Centre for Internet and Society

Second Regional Conference on Connectivity for All: Future Technologies, Markets and Regulation

praskrishna — 2015-12-27T16:16:09Z

This conference organized by the International Telecommunications Society, IIMA IDEA Telecom Centre of Excellence and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad was held in New Delhi from December 13 to 15, 2015. Sunil Abraham was a panelist in the session "Going beyond Cybersecurity: Internet Governance Issues".

Click to read the conference details published by International Telecommunications Society here. Download the Agenda here.

The wide availability of Internet/broadband has been a significant driver of economic growth especially in developed countries. On the contrary, emerging economies lag far behind in Internet/broadband penetration even in urban areas. Further, as emerging economies have poor infrastructure as well as physical service deployment platforms, higher penetration of Internet/broadband could serve as an effective platform for social programmes' delivery. However, the increasing gap in penetration, speed and adoption of Internet/broadband between developed and emerging economies is likely to reduce the ability of the latter to participate in an equitable way in the global knowledge and service economy. As the gap increases, the ability of emerging economies to bridge the digital divide becomes more significantly daunting and is a major cause of concern for policymakers.

The challenges for connectivity in the developed and emerging economies are diverse. While developed countries face issues in providing higher speeds, bandwidth and connectivity among devices to large parts of their population who have basic Internet/broadband, emerging economies still struggle for establishing universal access and providing basic Internet/broadband to their citizens. Even where Internet/broadband is available, adoption may not be adequate especially in the rural and remote areas.

The wired infrastructure in emerging economies is poor, however, the mobile phones are ubiquitous. Therefore, mobile Internet/broadband could be an effective way for increasing Internet/broadband penetration. Technological and regulatory changes, especially those related to spectrum, are necessary to leverage these opportunities.

A related aspect of growth in Internet/broadband is the increasing role of Internet governance frameworks at national, regional and international levels. The challenge for nations is how to leverage this framework for growth of Internet/broadband and play a greater role in Internet governance.

A multi-pronged approach is required to address these diverse issues. A supportive environment for policy, regulatory and technology development is required. This conference provides a platform for dialogue between researchers, industry practitioners, government and regulatory bodies to search for collaborative solutions.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/news/second-regional-conference-on-connectivity-for-all-future-technologies-markets-and-regulation

Second Regional Conference on Connectivity for All

praskrishna — 2015-12-27T16:15:12Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/telecom/blog/second-regional-conference-on-connectivity-for-all

Second Meeting of the Expert Committee on WIPO

praskrishna — 2015-11-29T08:27:54Z

The second meeting of the Expert Committee on WIPO was held in the Committee Room (6th floor) of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi on November 2, 2015. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Special Secretary (I&B). Nehaa Chaudhari and Anubha Sinha attended the meeting.

Download the minutes of the first meeting here.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/second-meeting-of-the-expert-committee-on-wipo

Second International e-Governance Conference

praskrishna — 2012-12-11T10:50:29Z

The second international conference on governance and electronics which is held under the motto "Together Toward Digital Inclusion" is organized by the National Committee for Corporate Governance Electronic Iraq and the United Nations Development Programme at Rashid Hotel in Baghdad from December 2-3, 2012. The event aims to review the achievements of the program e-governance Iraqi national, and discuss the challenges of applying e-governance as a tool to achieve public sector reform and digital inclusion.

Sunil Abraham is a speaker at this event and is presenting on "Review of the Legal Environment in Iraq for Effective e-Governance", and "Government Interoperability Frameworks: Global Overview and implications for Iraq".

Conference Agenda

Sunday, December 2, 2012

09:00 – 10:00	Conference Registration
10:00 – 11:00	Opening Ceremony H.E. Nuri Al-Maliki, Prime Minister of Iraq Ms. Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator H.E. Dr. Abdul Kareem Al-Samaraii, Minister of Science and Technology
11:00 – 11:30	Break
11:30 – 12:30	Plenary session 1: e-Governance and Public Sector Reform Chairman: Dr. Adil Matloob, Minister IT Advisor – Ministry of Science and Technology Mr. Thamir Al Ghadban, Head of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Commission (PMAC) Prof. Subhash Bhatnagar, UNDP Expert Q & A
12:30 – 13:30	Plenary session 2: Citizen Inclusion into the Digital Society Chairman: Mr. Imad Naji, Director General - Ministry of Planning Dr. Laurence Millar, UNDP Expert Dr. Kathim Ibrisim, Director General - Ministry of Planning Q & A
13:30 – 13:40	Plenary Session 3: Challenges of e-Governance Implementation Chairman: Dr. Mahmood Kassim Sharief, Director General – Ministry of Science and Technology
13:40 – 14:00	Break
14:00 – 15:30	Workshop 1: Challenges of implementing an adequate telecommunications infrastructure and Highlighting the role of the private sector and the establishment of the concept of true public-private sector partnership in the field of e-governance Chairman: Mr. Jaber Zwayed Atiyah, Director General – National Security Commission Dr. Rohan Samarajiva Lirne, UNDP Expert Dr. Shahani Markus Weerawarana, UNDP Expert Ms. Raghad Abdulrasoul National Centre for Consultation and Management Development/Ministry of Planning Q&A
13:30 – 14:30	Lunch @ AL-Rashid

