forward meaningful outcomes.

Various organizations, including ARIN, ICANN, ISOC, Diplo Foundation, and ITU, have shown support and made valuable contributions to the cause of SIDS. This positive sentiment acknowledges the significance of collaboration and partnership in advancing the interests and goals of SIDS in the realm of internet governance.

Rodney Taylor further advocates for a unified platform that consolidates ICT (Information and Communication Technology) policy development and internet governance issues across different organizations. This positive sentiment highlights the potential benefits of streamlining efforts and resources to achieve more cohesive and impactful outcomes.

The upcoming SIDS forum in Antigua and Barbuda, along with the Global Digital Compact year, creates significant opportunities to advocate for heightened engagement in the ICT field. This positive sentiment recognizes these events as important milestones, providing targets to work towards and raising the profile of discussions surrounding ICT issues.

To effectively address the challenges faced by SIDS, there is a need for better coordination and utilization of available resources across different spaces. This observation acknowledges the fragmented nature of efforts and emphasizes the importance of working together to maximize impact and achieve greater visibility for SIDS.

In conclusion, the small island developing states (SIDS) are a diverse group with distinct challenges and limitations. There is a need for increased involvement and participation of SIDS within ICANN, as well as special consideration given their unique circumstances. Emphasis on digital governance and policies, along with a unified platform for policy development and coordination, can contribute to the advancement of SIDS. Collaboration and partnership among various organizations are crucial in promoting the interests and goals of SIDS in the field of internet governance. The upcoming SIDS forum and Global Digital Compact year present valuable opportunities for engagement and advocacy. Better coordination and utilization of resources are essential to maximize impact and visibility for SIDS.

Beville Wooding

The analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the different viewpoints and arguments surrounding platforms for interaction and collaboration. One key aspect emphasised is the need to understand the nature of interaction and the intended audience before proceeding with a platform. The analysis suggests that establishing the nature of interaction and identifying the target audience is a critical step in the platform development process.

Additionally, it is argued that there may be a need for different types of platforms to cater to diverse needs. The analysis highlights that understanding the underlying issues is more important than focusing on a single platform. The recognition that a one-size-fits-all solution may not be suitable for every situation is emphasised.

Access to information and effective platforms for interaction across different groups are identified as crucial factors. The analysis asserts that having access to information is important, and platforms that facilitate interaction, particularly across different silos, are essential for effective collaboration.

However, it is acknowledged that certain tools, such as mailing lists, may be beneficial for specific groups but not universally applicable. The analysis emphasises that what works well for one crowd may not work for another, highlighting the importance of considering the diversity of needs and preferences when selecting communication tools.

Furthermore, the analysis suggests that more discussions and considerations are required before making decisions on platform development. It is argued that the issue of platforms needs to be ventilated further, taking into account factors such as people’s access to information, who is collecting and collating it, and how it can be interpreted by a diverse audience.

The analysis also identifies events as important platforms for collaboration among organisations. It is stated that events provide an excellent opportunity for various organisations to mobilise and work together towards common goals.

Practical suggestions for platform development are proposed, including the collection of documents along thematic areas, a calendar of upcoming activities, and interactivity. These suggestions are viewed as practical ways to enhance collaboration and coordination among stakeholders.

In terms of project management, the analysis suggests that certain organisations, such as CTU, ARIN, and CARIB-NOG, should take responsibility for specific aspects of the project. It is believed that these organisations can manage their contributions without significant strain, thus contributing to the overall success of the initiative.

The necessity of curating the platform is also emphasised. The analysis highlights that careful selection and organisation of content are essential to ensure that the platform remains relevant and useful to its users.

Leveraging the potential of young volunteers is seen as a positive step towards progressing the project. The analysis suggests that young people from Generation Connect and the WTDC initiative of the ITU have the potential to contribute their time and effort to the project. This can not only benefit the project but also provide an opportunity for young individuals to engage in meaningful work and gain valuable experience.

Mentorship is identified as an effective means to engage young people in the project. The analysis suggests incorporating mentorship as part of their involvement, providing an opportunity for young individuals to develop their skills and make a name for themselves.

The importance of coordination and leadership is recognised in the analysis. It is emphasised that someone needs to take the responsibility of coordinating and initiating the movement towards platform development and collaboration.

Finally, Nia’s involvement, particularly her work in video, is seen as potentially helpful to the project. The analysis notes that Nia’s active engagement in video-related work can provide valuable insights and contributions to the platform development process.

Overall, the analysis presents a range of viewpoints and arguments regarding platforms for interaction and collaboration. It stresses the importance of considering the nature of interaction, catering to diverse needs, ensuring access to information, and involving young volunteers. The analysis also highlights key considerations such as platform curation, coordination, and leadership. These insights provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic and offer valuable guidance for developing effective platforms for collaboration.

Cherie Langakale

The analysis of the provided information revealed several key points discussed by the speakers. Firstly, it was emphasised that sharing and discussing human experiences and responses during cyber incidents is crucial. This approach allows for a better understanding of the challenges faced and the strategies employed in dealing with such incidents. Specifically, the analysis highlighted a session at the Asia Pacific Regional Internet Governance Forum (APRIGF) where the case of Tonga’s recent cyber incident was discussed. The session examined who was affected by the incident, who was expected to be affected, and how the incident was handled. This discussion underscores the importance of knowledge sharing and collaboration in addressing cyber incidents.

Another important point raised during the analysis is the oversaturation of capacity building efforts in the Pacific region and the need for better coordination. The Pacific Cyber Capacity Building and Coordination Conference served as a platform where this issue was highlighted. Representatives from countries like Niue, Palau, and Marshall Islands came together to address this concern. The analysis suggests that while capacity building efforts are significant, there is a need for more efficient coordination to ensure their effectiveness. Improved coordination will help avoid duplication of efforts and foster a more holistic approach towards enhancing cyber security in the Pacific region.

Furthermore, the analysis found that handling cyber security incidents in the Pacific region should be tailored to the culture and context of the region. It was noted that template-based solutions might not work effectively in the Pacific. This underscores the importance of understanding the unique cultural and contextual factors when addressing cyber security challenges in this region. The analysis emphasised the need for coordination and the development of regional agendas to ensure that strategies and solutions align with the Pacific region’s specific needs.

The analysis also highlighted the importance of all stakeholders understanding and learning from each other’s experiences and working together. This point was reinforced by an upcoming meeting of the Pacific Island Forum, where the need for a coordinated approach was stressed. Collaboration and partnerships among stakeholders are crucial for effectively addressing cyber security challenges. By sharing knowledge, experiences, and resources, stakeholders can develop more comprehensive and robust strategies to mitigate cyber threats and enhance cyber security in the Pacific region.

In terms of cyber safety, the analysis revealed that materials will be delivered to Pacific Island countries. Medsafe New Zealand will be responsible for delivering these materials, and fellows from Pacific Island countries will discuss the content delivery in a conference scheduled for October. This initiative demonstrates a proactive approach to providing resources and education to enhance cyber safety in the Pacific Island countries.

Finally, the analysis noted the desire for a simple and easy platform for storage and planning. One speaker mentioned the use of Google Workspaces, highlighting its existing popularity. Another speaker suggested that the platform should be as user-friendly as Google Docs. The need for practicality in selecting an accessible platform was also highlighted, with the suggestion of having a small team conduct research and report back. This emphasizes the importance of finding a platform that meets the needs of the users and simplifies storage and planning processes.

In conclusion, the analysis of the provided information highlights the importance of sharing and discussing human experiences and responses during cyber incidents. It also stresses the need for better coordination in capacity building efforts, the tailoring of cyber security approaches to the culture and context of the Pacific region, and the necessity of stakeholder collaboration. Furthermore, it reveals initiatives aimed at delivering cyber safety materials to Pacific Island countries and the demand for a simple and user-friendly platform for storage and planning. Overall, these insights provide valuable guidance for enhancing cyber security in the Pacific region.

Nigel Cassimire

The analysis of the statements made by the speakers reveals several important points. Firstly, it is emphasised that there are two significant events scheduled for next year. The speakers argue that these events should be the primary focus in order to maximise inputs and ensure their success. Unfortunately, specific details about these events were not provided.

Another key point raised by the speakers is the importance of the Caribbean Internet Governance Policy Framework. This framework is believed to be a useful tool for identifying priorities and making policy recommendations in the field of internet governance. However, no supporting evidence or examples were given to further illustrate this argument.

