Draft Programme Outline for the Third Meeting of the
Internet Governance Forum (IGF)

Hyderabad, 3-6 December 2008

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Introduction

This paper aims to provide an input into the open round of consultations on
13 May 2008 to discuss programme and agenda for the third meeting of the IGF
in Hyderabad. It gives a first draft programme outline, focusing on structure
rather than content. The draft programme outline tries to make best possible use
of the facilities that are available at the conference venue. It also takes into
account the fact that participation at the first meetings in Athens and Rio de
Janeiro exceeded expectations and that as many, if not more, people are
expected to attend the Hyderabad meeting.

The paper is conceived a rolling document. Comments submitted to the IGF Web
site by 1 May will be reflected in a revised version that will be issued as a
conference room paper at the consultations on 13 May.

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Basic structure for the Hyderabad meeting

The proposed meeting structure builds on the successes of the Athens and Rio
de Janeiro meetings and takes into account the comments made in the
stocktaking process, both on-line and at the meetings in Geneva on 26-28
February. As was the case in Rio de Janeiro, the Hyderabad meeting will not be
merely repeating the structure of the inaugural meeting, but will have its own
character and will go beyond the formats used previously. The informal,
interactive multistakeholder format was generally seen as one of the key factors
of the success of the first two meetings and should be maintained as a guiding
principle. Participation will follow the format used at the previous meetings and all
entities and persons with proven expertise and experience in matters related to
Internet governance may apply to register as participants.

The basic format of the previous meetings, with main sessions and workshops,
should be maintained. The five broad themes � access, openness, security,
diversity, and critical Internet resources � will be retained but not necessarily as
themes for the main sessions. The point was made that the general issues had
been effectively covered during the previous two IGF meetings and that the
sessions in Hyderabad should be more focused.

Based on the "lessons learned" from the Rio meeting as discussed by the
Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG), the following changes could be
introduced:


Two days with general themes and main sessions focused on specific
issues and not general overviews.
Some workshops could be held on themes defined by the MAG (main
workshops), but organized by others who respond to a call for proposals.
Main workshops, which are linked to the main sessions and workshops on
the five substantive themes, are not to be held in parallel to main
sessions.
Other workshops may be held in parallel to the main sessions, depending
on the quantity and quality of the proposals.
All organizers of events (workshops, best practices etc) will be asked to
commit themselves to submit a report on their event. Non-submission of a
report will disqualify the organizer for the following year.
Preference will be given in 2008 to those who did submit a report for 2007.
(Submission of reports is still possible and encouraged.)
No official meetings starting after 1800 hours.
No official meetings during the lunch-break between 1300-1400 hours.
Further efforts will be made to enable remote participation
Efforts will be made to publish the proceedings of the meeting also in other
formats.


The objective continues to be to maximize the opportunity of open dialogue and
the exchanges of ideas; to try and create feedback loops between the different
types of sessions; to create opportunities to share best practices and
experiences; to listen, debate and learn as well as to identify key themes that
would, in the future, benefit from the multistakeholder perspective of the IGF.

There will be no prepared statements read out during the main sessions.
However, prepared statements will be recorded in a specially equipped AV-studio
and shown in a loop in selected areas of the conference venue as well as made
available on the IGF Web site. Efforts will be made to improve the promotion of
this possibility. Prepared statements can be submitted in advance to the IGF
Secretariat.

The meeting facilities in Hyderabad will leave room for some innovations.

An "IGF village" will be set up next to the main meeting hall to allow interested
entities to present themselves for free. The village will include squares (with
chairs and rostrum) for ad-hoc meetings and poster sessions. This "IGF village"
will be organized in the form of different "neighbourhoods" or thematic clusters
(e.g. according to the five main themes and also the cross-cutting priorities. The
"IGF Village" will also contain the cyber-caf�.