Monday, December 3, 2012

09:00 – 09:15	Closure of the Plenary Session 3 Presentation of workshop results
09:15 – 10:45	Plenary Session 4: Effective Role of Local Governments in Framework of e-Governance Program Chairman: Dr. Kathim Ibrisim, Director General - Ministry of Planning Mr. Manu Srivastava, UNDP Expert Dr. Adil Abdullah Shuhaieb, member of e-Governance Committee in Missan Governorate Mr. Anmar Natik Mohammed, Manager of e-Governance Programme in Ninawa Governorate Eng Haider Shaker Yaji , Muthana Governorate Q&A
10:45 – 11:00	Break
11:00 – 12:00	Plenary Session 5: Challenges of Government Interoperability Framework Implementation, Standards and Information Chairman: Mr. Mohammed Raji Mousa, Council of Ministers Secretariat (COMSEC) Mr. Sunil Abraham, UNDP Expert Mr. Ammar Salih and Dr. Firas Hamadani/ Minister of Foreign Affairs Q&A
12:00 – 13:00	Plenary Session 6: Building e-Services Chairman: Dr. Saad Najem / University of Mustanserieh Mr. Emilio Bugli Innocenti, UNDP Expert Dr. Adil Matloob, Minister IT Advisor – Ministry of Science and Technology Mr. Ahmed Saad, Director General – Ministry of Municipality and Public Work Q&A
13:00 – 14:30	Conference Closing Session Chairman: Dr. Samir Attar, Deputy Minister – Ministry of Science and Technology Looking forward Adopt conference recommendation UNDP Closing Speech Government of Iraq Speech
14:30 – 15:30	Lunch @ AL-Rashid

Papers/Speakers Bio Summary

Plenary Session 1: e-Governance and Public Sector Reform

Chairman: Dr. Adil Matloob, Minister IT Advisor – Ministry of Science and Technology

e-Governance and public sector reform/ Subhash Bhatnagar The paper shares experiences from different countries of implementing e-Governance projects that have significantly contributed to governance reform by enhancing transparency and reducing corruption in delivery of public services. Some lessons are drawn for Iraq. E-Governance should be used as a means of implementing public sector reform agenda. The implementation of projects should be accelerated. *Subhash Bhatnagar* is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). Currently he is an honorary adjunct professor at the IIMA. He was a Chair Professor, member of Board of Governors and the Dean of IIMA in his 30 year tenure at IIMA. He has been a visiting Professor in universities in the US and Africa. He worked with the World Bank in Washington DC for six years serving as an advisor to to mainstream e-Governance in the operations of the Bank. He has been a lead speaker in training workshops for ministers and legislators for 16 states in India. His research and consulting work has covered E-Governance, ICT for development, National IT Policy, and Corporate IT Strategy. He has hundred research papers and seven books to his credit which include two books on eGovernance. He is on the editorial boards of seven international journals and has served as Chairman of International Committees in the ICT field. He serves on a number of central and state Government committees in Inda including the steering committee for ICT sector for formulating India’s 12^th Five Year Plan. He was made a Fellow of the Computer Society of India in 1994. He has served on the boards of a number of educational institutions and private enterprises in India. He has travelled to nearly 60 countries, delivering public lectures and conference key notes