Furthermore, the speakers highlight the significance of advocating for needs at the global level. They suggest that opportunities like the Global Development Conference should be utilised to draw attention to important issues and engage in meaningful partnerships. Unfortunately, no specific examples of successful global advocacy efforts were given to support this argument.

The speakers also emphasise the vital role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in development. They express their enthusiasm for incorporating ICT into the SIDS 4 agenda, acknowledging its broader scope beyond just ICT. However, no specific suggestions or evidence were provided in relation to this argument.

Lastly, the speakers focus on the importance of upcoming events in energising the work and maintaining momentum for future events. They mention the forthcoming Caribbean Internet Governance Forum (CIGF) and events organised by other SIDS organisations as examples of such events. However, no further details or evidence were provided to support this viewpoint.

In conclusion, the analysis reveals the importance of focusing on upcoming events and maximising inputs for their success. The use of the Caribbean Internet Governance Policy Framework for identifying priorities and policy recommendations is also highlighted. Additionally, the need for global advocacy through conferences like the Global Development Conference is emphasised. The role of ICT in development is acknowledged, and incorporating it into the SIDS 4 agenda is encouraged. Finally, the speakers stress the importance of upcoming events in maintaining momentum. Despite the lack of specific evidence or examples to support these arguments, the overall summary suggests that careful attention should be given to these areas for successful future initiatives.

Co-Moderator

The speakers at the DC SIDS meeting discussed a range of topics related to community building, the internet economy, and global connections. They expressed support for maintaining personal connections and building a global community, recognizing the importance of fostering relationships and collaboration in today’s interconnected world. This highlights the need for individuals and communities to engage and connect with each other on a global scale.

There was also a strong emphasis on the need for a business model that prioritises human rights, fights against inequality, and creates a more democratic digital economy. The speakers advocated for a form of platform cooperativism, which aims to ensure that the benefits of the platform are shared among its users and that human rights and equality are upheld. This highlights the desire for ownership and operation of platforms to be in the hands of the DC SIDS community, enabling them to have more control over their digital presence and shaping the digital economy in a way that aligns with their values.

The involvement and support of diverse regions in an e-learning course were commended during the meeting. Specifically, the Pacific and Caribbean regions had a strong presence, with 70% of the course’s graduates hailing from these areas. Furthermore, the participation of women made up 60% of the total participants, underlining the commitment of diverse groups to engage in educational initiatives. This demonstrates the willingness and enthusiasm of different regions to participate in educational programs and work towards achieving SDG 4: Quality Education.

The speakers also acknowledged the usefulness of the Pikai Sock mailing list, which has been in use since 2006. This mailing list serves as a platform for members to raise topics and start discussions, facilitating communication and engagement among participants. The recognition of the mailing list’s value highlights its role in nurturing collaboration, information sharing, and building partnerships among members.

The suggestion to involve young people in projects was raised by the Co-Moderator, who believes that engagement in project work is a suitable method to encourage and retain young individuals. Denise Hochbaum, who is in charge of the NextGen project, was present at the meeting, indicating the opportunity for collaboration and the potential to involve young people in meaningful initiatives. This reflects the commitment to SDG 4: Quality Education and SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, as it recognises the importance of empowering and engaging young people in project work to ensure their active participation in socio-economic development.

The meeting also emphasised the importance of meeting productivity and planning for future events. The team showed good traction, named potential issues, and developed plans for future engagements and events. This demonstrates a proactive approach and commitment to achieving SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals.

In conclusion, the speakers at the DC SIDS meeting addressed various topics, including community building, the internet economy, and global connections. They expressed support for maintaining personal connections and building a global community, advocated for a business model focused on human rights and fighting inequality, commended the involvement of diverse regions in an e-learning course, acknowledged the usefulness of the Pikai Sock mailing list, recommended involving young people in projects, and emphasised the importance of meeting productivity and planning for future events. Through these discussions, the participants demonstrated their commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and their dedication to creating a more inclusive and equitable digital future.

Moderator

The Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) and its Secretary-General, Rodney Taylor, are advocating for stronger relationships and increased Caribbean participation in Internet Governance spaces. They aim to strengthen partnerships and elevate the involvement of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in these spaces. The CTU, an intergovernmental organisation based in the Caribbean, has been instrumental in getting the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to initiate a study on the involvement and participation of SIDS. This study recognises that SIDS countries represent a strong number in international processes, especially if there is coordination on policy issues.

The CTU and Rodney Taylor emphasise the necessity of stronger Caribbean participation in Internet Governance spaces. They believe that SIDS countries sometimes struggle to follow all international processes due to their limited size and resources. The volume of meetings within international organisations like the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and ICANN makes it difficult for SIDS countries to track all processes effectively. To overcome these challenges, the CTU and Rodney Taylor seek to strengthen relationships and partnerships that will help SIDS countries stay informed and actively participate in international processes.

One way to enhance communication and collaboration among SIDS countries is through the development of a digital platform. The CTU and other stakeholders recognise the need for a more effective and engaging platform to bring SIDS communities together. Existing platforms, such as the UNDP SIDS community and Commonwealth of Learning, serve certain community groups, but a more global and personal platform is desired. The Digital Caribbean SIDS coalition aims to address this need by developing a platform that will facilitate effective communication and mutual support.

UNESCO, with its experience working with specific SIDS countries and its work on internet universality indicators, could provide valuable insights and guidance in creating the digital platform. The platform should cater to a diverse set of needs and encourage active engagement and information sharing among stakeholders. It should also address the challenges faced by SIDS countries, such as time zone differences, and allow contributions from various stakeholders at any time.

The Global Digital Compact (GDC) is another important focus for the CTU and Rodney Taylor. The GDC, a global position that the Secretary General of the UN is advocating for, covers eight areas and aims to address challenges related to SIDS. Subgroups could be formed to address different areas and propose solutions. Grant opportunities from organizations like LACNIC and the APNIC Foundation could be explored to support the platform’s development and requirements.

The involvement of young people through initiatives like the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) and Generation Connect can significantly contribute to the progress of projects related to Internet Governance. Utilising the skills and enthusiasm of young people from these initiatives can help move the project forward.

Overall, the session highlighted the importance of concrete action and inclusivity in Internet Governance discussions. Involving all stakeholders, including the government and SIDS, is crucial for meaningful progress. Preparations for the upcoming UN conference on SIDS can be made leading up to it, further facilitating the engagement of SIDS countries in international processes. The session’s discussions and the CTU’s efforts demonstrate a commitment to strengthening Caribbean participation in Internet Governance and ensuring that the needs of SIDS countries are addressed.

Janelle Lake

The analysis provides perspectives on the implementation of a shared digital platform. Janelle, who took part in the development as a volunteer, emphasizes the significance of having clear requirements for the successful implementation of the platform. She believes that without a well-defined set of requirements, it would be challenging to achieve success. This reinforces the importance of careful planning and communication in the early stages of a project.

Another speaker in the analysis expresses support for the concept of shared digital platforms. This individual not only endorses the idea but also actively participated in the development of such a platform. Their dedication to this cause is highlighted by their attendance at a discussion that took place at the early hour of 3:10 a.m. This level of commitment further underscores their belief in the potential benefits and importance of shared digital platforms.

Overall, the analysis promotes the view that clear requirements are essential for successful implementation and it highlights the positive support for shared digital platforms. The insights gained from the analysis demonstrate the need for robust planning and the involvement of dedicated individuals to ensure the effectiveness of these platforms. This analysis serves as a reminder of the importance of collaboration and the role it plays in achieving common goals and objectives.