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3.
Meeting types

a)
Main sessions

The main focus of the meeting will be on the main sessions. These sessions will
take place in the main meeting hall and they will be organized around focal
themes. In addition, there will be an opening and a closing ceremony in the
same meeting hall. Interpretation will be provided into all six UN languages
(Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) for all meetings taking
place in the main hall. The discussions will be Web cast and will be rendered in
real-time transcription. One session could be devoted to `emerging issues' and
another session to `taking stock and the way forward'. Duration of the main
sessions will remain two hours.

b)
Workshops

These sessions will be designed to explore detailed issues of the main themes.
As such all interested stakeholders are being invited to submit proposals for
workshops in a similar way as was done for the previous meetings of the IGF. In
addition, some proposals may be initiated by the IGF Secretariat or the MAG.
The main workshops will be scheduled before the main plenary session on the
same theme, thereby allowing detailed debate to be fed into that session. These
workshops will be supported/facilitated by the IGF Secretariat, but organized by
the proposer of the individual session. Each session will conform to the WSIS
principles of multistakeholder participation in both the proposal to the IGF
Secretariat and in its implementation. As important as the multistakeholder
approach is the need to present different perspectives on the issue under
discussion.

The IGF meeting in Hyderabad should also allow for a number of open
workshops where multistakeholder groups can host a meeting. The scheduling
of these workshops will be determined by the IGF Secretariat on the basis of
maintaining a balance across the issues and efficient use of meeting space.

Each IGF workshop will be required to produce a report on the workshop.
Duration of the main workshops will be extended to 2 hours.
Other workshops: 90 minutes.

Deadline for submission of proposals: 30 April 2008.

c)
Open Forums

All major organizations dealing with Internet governance related issues will be
given a slot, at their request, to hold an open forum in order to present and

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discuss their activities. The meetings should focus on the organization's activities
during the past 12 months and allow sufficient time for questions and
discussions.

Duration of these meetings: 90 minutes.


d)
Best Practice Forums

The aim of these sessions is to demonstrate, in a multi-stakeholder environment,
some of the best practices that have been adopted with regard to the to key IGF
themes in general and to the development and deployment of the Internet in
particular. The sessions can have either a thematic or a country focus. The
presentations will be based on a common template. Presentations should not
only cover practices that were successful, but also focus on challenges and
mistakes. Thus, `lessons learned' would be an important output of these
sessions. They will be moderated by independent experts/hosts and participants
will be given the opportunity to ask questions and make comments. The aim is to
provide a space to discuss what constitutes a best practice' and share relevant
information that can be transferred to other situations and strengthen capacity-
building activities.

Duration of Best Practice Forum meetings: 90 minutes.

Deadline for submission of proposals: 30 April 2008.


e)
Dynamic Coalitions

The meeting will provide space for the dynamic coalitions to meet and further
develop their proposals.

All Dynamic Coalitions are requested to present a report on their achievements
so far in general and on their activities since the Rio meeting inparticular. The
reports will be posted on the IGF Web site.

Duration of these meetings: 90 minutes.

Deadline for submission of reports: 30 June 2008.

The reports will be taken into account in the allocation of rooms.

f)
Other meetings


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Meeting rooms will be given to interested stakeholder groups on a first-come-
first-served basis, as available. A number of rooms will be reserved for this
purpose for the meeting itself, to accommodate ad-hoc requests.
4.
Location

a)
Meeting rooms

The following meeting rooms will be available:

(i)
Main Meeting Hall, for opening and closing ceremony and main
sessions, seating 1800 participants in a mixed classroom and theatre-
style setting. All proceedings in this room will be Web cast, interpreted
in all six UN languages, and rendered in real-time transcription. A
public remote chat capability will be provided for the Main Meeting Hall.
(ii)
Four major Workshop Rooms, seating around 250-300 participants in a
theatre-style setting. All proceedings will be Audio cast. A public
remote chat capability should be provided for the Workshop Rooms.
One Workshop Room will have facilities for interpretation (interpreters
can be provided by workshop organizers, if desired).
(iii)
Several smaller rooms for workshops, fora, dynamic coalitions
meetings and other meetings seating 100-250 participants in a theatre-
style setting. All proceedings will be Audio cast.

b)
Other facilities

(i)
A fully equipped AV-studio to record prepared statements. The studio
can also be reserved for TV interviews.
(ii)
A media centre, with a room for media conferences, seating 250
journalists in theatre style setting and work space for journalists
(iii)
An "IGF village", located next to the Main Meeting Hall, to allow
interested entities to present themselves and have meetings and
poster sessions.
(iv)
Restaurants/refreshments:
� A buffet with will be organized
� Coffee will be served in the conference premises.
� A restaurant is located in the hotel adjoining the conference center.

5.
Format

The proposed order and flow of the meetings will be set out in a draft schedule,
which will be based on the feed-back received.


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