Plenary Session 2: Citizen Inclusion into the Digital Society

Chairman: Mr. Imad Naji, Director General - Ministry of Planning

Citizen Inclusion into the Digital Society/ Laurence Millar This paper describes the importance of digital inclusion to achieve the e-governance Vision for Iraq. The paper reports on international experience in digital inclusion and e-governance, using examples from New Zealand, United Kingdom, Bahrain and Taiwan. These experiences illustrate how to develop a plan for increasing digital inclusion in Iraq which is aligned to the wider priorities for social and economic outcomes. Laurence Millar is an independent advisor in the use of ICT by governments, and Editor at Large for FutureGov magazine. He is the lead advisor for the e-government strategy and second action plan for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and has also worked with other GCC countries on their e-government strategies. He provides expert advice to the government on the adoption of digital technology and broadband in schools; he is also Chair of 2020 Communications Trust, which is the leading provider of digital literacy programmes in New Zealand. During his career of more than 35 years, he has worked in the public and private sector, in the UK, USA, Asia and New Zealand. From 2004, he led the New Zealand e-government programme providing leadership in strategy and policy, establishing a foundation of shared infrastructure, and maintaining oversight of government ICT investment; he finished in the role of NZ Government CIO on 1 May 2009. He is married with four adult children and lives in Wellington, New Zealand; he has a MA from Cambridge University and an MSc with distinction from London University.
The role of ICTs in promoting public participation/ Dr. Kathim Ibrisim Participation is a basic feature of good governance, which suggests providing a democratic environment in the community that allows the integration of citizens, institutions of civil society, stakeholders and the poor and marginalized groups into policy-making and follow-up implementation. As much a democratic atmosphere allows for participation good governance can achieve the hopes of community regardless of its different components. This paper provides an assessment of the reality of public participation in Iraq which is based on a survey of public participation in four sectors concerned with providing services (Health/Education/Higher Education/Water and Sanitation). It was carried out by the National Centre and the support of the ESCWA in 2011 - in the light of identification the main challenges facing the participation. It will focus on how to use ICT in promoting public participation in setting priorities and policy-making and follow-up implementation.
Dr. Kathim Mohammed Breisem Okabi, Director General of the National Center for Administrative Development and Information Technology since 2008, holds Ph.D. in object-oriented software engineering, M.A. in empirical computer science – 1989, Higher Diploma in systems analysis – 1982, and B.A. of Statistics – 1980. Dr. Kazem served as a professor at the universities of Jordan (Al al-Bayt University/Philadelphia University) for the period 1996-2008, a professor at the Al-Tahadi University/Libya for the period 1983 – 1992, and a statistician for the period 1980 -1983.

Plenary Session 3: Workshop 1 (Challenges of implementing an adequate telecommunications infrastructure and Highlighting the role of the private sector and the establishment of the concept of true public-private sector partnership in the field of e-governance)

Chairman: Dr. Mahmood Kassim Sharief, Director General – Ministry of Science and Technology