Moderator:
You You You You You You Okay, welcome everyone to the annual DC said All right Let’s do that again. All right. So welcome everyone to the annual dynamic coalition on small island developing states Session as you know for those who are looking it’s mostly an online session But I’m happy to report that they’re actually folks in the room who’ve actually joined us today My name is Tracy Hackshaw, I am one of the co-chairs of The DC sits as we call ourselves and to my left. We actually have Maureen in Person and on-site after a very long Online Version of Maureen. So Maureen is in person. Welcome Maureen in The room today. We have some colleagues from I think mostly the Caribbean. So I’m seeing SG Taylor from the CTU Caribbean Telecoms Union. I’m seeing bevel wording from Aaron I believe that’s what you’re representing today. I’m seeing Nile Harper who is Caribbean by Not sure citizen but man of the world now, so I’m seeing neon on from the CTU. It’s welcome Caribbean folks I’ve seen a lot of guests coming in and I’ve seen some rapporteurs from the Youth ambassadors, I assume who tried to meet me and only met one of them. Welcome Daniel, and I’m assuming Tim aladi and And we’re missing None, but who wanted to see me and I don’t show where she went, but I’m sure she’ll join us shortly So welcome everyone. Welcome Nigel the deputy SG from the CTU joined us in the room as well and any others Please feel free to join us in the discussion as we begin So without further ado as I’ve been stalling for some time people to join Let’s toss to SG Rodney Taylor from the Caribbean Telecoms Union to give us a brief update as to what’s been going on in this space in the Internet governance where the digital sphere the ICD sphere in the Caribbean region I hope our colleagues at home are weak. If not, they’ll watch it on the recording. Welcome

Rodney Taylor:
Testing okay good good afternoon morning night Pleased to be a part of this discussion today, and I think it’s a very important one and I Am as pointed out Rodney Taylor secretary-general of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union And for those who don’t know we are an intergovernmental organization based in the Caribbean We are carry common specialized institution either with ICT policy development internet governance and so on We Have and I since I’ve been a well SG for just about Two and a half approaching three years and I think one of the things I’ve sought to do is to try to strengthen the relationship well in the region and also Raise the level of Caribbean participation in IG spaces Generally, I think just to give an overview Even though we talk about small island developing states as you would know, it’s not necessarily one homogenous group There’s a diverse group of countries in there in terms of length is diversity of language diversity of cultures diversity of economies we have some some of our member states are Based on oil and gas most are based on tourism, of course And so on so there’s a diverse when we talk about SIDS, even though we try to build that coalition there’s significant diversity Of course, there’s there’s significant strength as well. I think the UN recognizes about 38 and that within any international process represents a very strong number in particular if there’s coordination on Foreign policy issues or internet governance issues or ICT policy issues globally within spaces here like the ITU And in fact last year what we sought to do and the ITU planning potential conference is to first of all take a strong Caribbean delegation and to collaborate with our brothers and sisters in the Pacific Islands and so on to support You know the leadership positions and have common positions on the proposals that went forward to the through the ITU process We’ve been seeking to do the same thing within other spaces like ICANN for example and in fact, we’ve been instrumental in getting ICANN the Internet Corporation for Sign Names and Numbers to actually Initiate a study on the involvement and participation of small island developing states within ICANN because we believe there is There’s room for improvement Let me just put it that way in terms of how we engage and and in fact the sheer volume of meetings within ICANN and the other International organizations even the ITU makes it difficult to track all of these processes From a small island developing states perspective because you only have so many people actually so What has worked of course last year? We held our first small island developing states internet governance forum We had some very high-level representation including the UN tech envoy Amandeep Singhil and We were very pleased that we were able to execute that I believe it’s been recognized as an NRI even again but even though since it’s not a geographic region, but We were pleased with that recognition And of course Even hosting that it had its own challenges in terms of the differences in time zone and because we try to hold it not as Two separate events, you know the Pacific Caribbean, but as really one Homogeneous one one event and therefore the challenges with either Getting up early or staying up late just so we could have one Conversation together, of course was challenging We are pretty much involved in the GDC process we’ve made contributions in that and that process some of the deep dives you may be familiar with we’ve made statements and in particular Emphasize the need for SIDS to be given special consideration as we go towards the summit of the future that You know, we do have a unique perspective. We are limited in In size and the resources and therefore we may not be able to actively participate as some of the bigger economies But we do have a voice and we are looking Towards the SIDS for which takes place Summit on small island developing states which actually takes place in one of our member states Antigua and Barbuda next year and we’ve been advocating for greater emphasis on digital governance and digital policies and in fact Ideally, we’d love to have an IGF within that SIDS for space I will stop there for now But I think those are just to give you an overview of where we are what we’re thinking what we have done and I would say we would Really celebrate I would say the collaboration we did last year for the SIDS SIDS IGF for the work we’ve been doing within ITU and within ICANN But we think certainly there’s room for improvement. Thank you

Moderator:
Thank you very much S.G. Rodney before we move on To the Pacific. I want to acknowledge my Caribbean colleagues in the room. I may want to add anything to what Rodney has said, so Perhaps Bevel you may want to say anything. Do you have anything to add now this time? Anyone else would like to add anything before we move on? For the Caribbean side of life. Nope. Okay, so without further ado Let’s move on to Maureen who is my co-chair. She’s from the Cook Islands in the Pacific and let’s get the Pacific update. Thanks

Co-Moderator:
Thanks Tracy and thank you so much Rodney for that for that introduction and I what I’d like to do at this particular point in time is Well, first of all, I you know, thank you all for for coming to the session but I and it’s really pleasing for me is is as Tracy mentioned I was here for the 2008. I was at the IGF for the 2018 launch of the of the of DC SIDS and then Decided to go remote for the rest of the time and so this is my first time back and I’m really you know Really pleased to to be here, but I would like to introduce There have been some interesting things that are happening within the Pacific region and and I’m very pleased to be able to say that I have some Some people on on the zoom call who can who are going to select report on some of the things that have been happening with regards to the Pacific IGF which is something that you know, we had tried to sort of like Coordinate something with the Caribbean in this respect, but there was something happening within our region So we continued with that and I’ve got Andrew Malivare who’s actually the president of the Pacific Islands chapter of the Internet Society who who of the Pack idea IGF from side of things anyway, and he’s going to report I also have Sri Lanka Kali who’s been involved in cyber security issues in the in the Pacific and and I did have got another member of our community poor hunter who’s the director of director of ICT in the in the Cook Islands and she has actually said that she’d rather just follow the discussion and She will join in when she can but first of all, let me introduce you to Andrew And he will give you a very brief intro into what happened at the PAC IGF, Andrew

Andrew Molivurae:
Thank You Maureen Just checking the audio Okay, thank you, so thank you so much for the opportunity Marina and Tracy and organizing this Session So, my name is Andrew and I currently chair the Pacific IGF which is being hosted by the Pacific Islands chapter of the Internet Society I think I saw Pacific IGF is not new we have had I think this year we had the fifth Pacific IGF that we had in the Pacific The last one that we had was the one before the one this year was in was held in sort of a hybrid mode where we have online sessions, but we did have the The islands have their own Hubs, so it was a different way of doing it, but it was a great session I’ve been in 2021 where we have probably seven seven hubs Then with the you know online community it was held in parallel with APTLD And this year It was the first time again after COVID that we were able to Host this face-to-face in Brisbane in back-to-back to APR IGF and the netting of the Australian IGF It was a great session. We had two days sessions where we discussed Emerging issues like emerging technologies AI, GPT-Chat, and all that Cryptocurrency, we then went on to sort of discuss the meaningful connectivity Different island states and how this The states whether or not each state has a policy access policy We’re seeing so we’re seeing a lot of differences there from different islands then we had some discussions on the digital skills and that leads to legal frameworks in terms of cyber security and In there we can see a lot of improvements since the last few years Few of the countries have already Already enacted the laws on cyber security, which is what was really a good sign we have seen and then we We had sort of the sessions, smaller sessions, and we ended the meeting with Look at the opportunities that we have in the Pacific how we can sort of pull together, pull resources together to make sure that We lift the sort of the whole Pacific You know level of security and cyber security legislations, and you know that level just sort of a uniform level where as we can be seen as a region that Has some strides in especially do with them to do with their own The net related legal frameworks, so that was basically what we had this year It was Supported by Dot A I can and APTLD, and we also had ITF, yes, we had some support from ITF as well. So it was a good session, those who were there, Maureen was there and a few others, it was a good session that also was a stepping stone for the next ITF that we’re going to have, hopefully next year we’re going to have another ITF, but this one has put us sort of on another level, we have recognition from ITF HQ, so the link is there. Unfortunately, we have not had the ITFs nationally in our islands, we have had one from Vanuatu, it’s still there struggling to get on its feet, but for other islands we do not have that, so when we have this regional sort of ITF plays a key role for the Pacific Islands. So Maureen, I think I’ll have to stop there for now. Thank you.

