This paper gives a draft programme outline for the second meeting of the IGF in Rio de Janeiro. This 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 meeting in Athens exceeded expectations and that as many, if not more; people are expected to attend the Rio de Janeiro meeting.

The paper is conceived as a rolling document. Comments submitted to the IGF Web site by 27 August 2007 will be reflected in a revised version that will be made available as a conference room paper at the next round of open consultations to be held on 3 September 2007.

The proposed meeting structure builds on the success of the Athens meeting and takes into account the comments made in the stocktaking and planning processes, as submitted through online statements and at the meetings in Geneva on 13 February 2007 and on 23-25 May 2007. However, the Rio de Janeiro meeting is not merely repeating the structure of the inaugural meeting, but will have its own character and will go beyond the Athens format. The informal, interactive multi-stakeholder format was generally seen as one of the key factors of the success of the Athens meeting and will be maintained as a guiding principle. Participation will follow the format used at the inaugural meeting and all entities and persons with proven expertise and experience in matters related to Internet governance may apply for registration.

The basic format of the Athens meeting, with main sessions and workshops, will be maintained. The development orientation with a limited number of broad themes will also be retained as the organizational principle for the Rio de Janeiro meeting. In addition to the four Athens themes of Access, Diversity, Openness, and Security, a fifth theme will be added: Critical Internet Resources.

Main sessions, will be developed around each of these five themes. Given the importance of Access, this theme will be dealt with first among the four Athens themes and will be scheduled on the same day as the Diversity main session. The Openness and the Security main sessions will be paired on the third day. In addition, development and capacity-building will continue to be cross-cutting priorities.

Based on the ‘lessons learned’ from the Athens meeting, the following points will be considered:

- The format of the Main Session needs to be adapted to the subject matter and also allow for the possibility of having key-note speakers.

- The relationship between Main Sessions and Thematic Workshops needs to be better articulated.

- Space will be made available for the various Dynamic Coalitions that have emerged since Athens. They will also be given the opportunity to report back to the Main Session.

- Enough space will be made available for informal interaction and networking among participants, both in terms of physical space and space in the structure of the programme.

- Greater emphasis will be given to the sharing of ‘Best practices’, especially practices that work in development scenarios. While there will be special sessions devoted to the sharing of best practices, discussions of best practices and effective methods that have worked in development scenarios should also be integrated into the main sessions and into the workshops.

- Case studies, including examples of successful initiatives and approaches should also be used in main sessions and workshops to foster dialogue on controversial themes.

The objectives will be to maximize the opportunity for open dialogue and the exchange of ideas; to try and create feedback loops between the different types of sessions; to create opportunities to share best practices, successful experiences and lessons learned, to listen, debate and learn as well as to identify key themes that would, in the future, benefit from the multi-stakeholder perspective of the IGF.

Two proposals that were made in the stock-taking process found a positive echo, namely:

- To offer a space to all major organizations dealing with issues related to Internet governance to hold open forums and to report on their activities.

- To hold best practice forums to allow governments and all stakeholders to present and discuss national success stories.

As it is almost impossible to accommodate as many people as are expected to attend the Rio de Janeiro meeting in one single room, it will be necessary to split up and hold meetings in parallel as early and as much as possible. However, since the main sessions are of primary interest to all participants, overflow facilities will also be provided, where video and audio feed will be made available.

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

A meeting point will be set up within the conference premises to allow all interested entities to showcase their activities free of charge. This meeting point will have the function of a village square, where all participants gather between sessions for sharing experiences and exchanging information.

In addition, the Host Country is exploring the feasibility of holding an exhibition on a commercial basis, open to all institutions and companies dealing with Internet governance related issues.

The main focus of the meeting will be on the substantive Main Sessions. They will be informal and interactive, in a broadly similar line to those at the inaugural meeting and based on the multi-

stakeholder and participative principles of the IGF. Each session will have a chairperson and a panel of not more than five people. A moderator will ensure a focus to the debates. These sessions will take place in the main meeting hall and they will be organized around the four Athens themes of the substantive IGF debates, namely, Access, Diversity, Openness, and Security and, in addition, as a first session: Critical Internet Resources. The last session will be devoted to ‘emerging Issues’.

Each substantive Main Session will be preceded by a Reporting Back Session, which will also be held in the main meeting hall. The main aim of these sessions is to give individual participants and small delegations the possibility of getting a sense and a flavour of the multitude of ongoing meetings, as it will be impossible to attend all the meetings held in parallel. These sessions will allow the organizers and participants of the other meetings to report back and give feedback into the main meeting hall where non-English speakers can benefit from interpretation and real-time transcription. The focus of the Reporting Back Sessions will be on the Thematic Workshops that dealt with the same sub-themes as the Main Session as well as on relevant Dynamic Coalitions.