ICT Infrastructure for e-Government and e-Governance in Iraq / Rohan Samarajiva Lirne Governments provisioning e government services have to address two specific policy principles with regard to infrastructure: ensure universal access to their services and assure a higher level of reliability than with comparable private services. Unlike a decade or so ago, governments today do not have to rely solely on common-access centers (telecenters) to provide universal access. In most countries, mobile signals cover almost the entirety of the population; most households have at least one electronic access device; the few that do not, can gain such access. Today’s smartphones have capabilities little different from the early telecenters, except for functionalities such as printing, scanning, etc. and the support of intermediaries. Therefore, delivering voice-based e government services in the short term and mobile-optimized web-based services in the medium term, with common-access centers performing specialized backup functions, is a viable strategy. Conventional web interfaces that adhere to common standards must be maintained but articulated with mobile applications and voice-based services provided through a government call center. In light of difficulties in supplying continuous electricity and security at the present time, special attention has to be paid to reliability. Reliability can be achieved, beginning with a proper understanding of requirements such as the importance of ensuring redundancy of suppliers, paths and media. Samarajiva is founder Chair and CEO of LIRNEasia, a regional think tank focusing on ICT policy and regulation in the emerging Asia Pacific. He most recently completed a diagnostic report on the potential of the ICT Sector for inclusive growth in Bhutan for the Asian Development Bank. He is a member of the team supporting the World Bank to establish the Pacific ICT Regulatory Resource Center, based at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji. He served as policy advisor to the Ministry of Post and Telecom in Bangladesh in 2006-07 and 2009. In 2002-2004, Samarajiva served as Team Leader of the Public Interest Program Unit of the Ministry for Economic Reform, Science & Technology of Sri Lanka. He was one of the designers of the USD 53 million plus e Sri Lanka Initiative (that had a major e gov focus) that led the way to rapid growth of fixed and mobile broadband in Sri Lanka. He was one of the founder directors of the ICT Agency. Samarajiva has been active in ICT (including telecom) policy and regulation for over 20 years. From 1998-1999, he served as Director General of Telecommunications in Sri Lanka at the invitation of the Government of Sri Lanka. He taught at the Ohio State University in the US (1987-2000) and at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands (2000-2003).
The role of private sector software development services companies in e-Government solution implementation/ Shahani Markus Weerawarana Iraq is a country in transformation and has embarked on a compelling vision for e-Government based on a National e-Governance Strategy and Action Plan. Since the private sector plays an important and pivotal role in any national e-Government program, it is important to develop a comprehensive roadmap towards establishing a true public-private sector partnership in Iraq. As a prerequisite for such an endeavor, we review the current status of the e-Government program implementation in Iraq, the critical challenges that need to be addressed in achieving a robust public-private sector partnership in Iraq and the best practices prevalent globally and regionally with respect to addressing such issues along with the resultant policy and program implications. Based on this critical analysis, we formulate many recommendations that could be included in a public-private sector partnership development roadmap that would create momentum in establishing a competitive and vibrant private-sector role in a knowledge-based economic environment geared towards enabling the vision of e-Iraq. Shahani Markus Weerawarana has global experience in the IT industry, government and academia, in a professional career has spanned many different roles, including being an educator, engineer, entrepreneur, manager and researcher. Currently, she is a Visiting Scientist at Indiana University, USA and a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Previously, she was the CTO at the ICT Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka, which is the country's apex IT policy & planning agency for implementing the e-Sri Lanka program. At ICTA, she played a key role in providing technical guidance for many eGovernment projects, including spearheading the design and implementation of LankaGate, a 'FutureGov' Award winning project. Prior to joining ICTA, Shahani was the Head of Engineering at Virtusa (Sri Lanka), where she directly and indirectly led more than 600 IT professionals. Before joining Virtusa Shahani worked in the USA, at Prescient Markets Inc and at the IBM TJ Watson Research Center in New York. Her professional activities have included being a member in the Sri Lankan Presidential Task Force in English and IT, an adviser to the Royal Government of Bhutan in their Interoperability Framework and Enterprise Architecture initiative, and a member of the Open eGovernance Forum Advisory Board in the Pan Asia Network for Democratic eGovernance. She is a free & open source software advocate and is a Committer and PMC member in the Apache Software Foundation. Shahani has more than 50 academic publications and her academic activities include the formulation of Asia's first MBA in eGovernance program for the University of Moratuwa, and the supervision of more than 30 MBA and MSc research projects. Her research interests include e-governance, software engineering, parallel & distributed systems, e-science, and TLA practices in higher education. Shahani has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Purdue University, USA.
Assess the reality of the public-private partnership (PPP) and its role in promoting ICT for development/ Raghad Abdulrasoul This paper, a field survey in four service sectors (health, education, higher education, water and sanitation), aims at identifying the reality and types of PPPs and how could such partnerships contribute in the provision of or complement services within the target sectors in addition to understand and recognize the quality of the services provided by the private sector than in the public sector with a focus on the role of PPP in the promotion of ICT to support national development efforts and improve the quality of public services. Raghad Abdulrasoul, an expert at the National Center for Administrative Development and Information Technology, Higher Diploma in Development Planning/specialty in feasibility studies and B.A. of Statistics. She has functional experience and participated in implementing projects with international organizations (UNICEF/UNDP/ESCWA) in different subjects dealing with the reform and modernization of the Iraqi public sector. She performed many advisory tasks for various institutions in the state in subjects (performance evaluation, organizational structures, job descriptions , mainstreaming of procedures). She provided a variety of lectures at the National Centre and state institutions in the areas of administration, planning and feasibility studies.

Workshop 2 Challenges for creating an enabling legal environment
Chairman: Mrs Afaf Khairallah Hussein, Prime Minister Office