Co-Moderator:
Thank you very much, Andrew. One of the things that he mentioned was, of course, with cyber security, and Cherie Langakale is actually talking a very interesting discussion on sort of disaster management, and I’d like her to just explain very briefly what her session was about, and Cherie, over to you.

Cherie Langakale:
Thanks, Maureen. Hi, everyone. Can you hear me clearly? Awesome. Probably, well, I wanted to sit back like a poor enlisted, but there were some important updates that I thought were worth mentioning from the region. The session that I had at the APRIGF together with the GFCE, we worked with APNIC and Sir Tonga to speak about stories from the Pacific in terms of the human side, when there is an incident in the region, and then in the case of Tonga’s most recent incident, what happened, who in the communities were affected, who were they expecting to be affected, and how did they handle it, and really came down to whether there were standard operating procedures that were in place on how they should be able to handle it, and where did they get the kind of assistance from. And this session, we did it in collaboration with the guys that are doing the best practice forum on cyber security for the IGF. Right now, there is a project working group working on ransomware stories from around the world, and we have been feeding in the stories from the Pacific where at the APRIGF session, we had the story about Tonga, we had the story about a ransomware attack when it happened in Samoa, and also a little bit on when that happened in Fiji in the middle of COVID-19. Then right after that, just about last week, the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise Pacific Hub was launched in Nandi on the margins of what is called a Pacific Cyber Capacity Building and Coordination Conference, and this was put together by the GFC Pacific Hub, the Oceania Cyber Security Center, and Partners of the Blue Pacific, where we’ve realized that there is in fact an oversaturation of capacity building efforts in the region, and it might be time to sit down and work out how can we coordinate better to avoid duplication, and also in the context of the region, how can capacity building efforts be delivered? A lot of times, there are template-based solutions. A lot of times, just because it worked in the U.S. or the U.K. doesn’t mean that it’s going to work exactly the same way in the Pacific, and taking into consideration the Pacific culture. At this capacity building conference last week, we had about 22 different countries represented. Fifteen of those were Pacific Island countries. It was nice for us for the first time to have countries like Niue, Palau, as well as Marshall Islands represented, and we’re looking at a coordinated approach with a regional agenda which we’re putting together to feed into the Global Cyber Capacity Building Conference, which will be held in Ghana later in October, and then with the support of working together with the Pacific Island Forum because the Pacific Island Forum Head of Leaders Meeting is also coming up in November. How can we – everybody’s doing around the same things, facing the same issues. How can we learn to work together? On another note, I have recently joined Medsafe New Zealand, and this is part of a project in the Pacific which will be delivering capacity – cyber safety materials to seven Pacific Island countries, and so there is a conference in October where we have fellows coming from these Pacific Island countries to come and sit down and discuss how exactly this content can be delivered based on the needs of these Pacific Island countries. I will stop for now, Maureen. If there’s any questions, I’ll probably leave it until later. Thanks.

Co-Moderator:
Thanks. Thanks a lot, Cherie, and yes, the others can contribute to the discussion sort of like later on in the thing, but if I can just carry on. First of all, we’ve got Rodney up here, and I’d just like to add my thanks to Rodney and Nigel and the CTU team for their continued support and involvement in the activities of our coalition, and more especially for embracing and nurturing the interests of Pacific and other SIDS within the support that they already give to the Caribbean, and we’re really, really grateful for this. But looking at our topic today, one of the things – we’re pretty much aware – our topic is, of course, how can we as a coalition be more effective in the way we can communicate with each other and support each other, and we’re actually sort of looking at developing some kind of platform which would be useful for us. And we’re already aware there are a number of platforms that are provided for community groups such as the UNDP SIDS community, which focuses on climate change. There’s the Commonwealth of Learning, which looks at courses to support SIDS and their education and development of their development goals. But DC SIDS looks at things a lot more broadly and a wider context in the internet economy and meeting the more global needs of our coalition, which will actually encourage us to maintain personal connections with each other and build that global community that we’re actually trying to build with SIDS across the world. And just to start off things, from a personal perspective, I had two key takeaways from my experiences during this year that I sort of thought of to help to start some conversations between you and us about what we might do. Firstly, I’m not quite sure if many of you attended any of the virtual island summit sessions that were organised recently by Island Innovation, and there were participants from SIDS all over. And unfortunately the timing is never right for the Pacific, and so I was only able to capture one session which really interested me, and it was a session on preparing young people for work in an island context. And what interested me and pleased me, of course, was the fact that there were Caribbean participants, and there was Keith Nurse from Trinidad and Tobago and Orlando Hewitt from Barbados, and they were sharing their educational programmes with other SIDS from around the world. And this is an example of what we too could be sharing more regularly in our own DC communities. I think that this is something that we could be building on. But my second takeaway was from the beginning of the year when I took part in an e-learning course on digital identity for trade and development, which was specifically created for SIDS by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. By the way, they also have a new course coming up on legislation for anyone who’s interested. But for this particular course, and while only half of the enrolled participants actually completed the course, 70% of the graduates were from the Pacific and the Caribbean regions, 60% were women, and I have to mention the big successes, which came from Trinidad and Tobago, where 33 out of the 39 people who were actually enrolled actually completed the course, and Grenada, where 14 out of 17 participants actually completed the course. An amazing and understandable result when you know what sort of support they get within the region. And although the Pacific and African SIDS also had their successes, I just couldn’t help but think that there could have been ways in which we, as a community of SIDS, could have actually supported each other a little bit more and probably had a little bit more success from other SIDS groups, especially as this was a free and very valuable course, but also especially for those of us who are actually involved in digital transformation in our regions. But for this reason, we definitely need a model of platform that is owned and operated by us, the people who will use it. And I envisage a form, and I saw this term, platform cooperativism, which is a business model, but with a focus on human rights, fighting inequality, and creating a more democratic digital economy. But this is the reason that we’re actually here today, and that’s to hear your ideas about how we could best progress this coalition goal. So, Tracey, I’m going to pass it back to you, because you can work with the audience, and I’ll work with these guys online. Thanks.

Moderator:
Thanks, Maureen. Yes, and that was an excellent segue, Maureen, into the actual topic of what we are doing today, which is addressing the challenges that we face as SIDS trying to get a digital platform up and running. And that platform could be either a solution of some sort, but more likely a sustainable, moving, very organic environment that we could really work with. To kick it all off, I’m going to call upon my colleague from UNESCO. Let me pronounce your name correctly. Tatavik Gregorian. Did I do okay? All right. So UNESCO has been working on internet universality indicators, and this year UNESCO has been working with some specific SIDS in doing some of this work. Maybe you could help us along the lines in trying to figure out what we can do if UNESCO has anything available or what they’ve been doing in the SIDS, so you can give us a quick report upon that. Maybe some suggestions as to what we can do about this digital platform. Feel free to join us here if it’s easier, or you can go to the mic, whichever you think is…

