The Internet Governance Space: Exploring the Core Issues from Africas Perspective

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The Internet Governance Space Exploring the Core
Issues from Africas Perspective

• Professor Clement Dzidonu
• Senior Research Fellow
• International Institute for Information
  Technology (INIIT)
• P.O. Box AN-19782
• Accra-North
• www.iniit.com

2nd African Regional WSIS Prepcom Meeting Accra
International Conference Center 28th January
4th February 2005
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Some Starting Points

• What is the I in IG
• The Internet as an Infrastructure/System
• The Internet as a pool of Resources
• The Internet as collection of Organizations
  (Internet-related Supply-side Organizations)
• Internet as in terms of People (Demand-side
  Internet User Community)

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What is the G in IG

• Broad or Narrow Notion of Governance
• What is being governed, by whom and how
• Governance of Issues (policy, technical
  standards, resources, people etc)
• ICANN for example governs issues that indirectly
  translate into the governing of resources and
  possibly peoples (as groups or individuals)
• Governance ..implies a notion of decision
  making (either by way of authority or by
  consensus) hence a decision maker(s) on one hand
  and decision recipient(s) on the other hand.
• Those affected by the decision may or may not
  have a role in the making of the decision. For
  example ICANN makes a DNS decision without the
  involvement of the ordinary Internet users..who
  could be affected by the decision as decision
  recipients

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Internet Governance To Define or Not to Define

• The question of scope of the definition
• Broad or Narrow (subject focus, or technical)
  Definition
• Definition from whose Perspective
• There are more questions than answers

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Recalling the Genesis of the Geneva IG
Controversy

• The Geneva IG Controversy --- Due to a serious
  disagreement on what is to be the accepted notion
  of IG.it was mainly about What is or what is
  not IGA test of wits on whose definition of IG
  is better or best-fit --- More of a debate of
  ..definition good-ness of fit
• Not surprising thatone of the key mandate given
  to WGIG is to sort out this business of what is
  or what is not IG.
• The premise is that without a commonly accepted
  definition of IG.. no other business can be
  conducted on the remaining IG agenda
• ...In other wordsthe argument is..sort out the
  definition or else there is no point discussing
  further what we dont agree on. A fair comment
  and position.why talk if we dont agree on what
  to talk about

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• The sum total of this line of argument is
• If we by some stroke of luck and intuition
  come to agree on what is or what is not IG..then
  it will be easy and straightforward for us to
• Demarcate and scope the IG Space
• Decide on what are or what are not an IG issues
  (policy, technical, and others)
• Identify who is and Who is not involve in the IG
  space
• Decide on Who should or who should not be involve
  in IG
• Identify Who is excluded and need to be brought
  in to participate in the IG and in what form
• Decide on What those who are supposed to be
  involved in the IG space should or should not be
  doing
• Make everybody happy as far as is humanly possible

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The Post Geneva Prognosis

• A lot of Water has passed under the IG
  Definition Bridge since Genevadespite series of
  IG workshops from Geneva to New York via Berlin
  back to Geneva and now Africawe are no where
  near a commonly accepted definition (CAD) of IG
• Some may argueperhaps this Accra Meeting will
  seal this, bring this definition business to
  closure and enable us come out with the ultimate
  IG definition to collectively move us to the next
  issue on the IG agenda
• Others may argue thatperhaps it will be
  impossible to have a CAD for IG, (never mind even
  a working definition) and that..it is time for us
  to take another route --- they may argue that It
  does not matter how fast one run in the wrong
  directionone is bound to reach the wrong
  destination in the end.
• The question isis there another route to
  takecould this Accra meeting break the deadlock
  and propose that alternative route to unbundling
  the
• INTERNET GOVERNMENT WHAT IS AND.. WHAT
  IS NOT DEBATE?

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Unbundling Internet Governance Many Questions
than Answers

• The Notion of Governance Presupposes that
• there is something to be governed (what to
  govern the object of governance)
• there is a governing entity or entities who
  performs the act (action) of governance
• The Three Basic IG Questions to Address
• What to Govern (The Object)
• Who to do the Governing (The Entity)
• How to Govern (The Action)

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Internet Governance The Main Actors
Clash!!! Zones
Demand Side Actors
The IG Space
Supply-Side Actors
Comfort Zones
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Browsing for Answers in the IG Space

• The What to Govern (Object) The Internet
• The Governance of the Internet as a system (the
  Internet as a system --- and collection of
  cooperating computer/communications networks)
• The Governance of the activities of Internet
  Related Organizations or Structures (IROS)
• The Governance of the Internet as a Resource
  E.g. Managing/Governance of the Root Server
  System
• The Governance of the Internet --- as a community
  of Internet users
• Or some combination of the above

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Who to do the Governing (The Entities the IG
Actors)

• Answering the Question who Governs the Internet
  or Who to Govern the Internet
• Supply-side Actors
• The Internet Resource Provision Organizations
  (IRPO) --- Internet Resource Administration,
  Managing, Providers (e.g. RIRs, ccTLDs, Root
  Server Organizations)
• The Internet Coordinating Regulatory and
  Standards Organizations (ICRSOs) ---- Rule
  Making, Policy Making, Rules and Standards
  Setting, Internet Resource Use Coordination
  (e.g. ICANN, ITU, WIPO, IANA, IETF, ISOC)
• Demand Side Actors
• The Internet User Community (IUC)

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The How to Govern (The Action) Question

• Internet Resource Governance The Governing on
  the Resources of the Internet
• Internet Rules Governance The Governing
  (setting) of the Rules/Standards of the Internet
• Internet Users Governance The Governing of the
  User Community of the Internet

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Internet Governance A Working Definition?