Review of the legal environment in Iraq for effective e-Governance/ Sunil Abraham This paper examines the legal environment and compares it to international best practices for information society aspects that have direct implication for e-governance. It begins with transparency and openness law where there is an examination of right to information/access to information law and subsidiary policies such as free/open source software policy, open content or access policy, open standards policy, electronic accessibility policy, open government data policy. Then it examines privacy law looking at various options for the horizontal statute and also the vertical statutes necessary to comprehensive protect citizen/consumer rights and also public interest simultaneously. This is followed by an examination of intellectual property rights law overall before a more focussed examination patent law and copyright law. The paper ends with examination of some miscellaneous statutes such as the Cyber Crime Law and Electronic Signature and Electronic Transactions Act. Sunil Abraham is the executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Bangalore. CIS is a 4 year old policy and academic research organisation that focuses on accessibility by the disabled, intellectual property rights policy reform, openness [Free/Open Source Software, Open Standards, Open Content, Open Access and Open Educational Resources], internet governance, telecom, digital natives and digital humanities. He is also the founder of Mahiti, a social enterprise aiming to reduce the cost and complexity of information and communication technology for the voluntary sector by using free software. Sunil continues to serve on the board of Mahiti. He is an Ashoka fellow and was elected for a Sarai FLOSS fellowship. For three years, Sunil also managed the International Open Source Network, a project of United Nations Development Programme's Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme, serving 42 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2007 - 2008, he managed ENRAP an electronic network of International Fund for Agricultural Development projects in the Asia-Pacific, facilitated and co-funded by International Development Research Centre, Canada. Sunil currently serves on the advisory boards of Open Society Foundations - Information Programme, Mahiti, Tactical Technology Collective, Samvada and International Centre for Free/Open Source Software.
Implementation of the e-system in the Iraqi elections/Dr. Tariq Kazim Ajil, University of Thi Qar

Plenary Session 4: Effective Role of Local Governments in framework of e-Governance Program

Chairman: Dr. Kathim Ibrisim, Director General - Ministry of Planning

Municipal e-Governance Platform / Manu Srivastava The paper discusses the Municipal eGovernance Platform developed by eGovernments Foundation (eGov). The paper sees this in the back ground of the policies and frameworks that the shaped the Municipal eGovernance sector in India. The paper discusses the basic design approach for developing the platform, the platform itself and then discusses the future direction for the platform. *Manu Srivastava* Bio: Manu Srivastava managed and a founding member of the eGovernments Foundation since 2003, that aims at creating an eGovernance Platform (Municipal ERP) to improve the efficiencies of City Municipalities leading to better delivery of services. Between 2000 and 2003, Manu was the project leader of GlobeTrades (Silicon Valley), for creation an Internet platform for medium and large companies to set up industry specific Internet-based solutions to streamline global Procurement and Distribution. He Architected and delivered award winning Citizen Services Solutions in area of eGovernance such as Nirmala Nagara.
Ninawa e-Governance Roadmap/ Anmar Natik Mohammed, Manager of e-Governance Programme in Ninawa Governorate

Plenary Session 5: Challenges of Government Interoperability Framework Implementation, Standards and Information

Chairman: Mr. Mohammed Raji Mousa, Council of Ministers Secretariat (COMSEC)

Government Interoperability Frameworks: Global Overview and implications for Iraq/ Sunil Abraham This paper attempts to identify some next steps for the implementation of the Iraqi Government Interoperability Framework and National Enterprise Architecture[GIF/NEA]. The paper begins with an introduction which provides an historical overview of the GIF/NEA formulation process an the policy document itself. This is followed by a discussion of Open Standards to understand why the GIF/NEA and other open standards policies in the Iraqi government remain critical from a variety of perspectives. The paper then proceeds to look at GIFs across the world and attempts to characterize some of the strategies employed by governments to reach their policy objectives. The paper also features a examination of emerging semantic standards that are most useful from the perspective of storing government data. The paper ends with certain concrete recommendations for taking the open standards agenda forward with Iraqi e-governance. Sunil Abraham is the executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Bangalore. CIS is a 4 year old policy and academic research organisation that focuses on accessibility by the disabled, intellectual property rights policy reform, openness [Free/Open Source Software, Open Standards, Open Content, Open Access and Open Educational Resources], internet governance, telecom, digital natives and digital humanities. He is also the founder of Mahiti, a social enterprise aiming to reduce the cost and complexity of information and communication technology for the voluntary sector by using free software. Sunil continues to serve on the board of Mahiti. He is an Ashoka fellow and was elected for a Sarai FLOSS fellowship. For three years, Sunil also managed the International Open Source Network, a project of United Nations Development Programme's Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme, serving 42 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2007 - 2008, he managed ENRAP an electronic network of International Fund for Agricultural Development projects in the Asia-Pacific, facilitated and co-funded by International Development Research Centre, Canada. Sunil currently serves on the advisory boards of Open Society Foundations - Information Programme, Mahiti, Tactical Technology Collective, Samvada and International Centre for Free/Open Source Software.