Audience:
Thank you very much, everyone. I’m actually very happy to hear more about this dynamic coalition and to find out more about what you’re doing. Many things were new to me. We’ve been working on SIDS for a very long time, but this particular initiative of internet universality indicators have been kicked off in the past few years. So basically… So the idea of internet universality, so internet universality is the position of UNESCO on the internet, the official position, which is internet should be based on the principles of human rights. It should be open to all, accessible to all, and nurtured by multi-stakeholder participation and address cross-cutting issues such as gender equality, safety and security online, environment and sustainable development goals. So we call it ROM-X. And Simon here is a technical advisor to UNESCO, who is also coordinating the project in South Pacific SIDS. So basically this is a holistic tool, which helps states or stakeholders who want to do voluntary assessment of the internet development at the national level. And I highlight voluntarily because it’s owned by the national stakeholders and UNESCO is there to provide guidance and support. So they use this framework, which consists of 303 indicators, which sounds a lot, but the idea is to make sure we have 109 core indicators, which form the basis of this work. And then these additional indicators to make sure that the national context is taken into consideration, then the national stakeholders take it and use it according to their context. So then the assessments of internet development is done based on these indicators and principles. And then this helps the country really form an idea map. First of all, the policies out there, the opportunities, challenges and areas of improvement and formulate actionable policy recommendations for all stakeholders concerned on how to move forward and how to improve. So I should highlight also the process. The process is based on multi-stakeholder participation. So at the outset, states who carry out these assessments, they form a multi-stakeholder advisory group consisting of relevant ministries, civil society organizations, international organizations, academia, private sector and all possible relevant stakeholders who guide the process and who participate in the process. So it’s a really participatory process. And in the end, they come together to validate what we call a validation workshop, the results of the report to really make sure and confirm that everybody’s voice is heard and the areas concerned to their area of expertise are truly reflected in the report. And then, of course, we hope that this multi-stakeholder advisory group continues their work and they cascade this work to implement the policy recommendations which are formulated in these reports. So we had very excellent results. So the project is ongoing in 34 countries with 6 countries having already published it. And what’s unique about this process is that it’s not only relevant for developing countries. It’s relevant for all countries. We have countries like Germany who did it and published it and it was presented in their national parliament and reflected in the national policies. We have it in Africa, 15 countries in Africa, including actually Capo Verde. We have it in Latin America and Caribbean, one in Dominican Republic and 12 in South Asia and the Pacific. So they really help. informed the policy, and we had, for example, results reflected in digital strategies of a country or helping inform the laws and regulations. Now, specifically on SEADS, as I mentioned, we launched it in February in Dominican Republic. And Kauperwerte actually has already finalized the report. It’s in the process of publication. And we launched it in the South Pacific in five countries, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Fiji. So the process is ongoing. And if Simon would like to later on add, so the idea is that what’s really great also about this project in the South Pacific now that it’s a project that covers diverse areas. And it’s implemented by seven UN agencies. And the idea is to support the economic diversification in these islands, especially working in the areas which were hardest hit after the COVID. And the idea would be actually also to address different components, including you mentioned that there was training for youth to prepare them for work. So actually, this project has a target audience or beneficiaries of youth, women, and marginalized groups. And part of this project will be actually supporting and creating job markets and also providing training for various stakeholders. So this is, for example, part which ILO will do. And from our side, we will support the islands by mapping these digital policies and putting forward policy recommendations. And for example, the other UNESCO section, for example, will help to digitalize music industry, which based on our assessment was one of the hardest hit, which digitalization of this industry would help to address various needs and support the economic diversification process. This is in a nutshell. And we would be very happy to cooperate if you see any areas. Assessments are ongoing in the Dominican Republic and five seats, a couple very days now finalized. But it’s a process that will continue. And we will be happy to welcome any contributions. And we’ll be very happy to cascade it in more seats. Thank you very much.

Moderator:
Thank you very much. Well, I vote that nomination cease. And I think we will accept that offer from UNESCO of cooperation in building this collaboration environment. I think it’s a good starting point. And I think we can reach out to you afterwards to see how best we can collaborate. Because as you know, we have a good network of the SIDS and those people who are doing the work in the region, especially on the ground. So I think that’s a very good starting point. So let’s definitely, I’m glad you came today. Appreciate it. And let’s work together and see what we can do to make this happen. So on this overall topic of collaboration and working on this platform, as we mentioned before, as Maureen hinted at earlier as well, the SIDS IGF is supposed to be sort of an ongoing thing. So it’s not an event. It’s a collaboration environment, such as what the IGF is supposed to be. In between events, things are supposed to be happening. You can use the digital platforms to make it work. So as I said, we were thinking, instead of limiting ourselves to just events, we need to find a way to not have us circling around a date of two days a year. And if it doesn’t happen, then what happens? So we want to ensure we keep that moving. So I know that my colleague to my right, S.G. Rodney Taylor, has a lot of ideas on this. So I’m going to put it back to him for some thinking on this. I believe he’s going to speak about what’s been going on with the Caribbean IGF and how that’s been evolving. And I also think he may have some ideas of what may happen in the region next year, as there’s a conference coming up, a UN conference on SIDS. And there may be an opportunity to do some work leading up to that. So let me pass to you, S.G. Taylor, and see what can work for your ideas. Thanks.

Rodney Taylor:
Sure, thanks. Thanks again. So, it would be remiss of me, I’m sure I couldn’t go back home if I didn’t say that, well, this year we had the 19th IGF, and it is the longest-running IGF in the world. And next year we celebrate 20. So, Nigel has been one of these stalwarts, one of the chief resources persons behind the CIGF. And, of course, it is an event, yes, and a lot of things happen around events. Of course, there’s an opportunity to raise the profile of the discussions, you get a lot of media attention, you kind of work towards it. The good thing about ours, though, is that we have been able to develop a policy framework. So coming out of the process, rather than just talking about topics, we use the CIGF as a platform for continued engagement with the community, but also to update that policy framework, which gives guidance to our member states on things like establishment of IXPs, on cybersecurity policies, adoption of IPv6, addressing, and so on. So that, I think we are, what’s the version, Nigel? Four. 4.0 should be coming out next year. Right, so we will be updating that to 4.0 this quarter. A number of new topics were introduced this year. We had high-level representation, again, from the UN Tech Convoy. We had traditional support that we always get from ARIN, our good colleague here, Beville, the American Registry for Internet Numbers. We have INR here, as well, from that same organization. We had support, as always, from the ICANN, Mr. Albert Daniels, who is the Senior Stakeholder Engagement Manager. Shernan Osepo, who has since moved on from ISOC, but Shernan is also been a, and ISOC has been a stalwart supporter. And, of course, Kevon Swift, who is the Head of Public Affairs for LACNIC, also spoke. And they give, as we do always, we don’t take for granted that our stakeholders, and we try to encourage new stakeholders, in fact, so we go back through what is internet governance and why is it important to the Caribbean. In fact, this year we used, as we did last year, we used a social media influencer, again, because we wanted to broaden the appeal. We don’t want to be speaking to the same audience year after year, but we want young people involved, new people involved, to bring wider perspectives to it. We did have a specific capacity-building session on the ICT indicators to measure connectivity and support policy development. So right in line with what was just presented, we have been trying to push a regional framework for capturing this ICT data so that we can better inform policy. And, of course, the ITU itself is doing some work in this area and will be releasing its new framework this year, I believe. We had another capacity-building session around cybersecurity, and we had, we looked at what was going on globally, within even the UN, for example, we had a presentation from the Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions and Head of Cybercrime and Digital Forensics Unit in Jamaica, Ms. Andrea Martin-Swaby, and Jamaica has been doing a lot within the UN on the issue of cybersecurity and cybercrime and in trying to give a perspective from the Caribbean on UN resolutions that are seeking to, a UN resolution in particular that is seeking to have global agreements on cybersecurity, so the UN resolution on cybersecurity. We had presentations from the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism, CICTE, as well as Ambassador Claudio Peguero of the DR who is recognized even within the UN as a foremost expert on cybersecurity and cybercrime. We, in addition, we had, I should mention also the second Youth IGF, we kind of broke it up, so we had the first day of the CIGF, then we moved into the Youth IGF, second Youth IGF, again, planned by Caribbean young people and executed by them, and we looked at how we could leverage ICTs for Caribbean youth development ahead of the Global Digital Compact, and actually you’ve spoken on that, Tracy, representing TTMAG, we had an associate, Filippo Pierrosi, who is an associate expert in the UN, SG’s tech envoy office, so I wouldn’t go into all of the topics, but AI, of course, featured prominently, of course, with the young people, and that is something that is very topical, addressing policy and regulatory challenges, guidelines for AI development, much like what the discussion that took place this morning in the open forum. We then resumed the day two with high-level presentations from the stakeholders. As I mentioned, we had a special presentation as well from Changi Tai, who is no stranger to us, and also Mr. Amandeep Singh Gill. Nigel, my deputy, gave an update on the CIGF vision, mission, and goals for those who weren’t, thinking on the way ahead as we approach 20 next year, like I said, and the intention is to go back to our hometown, where we launched the IGF in 2010, 20, 2005, sorry, look at my maths, in Guyana, so we’re working with Guyana to make that happen. Then we spent the afternoon working through the updates on the policy frameworks so that, again, we can make sure we added to topics such as AI and so on that we had previously not been addressed. We looked at some hot topics, AI, again, opportunities, risks, and challenges. We looked at fake news and deepfakes and these kinds of things. We had Diplo Foundation involved there and a company called StarApple based in Jamaica, actually, who was able to demonstrate deepfakes and so on, how these things can be misleading, especially how they impact elections and so on. Merging the digital divide, accessibility, and inclusion, we had presentations from ISOC and from the Telecoms Authority. And from Amazon, we had a presentation on the Project Kuiper and how they were using these LEO satellites to bridge those connectivity gaps. Another thing that was a hot topic was the fair share contribution, what persons are calling OTTs, over-the-top services, and their impact on the ability of operators to build out their regional networks. So how these over-the-top services are impacting the regional development. So those are some of the topics that we encourage you. We are actually working, we haven’t quite finalized the report coming out of that, but this quarter we will provide. But I think we had about 31 countries represented in 130 something. Of course, we had the updates from the National IGF in Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Haiti. And the UN IGF, of course. So you mentioned, well, I mentioned initially the summit in Antigua that takes place next year. We have tabled a suggestion, we’ve been saying that it would be, while it is event-driven, yes, it would be a good opportunity perhaps to have another SIDS be worked towards that. And I believe a platform, a digital platform would help us because the hosting of the event itself draws attention to it, gives us a target to work towards. But what we really want is the intersessional engagement. How do we continue to engage, not just within the UN IGF, but I mentioned ITU, right? And very often it’s the same stakeholders who are representing the region in these organizations. So a unified platform that gives us the opportunity to consolidate these issues. So that even within ICANN, for example, we know the community there, we advance the issues together. We try to influence policy because no one will speak for us, we have to speak for ourselves. So how do we maintain that communication and leverage the same group across all of these various IG processes globally or ICT policy development? Like I said, ITU, ICANN, ARIN even, and so on. And there are other processes as well that I mentioned. So I think working towards using this huge opportunity, that sits for in Antigua and Barbuda, I think we should advocate for some engagement there given the profile of it, but work towards that. And of course, next year too is the summit of the future where the GDC, the Global Digital Compact will be tabled. And I think this is a huge opportunity for us and we really ought to see how we can set that as sort of a timeframe or deadline, but see how we can develop digital platforms maybe with the support of UNESCO and others to keep the engagement more active, time zones considered and so on. But a platform that allows us anytime day or night to be able to go in and engage and bounce ideas off and so on and update each other on developments that are taking place. I’ll stop there for now, thanks.

