Third International Workshop on Global Internet Governance: An Interdisciplinary Research Field in Construction

Montreal (QC), Canada – 30-31 May 2010

Organized by GigaNet, in cooperation with The Canadian Communication Association and Media@McGill

Co-sponsored by GigaNet, ACC-CCA, Media@McGill, LIP6/CNRS and UPMC

Preliminary Announcement and Call for Contributions

The Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet) invites you to participate in its third scholarly workshop to be held in Montreal (QC), Canada, on 30-31 May 2010. This workshop is organized in cooperation with the Canadian Communication Association and Media@McGill, during the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences (CFHSS) 2010 Congress week in Montreal.

Building on the success of its first two editions, respectively in Paris, France in June 2008 and in Brussels, Belgium in May 2009, the purpose of this third GigaNet workshop is twofold:

The first day will be dedicated to outreach sessions aimed at increasing the interest in the Global Internet Governance field among both various academic disciplines and the civil society at large, including but not limited to NGOs and civil society groups active in related fields. These outreach sessions will include academic tutorials on Global Internet Governance as well as information and discussion led by experts in the field on current Global Internet Governance debates and their relevance to public policy making.   Detailed information on the outreach sessions’ program will be distributed closer to the event itself.

The second day will feature thematic presentations selected upon submissions made in response to this call for contributions. We invite scholars to present and discuss their work- in-progress in Internet Governance-related research, with the aim to identify emerging research themes and design a research agenda. Rather than featuring academic paper presentations, the workshop aims at providing a survey of current academic activities in the field, in order to share ideas and forge possible collaborations.

Submissions are expected to focus on presenting problematics, research designs, preliminary empirical results and conclusions in the aim of stimulating reflection and discussion amongst the audience. Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

involved actors and their interactions; Internet governance institutions and regimes; legal, socio-economical, behavioral and technical regulation means; Internet governance policy issues.

Submissions in view of thematic presentations should be sent by 20 March 2010 to Meryem Marzouki (Meryem.Marzouki@lip6.fr). They should be written in English and include the name, affiliation, e-mail address and short bio of author(s), along with no more than 500 words of research work description. The program committee will notify applicants by 20 April 2010. To encourage knowledge dissemination, relevant submissions will be published on the workshop website. Authors of selected submissions will be invited to present their work in the workshop thematic sessions.

Program Committee:

Laura DeNardis, Yale U., USA; Meryem Marzouki, CNRS & U. Pierre et Marie Curie, France; Milton Mueller, Syracuse U., USA & Delft Technical U., The Netherlands; Claudia Padovani, Padova U., Italy & McGill U., Canada; Jeremy Shtern, Ryerson U., Canada.

Local Organizing Committee:

Juliana Dalley, McGill U., Canada; Becky Lentz, McGill U., Canada; Daniel Paré, U. of Ottawa, Canada; Claire Roberge, McGill U., Canada.

There is no registration fee for this event. A registration form will be circulated with the program.

Workshop website: http://giga-net.org/page/2010-international-workshop

GigaNet: giga-net.org – ACC-CCA: www.acc-cca.ca – Media@McGill: media.mcgill.ca

To receive further workshop updates, and other GigaNet news, please subscribe to the information dissemination mailing list: info-giganet (http://www-rp.lip6.fr/wws/info/info-giganet)

• Diplo Foundation Internet Governance Capacity Building Prorgam (deadline: Feb. 12)
• Berkman Center Summer Internship (deadline: March 5)

I was lucky enough to experience both of those opportunities and I am warmly recommend them.

More details and links for each of those opportunities can be found below.

Opportunity 1: Diplo Foundation Internet Capacity Building Program

DiploFoundation is currently accepting applications for the 2010 Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme (IGCBP10). This online programme is designed to improve Internet governance (IG) related knowledge and skills for participants mainly from developing countries and assist them to participate in the global decision-shaping debates on Internet Governance (IG). The Programme also facilitates community building among individuals with different national, cultural, and professional backgrounds.

The deadline for applications is February 12.  More information can be found here.

I went through this program a year ago and I think it is a very good entry point into the internet governance debate and the internet governance community.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Opportunity 2: Berkman Center Summer Internship

For 10 weeks each summer The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University swings opens the doors of its big yellow house to welcome a group of talented, curious, and energetic full-time interns who are passionate about the promise of the Internet and issues related to media and journalism, civic engagement, policy, identity and privacy, education, technology, the developing world, law, and more. The interns team up with Berkman projects like Herdict, Cooperation, Digital Natives, Law Lab, Internet & Democracy, or the OpenNet Initiative, where they have an opportunity for deep and substantive involvement in project operation. Performing topic-based research; drafting and editing blog posts, papers and other written outputs; conducting outreach, developing partnerships, and maintaining relationships; exploring project and research design; and undertaking academic responsibilities of all kinds both independently and collaboratively are part of the Berkman summer intern experience. Specific tasks and experiences vary depending on interns’ skills and project needs.

In addition to contributing to project based work, summer interns participate in special events and lectures with Berkman faculty and fellows, engage each other through community experiences like the weekly interns discussion hours, and each year innovate for themselves new opportunities for fun and learning, like organizing debates, producing podcasts and other media outputs, and hosting book clubs and cookoffs (!).

The deadline for applying for this one is March 5.  More information can be found in this link.

As before, if you think i can help you clearing any ambiguities about this opportunity, please feel free to contact me.

Good luck!  And as always, it would be great to hear if anyone manages to take advantage of these opportunities.