• Any working definition however broad will not be
  all inclusive enough
• Instead will propose describing the
  characteristics (topology) of IG (in terms of
  actors, objects and actions) to guide us in
  unbundling the key issues in search for an answer
  to the pertinent questions
• Advocating a Working Description as against a
  Working Definition of IG
• (...Note This is not the same as describing of
  an Africa elephant, where there are as many
  different views/description (of what the elephant
  is) as there are those doing the description)

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The premise is that

• A reasonably acceptable working description
  would serve our purpose with less pain and
  disagreements on whose definition is the best if
  such a reasonably acceptable Working
  Description can assist us in answering the
  following core questions
• Who are the entities (actors) involved in the IG
  space
• who governs the Internet (what isthe status quo)
• who should be governing the Internet (what ought
  to be who to be or not to be)
• What do they govern (objects)
• what aspects of the Internet (resources,
  policies rules, people) are they governing (what
  is)
• what aspects of the Internet should they govern
  or should they be governing (what ought to be)
• What governance actions to take
• what actions are those governing the Internet
  involved in (what is)
• what actions should they be involved in (what
  they ought to be doing or not to be doing)

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Our Tasks --- Addressing the 3 Ws

• For each of three Ws the working description
  approach reduces our task to simply addressing
  the question what is and then based on this
  decide on what ought to be or should be guided
  by some specific reasons, premises and accepted
  rules of the IG game.
• For example, looking at the IG issue from
  Africas perspective, the working description
  approach will reduce our task to answering the
  questions
• To what extent is Africa a key IG player (Actor)
  Africans representation in the IG Entities
  (what is and what ought to be)
• What aspects of the governance of the Internet is
  Africa involved in (what is and what ought to
  be)
• What IG actions is Africa involved in (what is
  and what ought to be)

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Barriers to Africas Effective Participation in
Global IG Space

• Technical Barriers to Participation
• The lack of the necessary know-how, or expertise
  to effectively
• participate in relevant global IG processes,
  structures, organizations decision/policy making
  fora
• comprehend, contribute learn/benefit from the
  deliberations, discussions and proceedings of IG
  fora events technical meetings
• Informational Barriers
• The inability of African countries to acquire or
  have access to necessary and and/or timely
  information on IG-related issues, and events

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• Financial Barriers
• This relates the lack of the necessary financial
  resources to meet the cost of
• acquiring the necessary IG information,
  educational, knowledge and know-how update
  materials,
• preparing for and attending and participating in
  IG-related events and global fora
• Institutional Barriers
• Barriers posed by the very structure, nature
  and/or the mode of operations of IG processes,
  structures, organizations decision/policy making
  fora that could serve as a barrier to effective
  participation of some key actors from Africa
• Barriers posed by the absence of effective
  cooperation among African countries on how to
  engage in collective negotiations for their
  mutual benefit. For example extra-African
  alliances can inhibit Africas capacity to
  present a common front, stand or position on IG
  issues

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The ICT4D Leap-Frogging Concept
Can Africa Leap-Frog?
INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY
AGRICULTURAL
INDUSTRIAL
African Countries
Hunting Gathering
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The Leap-FroggingInternet Government Style..?
THE HOW..?
WHAT OUGHT TO BE
WHAT IS..
Africas Full and Effective Participation In the
Global IG Space
Africas Marginalized In the Global IG Space
Overcoming and Addressing the IG Participation
Barriers And Challenges
Will it be possible for Africa to
address/overcome the Identified Technical,
Informational Financial and the Institutional
Barriers in the Shortest Possible Time to enable
it to fully participate in the Global IG Space
Thus avoiding the dangers of being left behind
marginalized and become irrelevant at the Big IG
Table?
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Mapping Africas Critical Role in the IG Space
Africa Need to Play Key Role in the Governance
of all Issues and Items in this Space
Africa Need to be Active in this Space
More African Actors
Internet Governance
Objects
African Need to Increase its Visibility in this
Space Take More Actions and Be More Effective
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Internet Governance Concluding on the Burning
Issues from Africas Perspective The Task for
Constructing Africas Position

• Internet Governance Barriers to Africas
  Effective Participation African Institutions,
  Organizations and the Africa At-Large Internet
  User Community
• The Governance of the Resources of the Internet
  Africas Role in Internet Resource Management and
  Technical Coordination
• Internet Governance and its Implications for the
  Development the African Information Society -
• Implications for Rolling out Africas ICT4D
  Programmes and Initiatives The Bottom-line
  Equation
• It is not about IG as an endbut more of a means
  to a bigger end and that is
• Facilitating (at least not obstructing) Africas
  determination to be part of the information
  revolution and improve the social and economic
  outcomes of its people in the information age)

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THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION
. AND PATIENCE