Moderator:
So thanks, I’m actually Taylor. Yeah, so I think what we are trying to do here, we’ve been talking about this for some time, trying to get the volunteers going, but obviously volunteerism and this is difficult. Relying on volunteers to get something like this moving is not going to move us forward. So is there an opportunity somewhere, and again, we see UNESCO in the room, there’s others, Maureen mentioned UNCTAD and their work in the said space. We have Aaron in the room. Is there any way that you think we can leverage either existing work that’s being done or probably work together to get something new done so that we can build this platform where we can put information, knowledge that has been going on, because we’ve been doing this, I know it’s not a roundtable today, but we’ve been doing this roundtable for about, I think, going on 10 years now. And where can we put this information? There’s a lot of information about disaster preparedness, information about trying to push SIDS issues and climate issues moving forward. There are 50 plus of us, and I believe it’s difficult for us to get our voices heard if we don’t have something more tangible. For all sorts of reasons, we do more visible in the IGF space, and this platform will get us ready. And I think we need to understand that’s what we need to do, and let’s get it done, but we do need some help. If we just leave it alone, it will just continue swirling around the drain, as we say. So I’m going to open up the floor now for the ideas. This is a roundtable in a room that’s not a roundtable, but pretend it is for the time being. And everybody has an equal voice, equal space. You’re all discussants. So let’s get the ideas flowing, and hopefully, by the end of the session we can actually get something tangible out of it and let’s act on it. As Ashley Taylor says, there is an event, I know events are not the way to do this, but events mobilize us, gets us ready. It would be fantastic if we can do something leading up to SIDS 4, launch at SIDS 4, with a SIDS IGF type environment, I said the idea of not being an event, but more of a platform that we can talk about, release, launch, even feed into the agenda that’s there. I know that Rodney has been talking to the organizers and the various political figures there, maybe we can get on the agenda itself and have it concretized in SIDS 4. So those are the ideas that we’re starting to play with, but I’m opening up the floor now, online and in the room, for any thoughts on this, and I’m going to ask the online moderator, Maureen, are there any thoughts coming in, and maybe just over to you, don’t forget to use the mic, I’ll hand this over to you.

Rodney Taylor:
Sorry Tracy, can I just for two seconds just say that I think part of the, when I look at it, part of the thing is that we have engagements in silos, so we have the DC SIDS process within the UN IGF, we have, well the UN of course has its process with SIDS, we engage, IRINN has continuously engaged the Caribbean, IRINN in the Caribbean I think it’s called, right, so and that’s on, but that’s the American Registry side, and so these, there are silos, I mean not deliberately, but I mean the American Registry is the American Registry. ICANN of course tries to stay in its lane, so ICANN doesn’t even really recognize SIDS, they recognize underserved regions, and so they don’t necessarily want to hear about SIDS, or they’re not going to set aside say resources to deal with SIDS, they’re going to look at underserved regions and certainly there are topics that they will not touch, because they’re not outside of ICANN’s scope and mandate. And then of course we engage with LACNIC as well, and the same thing happens, LACNIC stays within the space, so how can we rise above all of that, and say okay well, you know, we’re working together across all these different, you know, spaces and we want to maximize the few resources that we have, and better coordinate our interventions. Thanks.

Co-Moderator:
Thanks Rod. Rodney, and we’ve actually got two hands up here, I’ve got one from Janelle Lake and Cherie, so we’ll have Janelle first, thank you.

Janelle Lake:
Thanks, thanks, hi everyone, it’s actually two o’clock in the morning here, actually 3, 3.10 in the Caribbean, but happy to be a part of this discussion, it was just last year that I volunteered to assist Cherie with the development of this shared digital platform, and I think I tempered all of our enthusiasms when I asked about requirements then, and I still ask about requirements now because I come from a very practical place in IT and you actually don’t get very far with anything, with any implementation if you don’t have requirements to start off with. It’s not fun coming up with requirements, but it does definitely help to establish where you want to go, it helps us to come to an agreed place in terms of what success looks like, so I don’t know if these things exist, and I’m just too new to the party to know it, but I would suggest that we start off with some requirements, some basic requirements at least, that would help us to establish what it is we need, and we would know where we’re going wrong, it would help us in terms of our, whatever potential alliances or assistance we could get from the likes of UNESCO as was mentioned earlier, I think it starts off with having those requirements, so if anyone could indicate if we have those, that would be great, thanks.

Co-Moderator:
Thank you, thank you Janelle. Cherie?

Cherie Langakale:
Thanks Maureen, I saw Janelle’s hands up so I knew and I remembered that we had this exact discussion last year and we tried to look for a platform, and I think one of the questions that we have coming through one of our side discussions is when we’re talking about a platform, how easy and simple a platform we’re looking at, because if we want somewhere to be able to store something, then Google workspaces is there, and I know that through, for previous speakers of board, we had Gina who had access to this kind of workspaces, and so is it as easy as Google Docs with a checklist of things that we want to get done by the end of the year, again, how simple, how easy of a platform we’re looking at, and you know, is it something that we could just find that easily and just go with it, looking at there’s an event the next year, I feel like maybe we should just have two or three people that are willing to look for something, look for something, and come back and report to people what are some of the pros and cons and options around something like this.

Co-Moderator:
Thank you. Thank you, Sheree. One of the things that I actually sort of like was asking someone to, if they would actually mention it, is that within Pikai Sock, for as long as I’ve been involved in Pikai Sock, and that was since 2006, so it was happening before then, they’ve had a mailing list, and this mailing list is like, I mean, there’s always something happening within the Pacific, and one of the members will actually raise this on the mailing list, and it starts, it initiates discussion, it initiates sort of like, I mean, there are topics that are raised that people sort of like make suggestions of, or someone might have a problem on their island, and they raise it, or it might be a technical one, someone offers support, and, you know, offline support, it’s that kind of, it’s that sort of like kind of activity, which is used by the members, and they, it’s very much, it’s very much engaging, because especially depending on what the topic is, as to how people, you know, sort of like want to participate, but it has been very successful for us, and as I said, it’s been going for many years, and it’s still a very, it’s still a very active, sort of like activity.