Plenary Session 6: Building e-services

Chairman: Dr. Saad Najem / University of Mustanserieh

Breaking information silos: towards an Iraqi e-Service ecosystem supporting the life-event approach/ Emilio Bugli Innocenti This paper analyses the current status of the e-Service implementation within the e-Governance programmes in developing countries with a specific focus on the Life Event approach delivery of-e-Services along with the related Service Oriented Architecture. Then, it discusses the most suited SOA engineering methodology in order to boost e-Service re-use and integration. Finally, a combined SOA and Cloud Computing approach is proposed in order to provide an effective/efficient implementation of Iraqi e-Governance Action Plan along with a possible fast take-up of e-Services. Emilio Bugli Innocenti has 27 year experience in the ICT domain and over 20 in the e-Governance domain. As Senior e-Governance Consultant he has been working with assignments in transition and developing countries in the Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East, South America and South East Asia. He has been Project Manager of large International ICT projects targeting different sectors and e-Governance, in particular dealing with the implementation of e-Services. He is member of the Italian Industry Executive Association, IEEE Computer Society and Association for Computing Machinery. He holds a MSc in Physics and speaks English, Italian and French.
E-governance and cloud computing services This lecture addresses the historical perspective of cloud computing from a virtual concept to provide computing as a public facility launched in the mid-sixties of the last century as well as the phases of computing services offered by individual computers and then the network to the services provided on line. It also addresses the benefits and types of cloud computing comparing between the benefits and weaknesses of each type. Furthermore, it particularly tackles the economic benefits of balancing security with information, through the architecture and various levels of cloud computing and its impacts on architectures that must be taken into consideration. Furthermore, the ten risks will be put in cloud computing in particular. Adil Matloob is one of the advisors to the Ministry of Science & Technology Baghdad, Iraq. He works in the field of knowledge based systems and artificial intelligence for the last 30 plus years. He was the managing director of the SoftDev limited; a British based company, and a technical director for the Washington based multinational company; the United Press International. He is one of the pioneers’ researchers on machine translation software in the beginning of the nineties with the product known as ArabTrans software. He works on Arabic data mining as well as Arabic abstraction and Arabic knowledge based system. Adil has M.Sc and PhD from Manchester University, Manchester, United Kingdom in 1977 & 1980 respectively.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/second-international-e-governance-conference-at-baghdad

Second India China Think-Tank Forum

praskrishna — 2017-07-07T02:43:09Z

The second India-China Think-Tank Forum was held in Beijing from June 22 to 27, 2017. The Forum was jointly organized by the Institute of Chinese Studies, the Indian Council of World Affairs, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Saikat Dutta represented an Indian think tank.

The Forum was set up following an MoU between India and China during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015. The idea of the forum is to explore contentious issues and new areas of cooperation between India and China as a Track 1.5 dialogue. Read More

Click here for the report

Click to read Saikat Dutta's presentation

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/second-india-china-think-tank-forum

Second Freedom Online Conference in Nairobi

praskrishna — 2012-10-04T06:23:26Z

The second freedom online conference organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications, Republic of Kenya in partnership with the government of Netherlands was held at the UN complex in Gigiri, Nairobi on September 6 and 7, 2012. Pranesh Prakash was a panelist in the session on Access to Internet: Challenges and Opportunities.

The following themes were discussed at the event:

ICT, entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility
The use of mobile entrepreneurship for economic and social development in East Africa is a good example of the need for accessible, fast and open Internet. Discussing the potential for best practices in Kenya and other countries, regulatory issues they face, adherence to codes of conduct for corporate social responsibility and related themes would be part of this topic discussion.

Censorship vs freedom of expression, assembly and association
There are numerous examples of countries censoring the Internet by blocking websites, demanding that Internet Service Providers remove certain content, forcing users to practice self-censorship by exerting pressure, fining, arresting, convicting, or otherwise obstructing bloggers, netizens, journalists and other users, thus breaching their legitimate right to the freedom of expression on the Internet.

Access to the Internet: challenges and opportunities
Providing access to the Internet in the first place is a key issue not only for Africa, but also for countries in other continents where access and usage of the Internet varies sharply between urban and rural areas. The developments in this field, including regulation facing providers of the Internet (ISP's, ICT companies, and other intermediaries), infrastructure, innovation, regional and international structures, and how governments could facilitate better access will be part of the discussion.

The two-day conference brought together over 400 stakeholders from the global ICT industry to discuss issues affecting freedom of internet users in Kenya and across the world and come up with policy recommendations for possible enactment by respective governments.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Communications Commission of Kenya, Google, et.al. were the sponsors for this event.