These sessions will be designed to explore in detail particular aspects of the main themes. All interested stakeholders will be invited to submit proposals for Thematic Workshops in a similar way as was done for the inaugural meeting of the IGF in Athens. The Thematic Workshops are expected to deal with the same sub-themes as the relevant Main Session. They will be scheduled before the Main Session dealing with the same theme, thereby allowing detailed debate to be fed into the Main Sessions. These workshops will be supported and facilitated by the IGF Secretariat, but organized by the proposer of the individual session. Proponents of similar workshops will be encouraged to join forces and collaborate where that is feasible. Organizers of workshops are, therefore, expected to work with others who submit proposals on the same theme. A willingness to merge proposals is a requirement. Each session will conform to the IGF principles of multi-stakeholder participation in both the project proposal and in its implementation. It is anticipated that up to three Thematic Workshops may support each of the main themes of the Main Sessions. Each Thematic Workshop will be expected to report back to the relevant Main Session.

The Rio de Janeiro meeting will allow for a number of Open Workshops where multi-stakeholder groups can host a meeting. They will be organized in a broadly similar line to the workshops at the inaugural meeting of the IGF, based on the multi-stakeholder and participative principles of the IGF. Any subject related to Internet governance can be scheduled for an Open Workshop. They are expected to deal with important topics that do not fit easily within the main themes of the conference, but which are nonetheless of importance to many of the stakeholders. Open Workshops will be encouraged to report back to related Main Sessions, where appropriate. 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.

The Athens meeting saw the creation of Dynamic Coalitions. The IGF meeting in Rio de Janeiro will provide space for these Dynamic Coalitions to meet and further develop their proposals. They are also expected to report back to the relevant Main Session. Dynamic Coalitions are invited to submit their requests to the IGF Secretariat.

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 discuss their activities. The sessions should be interactive and allow for sufficient time for discussion. Interested institutions are invited to submit their requests to the IGF Secretariat.

While the sharing of experiences and ‘best practices’ should permeate all sessions, the Best Practice Forums would allow to look in more detail into a country experience and national policies as well as ‘best practices’ in one particular relating to the broad themes. The Best Practice Forum sessions will include both national policies as well as best practices relating to the four Athens themes. 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 key IGF themes in general and to the deployment of the Internet in particular. 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. Interested governments and institutions are invited to submit proposals to the IGF Secretariat.

Unallocated meeting rooms will be given to interested stakeholder groups on a first-come-first-

served basis, as available, in accordance with UN practices and principles. A number of rooms will be reserved for this purpose for the duration of the meeting itself, to accommodate ad-hoc requests.

(i) Main meeting hall, for Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Main Sessions and Reporting Back Sessions, seating 1500 participants in a theatre-style setting. All proceedings in this room will be interpreted in all six UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). All proceedings in the main meeting hall will be Web cast and will be rendered in real-time transcription.

(ii) Three workshop rooms, seating between 250-300 participants in a theatre-style setting. All proceedings will be Web cast.

(iii) One room for Open Forum and Best Practices Forum seating 250 participants in a theatre-style setting. All proceedings will be Web cast.

(v) One meeting room seating 200 participants in theatre style setting (for Dynamic Coalitions and other meeting requests). The proceedings can be Web cast, upon request.

(i) A fully equipped audiovisual-studio to record prepared statements. The studio can also be reserved for TV interviews.

(ii) A media centre, with work space for journalists and a room for media conferences, seating 250 journalists in theatre-style.

(iii) A Meeting Point or Village Square: A meeting point and learning centre for Internet governance to allow interested entities to present themselves, speak on Internet governance related issues, have poster sessions and reach out to interested participants. The Village Square will be located on the floor of the Main Meeting Hall. The infrastructure, (with tables to present materials) will be provided free of charge.

(iv) An Exhibition Space is being reserved beside one of the workshop rooms and the room for Open Forums/Best Practice Forums. The arrangements will be the responsibility of the Host Country. The Exhibition Space is on the way to the basement restaurant area.

- Coffee and light refreshments will be available at the terrace on the floor of the Main Meeting Hall.

The proposed order and flow of the meetings is set out in the draft meeting schedule posted on the IGF Web site. The draft schedule beyond the main sessions is purely indicative. The final scheduling will depend on the interest expressed for the various meeting types.

The Opening Ceremony will follow the traditional format used for this kind of event, with a series of speeches, following UN protocol.

The first main session will be devoted to the discussion of Critical Internet Resources. The following sessions will deal with the four Athens themes, namely Access, Diversity, Openness and Security. The last morning’s main session would take stock and look at the way forward.