Here is a very interesting opportunity for those of you who have a leadership bend to their academic aspirations and fancy studying in UK:

Launched in March 2007, the Weidenfeld Scholarships and Leadership Programme seeks to cultivate the leaders of tomorrow primarily from Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia, the Middle East and North Africa. The scheme provides outstanding university graduates and young professionals from the wider European neighbourhood with the opportunity to pursue graduate studies at Oxford University. The Weidenfeld Scholarships cover all tuition, college and maintenance fees as well as the costs of extra-curricular activities for the length of the students’ chosen course.

The programme includes intensive leadership, mentoring and networking activities, which develop the scholars’ capacity to contribute to public life in their countries of origin, be it in the public or private sectors, and build lasting professional linkages across continents, ethnic, cultural and religious lines. Co-chaired by Sir Ronald Grierson and Mr. Michael Lewis, the Weidenfeld Scholarships Advisory Board includes leading figures from international academia, business and politics.

It would be great to hear from anyone who decides to apply.

Good luck!

1. Commonwealth Travel Bursary for participation in IGF 2009

2. ISOC community grants program

The deadlines for both opportunities are rather close and the details are below.

1. Commonwealth Travel Bursary for participation in IGF 2009

If you are interested in participating in the upcoming meeting of the Internet Governance Forum, you may find this piece of information from the Diplo Foundation quite relevant.  In a nutshell, you should be from a developing Commonwealth country and be able to demonstrate that  you have been active in the Internet Governance arena.  The deadline for applications is September 14.  Here is the text of the call for participants:

Introduction

Commonwealth Internet Governance Forum seeks to encourage greater participation from Commonwealth member states on issues and discussions related to Internet Governance, with a view to coming up with informed solutions or the pooling of good practice to address their needs more directly.

Aim of the Bursary

As part of this strategy for more engagement, the Commonwealth Internet Governance Forum have set up a modest travel fund to offer young professionals who are active in Internet Governance in their countries or field, the opportunity to participate at the IGF meeting in Sharm el Sheikh.

Criteria/ Eligibility

Applicants must

• be nationals of a developing Commonwealth country
• be active in Internet Governance related issues in their field of expertise or their country.
• play an active role at the IGF, presenting in a workshop or panel or presenting their work in the IGF Market place.
• be able to demonstrate how their participation will benefit their country and ensure security, affordability in providing access for all.

Terms & Conditions

The travel bursary will cover cost of return economy air travel.  All other accommodation, meals and local costs will have to be covered by the applicants themselves. Visa application and related costs will also be covered by the applicants.

The final confirmation of the award of the travel bursary will be made once the visa is in hand.

Any last minute cancellation or failure to attend will cancel the terms of the bursary and a full refund of costs will have to be made.

Awardees will be re-imbursed for travel costs after the submission of a report at the end of the event.

A report of around 500 words, must be submitted no later than 4 weeks after the completion of the event.

The report should describe the experience, including a brief summary of the work undertaken by the applicant, together with the skills and experience gained. The report should address how the placement has been of benefit to the applicant in relation to his / her course of study, new skills learned, future career prospects and personal development. If a satisfactory report is not submitted within that time, the Secretariat will consider it a breach of the Terms & Conditions and may refuse to reimburse the costs of travel.

Selection Process

Submissions via an application form (available on the web) must include a supporting statement (not more than 200 words) of how the proposed opportunity ensures secure and affordable access for all in a Commonwealth country.
Applicants must include references, from academic tutor or line manager.

Selection Committee shall make the final selection based on the funds available.

The committee shall also identify a number of standby candidates in case a selected

student does not/cannot take up the offer of an award. Therefore a number of candidates may be shortlisted for the bursary and advised closer to the time.

The committee’s decision on any application is FINAL. The Secretariat will NOT enter into any communication with applicants regarding unsuccessful applications.

Timescales – Deadlines

14th September – Deadline for Applications

17^th September – Review by Selection Committee

28^th September – Announcement of Selected Candidates
Candidates make flight and visa arrangements and confirm all is in order

24th October – Formal Award of Bursaries

Sponsors

The funds for this travel bursary have been provided by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, United Kingdom and is being administered by the Secretariat of the Commonwealth IGF.

Contact

Commonwealth IGF Secretariat
c/o Informatics Unit Governance & Institutional Development Division Commonwealth Secretariat Marlborough House Pall Mall London SW1Y 5HX United Kingdom Tel:  +44 (0) 20 7747 6561 Fax: Direct +44 (0) 20 7004 3528 General: +44 (0) 20 7747 6335	COMNET-IT c/o Malta Communication Authority VISET Valletta Waterfront, Pinto Wharf, Floriana, FRN1913 Malta
Email : info@commonwealthigf.org
Web: www.commonwealthigf.org

Good luck!  Let me know if you are going.

2. ISOC community grants program

If you are running or plan to launch a project related to ISOC’s mission of open and accessible internet, you should look into their community grants program.  This is the second year this program is running and they provide around US $10-15K per project that makes it through the selection process.  The great part is that to apply, all you have to be is an ISOC member and anyone can join this organization by registering online.  I would think that chapter-sponsored applications would have more credibility, but there is almost nothing to prevent individuals from applying.  One major condition is that the project has to co-sponsored and ISOC grant can be the sole source of funding; at least 25% should come from another source.  It seems, however, that this can be a great source of support for a sound, internet-related project.  Take a look at the minutes of public consultation about the program ISOC held earlier this month, it may help you understand the nature of the scheme.  They start accepting applications on September 1, but I am not sure when the deadline for applications is; the decisions are made in November though.

Let me know if you decide to apply and if you are successful!