Click to read the Conference Program

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/second-freedom-online-conference-in-nairobi

Second Expert Meeting on Human Rights and the Internet

praskrishna — 2011-06-08T10:01:55Z

The second expert meeting on human rights and the Internet is being organised by the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression on 30 and 31 March 2011 in Stockholm (Sweden). Anja Kovacs will participate in this meeting.

List of Participants (draft)

Alison LeClaire Christie alison.leclairechristie@international.gc.ca	Minister-Counsellor and Deputy Permanent Representative, Canadian mission to UN in Geneva
Anabella Rivera libert.expresion@gmail.com	Executive Director, DEMOS, Guatemala
Anja Kovacs anja@cis-india.org	Fellow, The Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore
Anna Nawrot anna.nawrot@rwi.lu.se	Researcher, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights, Lund, Sweden
Annie Game agame@cjfe.org	Executive Director, CJFE-IFEX
Anriette Esterhuysen anriette@apc.org	Executive Director, Association for Progressive Communications, South Africa
Arthit Suriyawongkul arthit@gmail.com	Thai Neitzen Network, Centre for Popular Media Reform
Brett Solomon brett@accessnow.org	Executive Director, Access Now
Charlotta Bredberg charlotta.bredberg@sida.se	Thematic Coordinator for Democracy, Human Rights, Peace and Security, Global Programme Unit, Department for Global Cooperation, Sida
Cynthia Wong cynthia@cdt.org	Director, Project on Global Internet Freedom, Center for Democracy and Technology, Washington DC
Daniel Westman Daniel.Westman@juridicum.su.se	Researcher and Teacher, Faculty of Law, Stockholm University
Danny Aerts danny.aerts@iis.se	CEO, The Internet Infrastructure Foundation (.SE)
David Mothander davidmothander@google.com	Nordic Policy Counsel, Google, Stockholm
Dunja Mijatovic pm-fom@osce.org	OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
Eduardo Bertoni eberto2@palermo.edu	Director, Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, Palermo University School of Law, Argentina
Eric King eric@privacy.org	Human Rights and Technology Advisor, Privacy International
Grace Githaiga ggithaiga@hotmail.com	Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANET)
Guy Berger G.Berger@ru.ac.za	Professor, School of Journalism & Media Studies, Rhodes University, South Africa
Helena Bjuremalm helena.bjuremalm@sida.se	Senior Policy Specialist, Democracy Assistance, Sida
Hossam Bahgat Hossam@eipr.org	Executive Director, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Cairo
Jan Kleijssen jan.kleijssen@coe.int	Director, Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs, Council of Europe
Jean-Luc Delvert Jean-luc.DELVERT@diplomatie.gouv.fr	Counsellor, Human Rights Division, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, France
Jean-Pierre Kempeneers, jem.kempeneers@minbuza.nl	Head of the Human Rights Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands
Jermyn P Brooks jermynbrooks@aol.com	Chair, Global Network Initiative
Joana Varon joana@varonferraz.com	Researcher, Centre for Technology and Society, Rio De Janeiro
Joe McNamee joe@mcnamee.eu	EU Advocacy Coordinator, European Digital Rights Initiative
Joy Liddicoat joy@liddicoatlaw.co.nz	Project Coordinator, Internet Rights are Human Rights, APC, South Africa
Kurt Erik Lindqvist kurtis@netnod.se	CEO, NETNOD, Stockholm
Lee Hibbard Lee.HIBBARD@coe.int	Coordinator for Internet Governance and Information Society, Council of Europe
Lisa Horner LisaH@global-partners.co.uk	Head of Research & Policy, Global Dialogue, London
Lise Bergh lise.bergh@amnesty.se	Director, Amnesty International, Swedish Section
Louise Bermsjö louise.bermsjo@sida.se	Programme Manager for Democracy and Human Rights, Global Programme Unit, Department for Global Cooperation, Sida
Lucille Morillon internet@rsf.org	Head, Bureau of New Media, Reporters sans frontières
Maciej TOMASZEWSKI maciej.tomaszewski@ec.europa.eu	European Commission DG INFSO, Unit A3 Internet; Network & Information Security
Maria Häll maria.hall@enterprise.ministry.se	Deputy Director, Division for Information Technology Policy, Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications, Sweden
Mats Ringborg mats.ringborg@foreign.ministry.se	Ambassador of Sweden to OECD and UNESCO
Matthew Barzun BarzunMW@state.gov	US Ambassador to Sweden
Michael Camilleri MCamilleri@oas.org	Attorney, office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, OAS
Nicklas Lundblad nlundblad@google.com	Senior Policy Counsel, Public Policy and Government Affairs, Google
Nicole Gregory nicole.gregory@fco.gov.uk	Head of Human Rights Section, Human Rights and Democracy Department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK
Orest Nowosad onowosad@ohchr.org	Director, Special Procedures of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Patrik Fältström patrik@frobbit.se	Distinguished Consulting Engineer, Cisco
Patrik Hiselius Patrik.Hiselius@teliasonera.com	Senior Advisor, Public Affairs, Group Communications, Telia Sonera
Paula Uimonen paula@spidercenter.org	Director, The Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions, Stockholm
Richard Allan, ric@fb.com	Director of Policy in Europe, Facebook
Richard Esguerra gwen@eff.org	Senior Activist, Global Internet Freedom Policy, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Robert Guerra guerra@freedomhouse.org	Project Director, Internet Freedom, Freedom House
Robert Hårdh Robert.Hardh@civilrightsdefenders.org	Executive Director, Civil Rights Defenders, Stockholm
Sally Elkhodary sally.khodary@anhri.net	Programs Director, The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, Cairo
Sarah Labowitz LabowitzSB@state.gov	Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues, US State Dept
Staffan Jonson staffan.jonson@iis.se	Policy Adviser, The Internet Infrastructure Foundation (.SE)
Sylvie Coudray s.coudray@unesco.org	Division for Freedom of Expression, Democracy and Peace, UNESCO
Thomas Hajnoczi, Thomas.HAJNOCZI@bmeia.gv.at	Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Austria to Council of Europe
Toby Mendel toby@law-democracy.org	Executive Director, Centre for Law and Democracy
Vilhelm Konnander vilhelm.konnander@gmail.com	Global Voices
Wolfgang Benedek wolfgang.benedek@uni-graz.at	Professor, Faculty of Law, Graz University, Austria
Yaman Akdeniz yaman.akdeniz@bilgi.edu.tr Ženet Mujić zenet.mujic@osce.org	Associate Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, Istanbul Bilgi University Senior Adviser, office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media