The last afternoon’s main session will look at Emerging Issues, with an emphasis on issues that have emerged during the days of the meeting

Based on the summing-up of the discussion held in Athens and subsequent consultations, the following non-conclusive illustrative list of issues related to the five broad themes will be the basis for further discussions on the content of the Rio de Janeiro main sessions and thematic workshops. It is understood that the developmental dimension and capacity-building will permeate the entire meeting as cross-cutting priorities.

[While there was a general agreement to have a main session devoted to critical Internet resources^¹, the content and approach on how to deal with these issues is yet to be determined. A wide range of options are currently under discussion. They range from discussing issues that relate to the framework of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet to case studies that would explore issues such as the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 or root server denial of service attack prevention. Another approach consists of inviting the major relevant institutions, such as the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to actively participate in a discussion on topical issues related to Internet governance.]

- The role of governments as key stakeholders in ensuring an enabling environment to improve access.

- Regulatory frameworks tailored to local conditions, in particular towards improving access in rural areas, and the effect of regional infrastructure and regulation on Internet connectivity costs and access to the Internet. .

- Market and non-market structures and their relationship to competition and investment in fostering innovation and alternative business models.

- Public Infrastructure and the role of public and private finance in providing access.

- Expressing and protecting locally developed content, including content that is not commercially viable.

- The role of the Internet to relieve illiteracy and provide accessible content for people with disabilities.

- The role of User Generated Content (UGC) in advancing cultural diversity, including the role of government and business initiatives in stimulating development of UGC.

- The involvement of language communities in developing internationalized domain names (IDN) and in developing multi-lingual content, including content in indigenous and minority languages.

- Access for marginalized and vulnerable groups of society, including older persons and persons with disabilities.

- The relationship between national regulations on freedom of expression and the border-free Internet.

- The balance between citizens’ rights to information and the rights of IPR holders.

- Innovative business models, made possible by the Internet, for dealing with digital content and their application in development.

- The respective advantages of open source software, proprietary software and open standards.

- The challenges to access to information and knowledge and what can be done to overcome them.

- The relationship between national implementation and international cooperation.

- Cooperation across national boundaries, taking into account different legal policies on privacy, combating crime and security.

- The definition of security threats and international cooperation, e.g. combating cyber-crime.

- The respective advantages of open and proprietary standards in shaping security solutions.

- Identifying best practices and successful implementation techniques for delivering security measures.

- Security issues related to the protection of children from abuse and exploitation in the online environment.

- Practical approaches to raising awareness of existing best practices for network security issues, across all stakeholder groups.

In order to encourage interaction with and between interested parties who are not able to travel to Rio de Janeiro, all main sessions and workshops will be video or audio cast. Video and audio streaming will be available on the IGF Web site, using open standards. Volunteers are encouraged to act as proxies for remote participants. Additionally, provisions will be made for allowing remote participants to make interventions in many of the sessions. Details on remote participation should be released by the end of September.

Provisions will be made to give all participants full Internet access free of charge, using wireless technologies and, for the first rows in the main meeting hall, RJ45 LAN jacks plug in points. The Internet access will not have blocked ports nor require the use of proxies. Power points for laptops, one for every two persons, will be set up.

The preparatory process for the Rio de Janeiro meeting will be as open and inclusive as possible. Contributions as an input into the substantive sessions will be encouraged and posted on the IGF Web site. The Secretariat will prepare a synthesis paper of all contributions submitted by 10 August 2007 which will be translated into all UN languages and submitted to the meeting as an official conference document. This deadline is necessary to allow enough time for the translation. The synthesis paper in the English version will be made available in early September. Contributions submitted after the August deadline will be posted on the IGF Web site but will not be reflected in the synthesis paper.

All papers that are submitted will be made available on the IGF Web site in their original language. Contributors are encouraged to provide translations of their own text in other languages.

Another round of open consultations will be held on 3 September 2007 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

1 The Tunis Agenda refers to critical Internet resources as follows (Para58): “We recognize that Internet governance includes more than Internet naming and addressing. It also includes other significant public policy issues such as, inter alia, critical Internet resources, the security and safety of the Internet, and developmental aspects and issues pertaining to the use of the Internet.” The WGIG report has the following reference to critical Internet resources (Para 13 a): “Issues relating to infrastructure and the management of critical Internet resources, including administration of the domain name system and Internet protocol addresses (IP addresses), administration of the root server system, technical standards, peering and interconnection, telecommunications infrastructure, including innovative and convergent technologies, as well as multilingualization.”

Deadlines for :
Submission of Thematic Workshop proposals	30 June 2007
Submission of Open Workshop proposals	30 June 2007
Decisions on Thematic Workshops	31 July 2007
Decisions on Open Workshops	31 July 2007
Submission of Best Practice Forum proposals	31 July 2007
Requests of Open Forum sessions	31 July 2007
Room requests for Dynamic Coalitions	31 July 2007
Contributions for inclusion into synthesis paper	10 August 2007
Comments on programme proposal	27 August 2007