Moderator:
Thanks, Maureen, and thanks Janelle and Sherry for continuing to volunteer to volunteer to help us with this, we really appreciate your efforts to get this moving, so I think today is going to be the day we get it moving, so I’m very confident I’m not going to come back here in a hint and re-add next year, and have to discuss this again, that is what’s going on, not to change the name of the session to something else. So, more thoughts, and I, Beville Wooding from Aaron caught my eye, and I think Beville wants to say a few words, and Beville, I know, has a lot of creative ideas from way back in, too long to remember about getting stuff done, and how to get it done, so I’m appreciative that he’s going to come and save us, Beville, save us, help us.

Beville Wooding:
Yes, yeah, thank you, Tracy, and so good to be back in person at the SIDS discussion. There are several things that I wanted to raise around this issue of the platform, and a lot of it came out of the points that Rodney made, concerning the overlap between the organizations and their various attempts at staying in their, what he referred to as their lane. When we, when we consider the level of synchronization in terms of priorities and issues between, for example, the Caribbean and the Pacific, you get a sense of the diversity of the issues that fall under this SIDS umbrella, and so when you consider, when, when I consider the, the platform, two questions come to mind, platform for whom to share or to do what, and, and it’s, it’s two simple questions, but they’re two very important questions in figuring out where we go and how we go forward. It may be that there are, there is a need for several types of platforms. It may be that some of the underlying issues inside of mapping the SIDS landscape, particularly as it relates to research and as it relates to the curation of content, may become more important than actually the, the nature of a single platform to do something, and so I was thinking about what would be the best place for us to start, and I know Janelle said we need a requirements document, which I think would be very, very helpful if we were looking to use or build a platform, but I think there’s a step before even that, which is just understanding what is the nature of the kind of interaction we wish to have and with whom. There were some very interesting dynamics coming out of the work in the Caribbean over the course of this last year, particularly around engaging new audiences, for example, and, and you had organizations such as ARIN, the CTU, CARIB-NOG, the Caribbean Network Operators Group, and others attempting to find what we can call the intersectionality between issues, so not just the IT side of it, not just the civil society side of it, not just the political side, but how these things interconnect, and in that context, where a new audience is being engaged, and, and where we are trying to, to tackle the issues in a pragmatic way. Having access to information is important, but also having platforms for interaction, particularly across the silos, is just as important, and so, so to me, when I think about the issue of a platform for the dynamic coalition, it comes down to where the people get access to information, who is collecting that information, and, and who is collating it so that it can be interpreted or understood by audiences that may not have the technical background, that may not have the experiential background, or that may not simply be fully aware of how the things that they are doing connect with the things that others are doing. So, Maureen, I heard you with the mailing list, and I think for a certain crowd, mailing lists work very well, but for another crowd, they don’t. They’re confusing, noisy places where, where it’s very difficult to track what is happening, and what is intended to come out of what, what is happening. So, again, a mailing list may be important for one group, but it may not serve the needs of all of the groups. So, is it in an arsenal? Is there a toolbox of tools that we’re looking at? Is it UNESCO combined with existing common platforms like Google Drive and these things? I think we have to ventilate a lot of those issues some more before we figure out what is the composition or the constitution of a platform for what we’re trying to do.

Moderator:
Thanks, Babu. Yes, all valuable points and all the points that you’ve raised, I think we’ve tried to, to get to the, you know, the underlying, I don’t know what’s your word, that’s under the surface of it. So, is it a Google Doc? Just put stuff down. We have a mailing list already. So, let’s check that box, but that’s only my self-posting stuff about coming to this meeting. So, there’s a need to have a, we’re a dynamic coalition, dynamic coalition, but the dynamism needs to get moving. So, how do we get people to really want to get involved and put what’s going on and not wait 12 months to come and report on what’s happening, but let’s get it moving, talk about it, talk amongst ourselves, share experiences and want to share experiences. So, the requirement is, quote-unquote, or the, what do we want is something that drives us to want to share information. That’s the requirement and whether it be, I don’t know, a sandbox that you can sit down and play in, literally, or whether it be a Google, I don’t know, and I think that’s the challenge we have. So, we’re looking for help. What can we do to make it work and let’s get it moving, because I remember we talked about our website in the past, talked about doing a database of sorts, but nothing has kind of moved from there. So, we’ve talked about it, but let’s get it moving. So, seeing some eyes and hands starting to get moving. So, I’m just looking around. Yes. I do have Michelle on Zoom. Michelle?

Michele Marius:
Hi. Well, morning, everyone. It’s quite early here in Jamaica. I certainly agree with all that has been said, Tracy, Beville and Janelle. I was wondering whether or not there is an opportunity for us to focus our efforts on, for example, the GDC, and you have this major meeting that is happening next year, and whether that could then now be something to drive us. And what one can do, having reviewed the GDC, is I think that it certainly is a global position that is being taken, but can we look at the various areas that it covers and see how SIDS might be affected? And since there are eight areas that it covers, could we consider whether or not having subgroups that deal with the various areas, and to begin to identify what might be some of the challenges that SIDS might face towards those commitments that the Secretary General of the UN is advocating for? And even therefore, what might be some solutions that we may be able to come up with for our own benefit? Because I think going into the future conversations on GDC, for example, we need to be clear about what the challenges are. It’s a place where I think one’s voice can easily get lost if one is not clear and cogent about what the challenges are, and probably to be able to offer some suggestions. So it may be something that can help us to focus our efforts at this point. It may not necessarily be the final constitution of whatever structures we want to put in place, but I think we can perhaps use the material, for example, that’s already proposed in the Global Digital Compact to focus us, to give us a starting point. Because I think sometimes when we start from scratch, we end up just discussing or going around the issue, but not necessarily making any sort of significant headway as to whatever might be the objectives in terms of identifying challenges and proposing solutions, et cetera. Over to you.

Moderator:
Thanks, Michelle. Yes, so you know people who suggest things get volunteered to do them. So thank you, Michelle, for volunteering your good services and time to help us get this moving. We’ll add you to the list. So thank you for that idea, and let’s move with that. I think take it on board, sold. I think I saw, was it Nigel first? Yes, Nigel would like to say a few words. Nigel from the Deputy Secretary of the CTU.

Nigel Cassimire:
Thank you, Tracy. Yeah, I had put up my hand basically. Well, I could change and say what she said, you know, that we do have, you yourself said events mobilize, you know, and we have two big ones next year, right? So we could focus on the two big events and see what we can do to maximize our inputs to those events, right? Janelle talked about what are the requirements, and Michelle talked, Michelle pointed out that there are there is the developing GDC that we could look at what that could kind of focus attention. And I’ll also say, at least for the Caribbean aspect of the SIDS, we do have the Caribbean Internet Governance Policy Framework, which identifies priorities and some policy recommendations. So all of that could feed into giving people ideas as to what the requirements are, right? What are our needs, and certainly at the global level, we have the opportunity of the GDC to put some of our needs in there or to advocate for some of our needs to be addressed in there. And we have SIDS 4. The thing about SIDS 4 is that its scope would be broader than just ICT, right? But at least everyone recognizes the importance of ICT for all development these days. So that’s another opportunity for us to focus the development priority recommendations into the SIDS 4 work as well. So I think out of that, we could get some reasons for people to share information, right? As well as maybe a little energy to get some work done, because we have these big things coming up, and hopefully after that, we’ll be able to keep it going with the ongoing events that we would have, like the CIGF or other events of organizations in the SIDS world. Thanks.

Moderator:
Thank you very much, Nigel. I saw, Bevel, you wanted to say a few words?

Beville Wooding:
Yeah, just off the back of Nigel’s comments, because I think the events provide an excellent way, an excellent opportunity, sorry, for us to mobilize around. And there are three areas that can be very practical. One would be the collection of the documents, reports, research along thematic areas, in which case any basic site that allows us to do that will suffice. The second will be around who’s doing what where, a calendar of upcoming activities. And I think all of the organizations that are under this umbrella would be in a position to submit their things without too much stress, and you’re organizing an event, you want to promote it, and there’s a place to put your calendar entries, this can be it. And the third component, if you will, of this feature set would be the interactivity. And I think there are a number of very interesting new platforms for us to look at in that regard, to one, deal with the conversations among those who know, but also to engage those who may be unfamiliar with the space and are trying to get their feedback. So again, that can also be organized along some standardized thematic areas. So if you look at those three components, you can actually see how organizations such as the CTU, such as ARIN, such as CARIB-NOG can take responsibility for the part that they’re playing inside of it without too much strain, but still have this meet-me point where you can see all of the submitted documents or refer to the links to all of the important references, see the calendar, and then have the opportunity to chat either by joining a mailing list, joining a WhatsApp group, joining a Discord channel, for example, and have the conversation happen where persons are most comfortable. The key for that, of course, would be someone to curate it and see what’s going on over there, and should we bring this to the central place. But I think having those three distinct components would be a helpful way to organize our thought around what the platform can be and what it might look like.