Organisers

Frank la Rue Co-Chair of the meeting libert.expresion@gmail.com	UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression
Olof Ehrenkrona Co-Chair of the meeting olof.ehrenkrona@foreign.ministry.se	Ambassador, Political Adviser to Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, MFA, Sweden
Per Sjögren per.sjogren@foreign.ministry.se	Head, Dept of International Law, Human Rights and Treaty Law, MFA, Sweden
Hans Dahlgren hans.dahlgren@foreign.ministry.se	Ambassador for Human Rights, MFA, Sweden
Måns Molander mans.molander@foreign.ministry.se	Head of Human Rights Section, MFA, Sweden
Johan Hallenborg johan.hallenborg@foreign.ministry.se	Special Adviser, HR Section, MFA, Sweden
Maria Koliopanou maria.koliopanou@foreign.ministry.se	Assistant, HR Section, MFA, Sweden
Karin Keil Pettersson karin.keil-pettersson@foreign.ministry.se	Assistant, HR Section, MFA, Sweden
Pauline Etemad pauline.etemad@foreign.ministry.se	Intern, HR Section, MFA Sweden
Rolf Ring rolf.ring@rwi.lu.se	Deputy Director, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Lund, Sweden
Gordana Jankovic Gordana.Jankovic@osf-eu.org	Director, Open Society Foundation Media Program
Vera Franz vfranz@osf-eu.org	Senior Program Manager, Information Program, Open Society Foundations
Stewart Chisholm Stewart.Chisholm@osf-eu.org	Senior Manager for Freedom of Expression, Open Society Media Program

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/notices/second-expert-meeting

Second Annual Roundtable on Innovation, Intellectual Property and Competition

praskrishna — 2017-08-08T00:33:51Z

Rohini Lakshane attended the round-table organized by CIIPC, National Law University, Delhi, in Bangalore on July 2, 2017.

The CIIPC conducts the Annual Roundtable on Innovation, Intellectual Property and Competition to offer a forum for members of the academia, policy makers, industry stakeholders and academically minded practitioners to engage on emerging issues at the interface of innovation, intellectual property & competition law and policy. The First Annual Roundtable on Innovation, Intellectual Property and Competition, held last year in New Delhi, was well attended. This time around, we look forward to continuing this dialogue through open and nuanced discussions on the most relevant and contentious issues concerning this area of law and economic policy, with special emphasis on recent developments in India.

Click to see the Agenda

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/second-annual-roundtable-on-innovation-intellectual-property-and-competition