Moderator:
Thank you very much. Maureen, thank you. That’s excellent. And I think I’m just going to come back to that point as we get close to the end, because we’re looking for someone in the room to sort of get it going, maybe see that, not necessarily money, but maybe just start it moving. So I’m going to look around pointedly at somebody, might be on my right, see what might happen along those lines. But before that, Maureen. Well, I just wanted to support what Evelyn just said, because I think it follows on from that. The term I used was sort of a platform cooperativism, and I think that that implies a very multifaceted kind of platform. And it’s something, because we’ve obviously identified that we need to have something that’s actually quite diverse, and it might be partly website, partly mobile app, partly sort of sections that actually cater for different types of groups, different topics. I mean, it could be topic-based, it could be whatever, because the things that we actually cover within the SIDS communities is actually quite diverse and isn’t just sort of like IT. But as Nigel pointed out, IT underpins so much that it’s going to be part of it anyway. But I think that this is, yeah, we need to get some kind of brains trust together to sort of divide something that could be quite innovative and something that really matches what we need in order to progress what we said this is a goal for us. So, yeah. You just keep looking around there, R. I’m looking. Tim Allard, I think the key takeaway is you’re grabbing there. This is going to be the last, well, the key one now, because I’m going to ask colleagues in the room to really step up and see how we can get this moving. So the rapporteurs are going to record what’s the key takeaway from this. I’m going to ask around the room and see if anybody wants to volunteer who is going to get this moving and who might have some resources available to help us. Anyone wants to volunteer? Anyone wants to volunteer?

Beville Wooding:
Thank you. I’m not volunteering, but the truth is, I mean, I know we’re all very busy. We’ve been working with some of the young people that we met in the, what was it, Generation Connect, the WTDC initiative of the ITU, and I think there’s potential there. I mean, they’re young, bright people. They’re not necessarily fully engaged or fully employed or not to their maximum potential, and I think they’d be willing to sort of make a name for themselves by giving up some time and effort and some sweat into helping us move this forward, yeah? And, you know, we, of course, with our support and so on, but I think it is important that I think we could leverage some of these young people to help us, just keep the discussion going, help us manage platforms, draw stuff, you know, help to coordinate. So that’s my suggestion, that we can look to, not just from the Caribbean, but, of course, across the CIS network and give them something to be excited about. At the same time, it’s part of our mentorship as well with them, and so that’s my suggestion.

Moderator:
Thanks, Ratnim, but I’m still going to be the devil’s advocate here. We need someone to coordinate that or to get it moving.

Beville Wooding:
Do you have any suggestions who could do that, anybody you think might help? Well, Nia’s doing a lot of work in video, people. I’m just thinking out loud.

Moderator:
Right, so the name that’s been suggested, just for the record, is Nia. Her surname is Nanan, just for the Riffrapporteurs, just to catch that. Good. Thank you.

Co-Moderator:
Maureen? Yeah, I’d just like to mention that we actually have Denise Hochbaum in our audience, and she’s in charge of the NextGen, and we were just talking today about what we should be doing as encouraging in order to retain these wonderful young people is to give them a project. I think we found our group. Denise, they’re all yours. What do you reckon?

Audience:
Maybe you can respond to get you on the record. Thank you, Nia, for the participation. Yeah, they talked about a project. Maybe we can start to encourage them to develop something. I think it’s a great opportunity for you, and then we have a lot of people from Equalia area that we are always engaged with and very capable. Get you on the record, yes. Okay. We’re talking about a possibility to develop a project created by the NextGen, and I think this is a little complex because you have to get some permissions about the procedures by ICANN, but individually, they can be connected with us. And also, at the end, the program, the NextGen program, they have a chance to build up something more consistent. And the same way, all fellows, the fellows instead immediately left and apply for another term, they build up something more consistent and clear for the next moment for ICANN fellows. So we’re talking about this very quickly, and now she put me in this spot. I was terrified. So this is why I think you can elaborate, and then you’ll be very happy to listen from the guys your suggestion in the future. Thank you very much.

Moderator:
We appreciate that. And that could be the part where ICANN, who is not citizen, will get citizen now. So I know Albert will try and do something, work on that before. I think I’m seeing Aaron stepping up to the mic, so that sounds like good news.

Audience:
Thank you, Tracy. I wanted to come up to be sure to distance myself from a call for volunteers, but I do have some observations or some comments, okay? I wanted to make sure that this group was aware that there are grant opportunities from Aaron, LACNIC, and the APNIC Foundation. And I don’t know about the timing. You’re talking about next year. This year is practically done, so there aren’t grant opportunities for this year. But be sure to look at those opportunities next year on their websites. It could be something to help either with determining the requirements for a platform or for perhaps even building one. I also wanted to – it just came to me that you might look at the ITU-D regional office for the Americas to see if that could be a resource or some support for this activity. And then I’ve been to CTEL meetings, and I have to admit I didn’t pay as much attention as perhaps I should have, but there have been SIDS discussions at CTEL a number of times and to reach out to the CTEL friends and see what they might have. One of the things they’re for sure going to have is contributions and case studies about this activity. So thank you very much.

Moderator:
Thank you very much. Yes, we’re getting some very good ideas and I think some good traction here. We’ve got our 10-minute wind-up call, so I’m going to make one last call for any further comments. I don’t know if UNESCO you wanted to have any further observations having heard your guests, so you’ve heard what you’ve had to say. Any thoughts as to what can possibly happen given what you’re doing? I know you have content, you’re doing a lot of content, but is there any opportunity to sort of use what you’re doing to sort of get into this and reach into this SIDS space a little deeper and help us maybe seed this further? Any thoughts on that?

Audience:
Thank you. There was a mention of including the government, for example. I mentioned that… Now I’m facing the camera, but… Okay, so there was a mention of involving the government. Actually, if we come down… I’m leading the work of the Internet Governance there, and if we narrow it down to that area, so bringing together all these stakeholders could somewhat contribute to it. But I understand you’re looking for a more broader solution. There was a mention of regional offices. UNESCO, for example, has national and regional offices. For example, we have an office covering the Caribbean. We have regional offices in Africa, and we have a regional office in the Pacific. So this could be something to look into. And at the headquarters, we actually have colleagues working with SIDS, so I would be happy to connect. I can’t guarantee at this stage, but I’d be happy to put you in contact with these colleagues.

Moderator:
Appreciate it. Thank you so much. So I think we got some good work done today. Any final words? I’m going to actually ask Maureen to wrap up, so give me a heads up. But any final words from the rest of the audience online or in the room? Any hands up that you’re seeing? Anything in the chat? Okay. So I think today we’ve gotten really good traction, got some names. We got actual things that can get moving, and we have mobilized around events next year. So 2024 sounds like the year that we will not be coming back into Riyadh and saying, what are we going to do next? We’re going to be saying what we’ve done. And this is, here’s the platform, here’s the thing that we have built, here’s what we have shown, and here’s how we’re going to take it forward. So let’s make that happen. And I know we have our volunteers online as well. Janelle, Sherry, we’re coming back to you. Michelle, you volunteered as well. So don’t forget Ania, who’s going to call all of you into a room along with the Generation Connect folks, and let’s brainstorm this. And we’ll all get involved, we’re all part of this. But I think it’s really useful to press it forward. All right. So she was away from the mic as I’m seeing here, but she said, just repeating it for the record, that meeting will happen this month because there’s the Caribbean News Network inaugural meeting happening. Exactly. So perfect. But we’re going to definitely add the SIDS component to that. So the Caribbean will get it going. But we’re going to bring the SIDS and the Indian Ocean folks on, and they’re going to work with us. Right, Maureen?

Co-Moderator:
Yeah, of course. Over to you. I don’t have much else to add, but I do want to thank everyone for sticking it out till the end. And thank you, Rodney and the team, for being here for us. And we’ll be working hard together this year. And working on the ideas that have come forward. Thank you so much. Meeting adjourned. Thank you. Thank you.