Centre for Internet and Society

Assumption

praskrishna — 2015-11-24T14:20:34Z

Assumption

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ASSOCHAM National Council on IT / ITes

praskrishna — 2015-02-05T14:56:27Z

This meeting was held in New Delhi on January 30, 2015 at ASSOCHAM Corporate Office.

Draft Minutes of Meeting

Meeting Attended by:

Mr. Shashi Mal, Co-Chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council on IT/ ITES
Mr. T. V. Ramachandran, Chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council on Telecom
Mr. Anupam Aggarwal, TCS
Mr. Anthony Thomas, Vodafone India Ltd.
Ms. Geetha Hariharan, The Centre for Internet & Society
Mr. Sreedhar.C, Amara Raja
Mr. Naveen Tandon, AT&T India
Mr. Nripendra Singh , Ernst & Young LLP
Mr. S. Chandrasekhar, Microsoft
Mr. Akhilesh Tuteja, KPMG
Mr. Pankaj Sharma, CA Technologies
Mr. Sanjay Sarma, Design Worldwide
Mr. Subhodeep Jash, DUA Consultant
Mr. Ashok Sud, AUSPI
Mr. Ashis Mukherjee, WIPRO
Mr. Saurabh Joshi, Accenture
Ms. Ambika Khurana, IBM
Mr. Sumit Monga, R Com
Cmde Shyam Kaushal, wimax
Mr. Jitender Singh, Qualcomm
Mr. Vikram Tiwathia, COAI
Mr. Ranjeet Goshwami, TCS
Mr. Sant Pratap Singh Matta, Railtel Corporation
Mr. Kinshuk De, TCS
Mr. T R Dua, TAIPA
Mr. B B Anand, AUSPI
Mr. Dilip Sahay, AUSPI
Mr. Nitin Wali, Verisign
Mr. A.k. Gidwani, BPCL
Mr. Harsh Rastogi, TUV Rheinland India
Mr. Sanjeev Arora, Vodafone
Mr. Anil Prakash, ITU/APT Foundation
Mr. Avik Banerjee, DEN Networks
Ms. Neelima Agrawal, LUXURY CHRONICLE
Ms. Amrita Jagatdeo, Bihang Welfare Association
Mr. Minushri Madhumita, Bihang Welfare Association
Mr. Varun Aggarwal, ASSOCHAM
Mr. Parag Tripathi, ASSOCHAM
Mr. Ashish Malik, ASSOCHAM

The Meeting started with the Chairman of the Meeting Shri Shashi Mal, Co-Chairman, ASSOCHAM IT/ITes Council & Director & Industry Leader, IBM India welcoming the Members present.

Mr. Mal introduced the topic of discussion and its importance in the present context.

Mr. Mal pointed out that internet has touched every aspect of life and has significant stake in almost every business in the present times.

He further pointed out two main points, how internet can be managed and how do you legally govern the activities going on the internet. He suggested approaching all interest groups for their views before we make the recommendations.

He emphasized that the consensus has to be build within the stakeholders of the subject and informed that for this ASSOCHAM is planning to organize INDIA INTERNET GOVERNANCE SUMMIT (IIGS)-2015 on 26^th March, 2015 in New Delhi.

Mr. T. V. Ramachandran, Chairman, ASSOCHAM National Council on Telecommunications said that there are many opinions within the stakeholders. He said that India, with maximum numbers of users has the right to be heard in the international forums. He further said that Industry should have an active participation in the policy making.

Mr. Vikram Tiwathia, COAI asked why ASSOCHAM is organizing this program and who has mandated them to do so and why they want to send the recommendations to the Government.

It was informed that ASSOCHAM has already announced in the Ministry of External Affairs Meeting and the National Security Council Secretariat that ASSOCHAM will be creating a forum where all the stakeholders could present their point of view and proceedings of this Summit will be shared with the Government as the Recommendations.

Mr. Vikram Tiwathia to this replied that there are many stakeholders like civil society, academia, but ASSOCHAM should present the view of the Industry only.

Mr. Mal suggested that there might be different views within the Industry on Internet Governance.

Mr. Tiwathia informed the Members present that Department of Electronics and IT, Government of India has constituted a Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) for the India Internet Governance Forum but had met only twice. He suggested taking MAG outside the Deity to a more autonomous body. He also suggested that India should sign the Budapest Convention (or what are the obstacles in signing the Budapest Convention).

One of the Members present suggested coming up with commercially accepted views for Internet Growth usage and Protection of Investors along with steps for Principle for Self Regulations.

One of the Members also brought out the Hygine Part of the Internet ie how internet is being used today.

It was decided that the following major issues in the Internet Governance will be discussed with Political, Technical & Economic aspects.

Cyber Security
Cyber Policy
Access
Diversity
Emerging issues like e-Commerce

It was decided that the Members will email their inputs on the above points to ASSOCHAM latest by Monday, 9th February, 2015. A core group is being constituted with the following Members to further develop on the issues from the inputs received by 14th February, 2015.

Core Group Members:

Mr. Anupam Agarwal, TCS
Mr. Anthony Thomas, Vodafone India
Ms. Geetha Hariharan, The Centre for Internet & Society
Mr. Akhilesh Tuteja, KPMG
Mr. Dilip Sahay, AUSPI
Mr. Jitendra Singh, Qualcomm
Mr. Vikram Tiwathia, COAI

It was suggested that ASSOCHAM should engage a Knowledge Partner to collate and make the Report/ Background Paper on the subject by 1st Week of March 2015.

There are Speakers and Sponsorship Opportunities for which you could also forward your suggestions to ASSOCHAM at the earliest.

It was decided that ASSOCHAM will prepare the rough draft of Program Agenda & Circulate among Members

The Meeting ended with thanks to the Chair.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/assocham-national-council-on-it-ites

Assocham event sparks row over conflict of interest by CCI

praskrishna — 2015-09-19T16:34:07Z

CCI Chairman Ashok Chawla is the key speaker of the conference, organised by industry chamber Assocham with Ericsson being the event partner.

The article by Dilasha Seth and Deepak Patel was published in Business Standard on August 6, 2015.

An upcoming conference on intellectual property has triggered a controversy, as a section of the civil society has urged the Competition Commission of India (CCI) not to participate in the event, sponsored by Swedish multinational Ericsson, alleging it would be a conflict of interest since the watchdog is investigating cases against the telecom company on the very same issues that will be discussed in the function.

CCI Chairman Ashok Chawla is the key speaker of the conference, organised by industry chamber Assocham with Ericsson being the event partner. The conference scheduled for Friday also has three CCI members as participants, according to the event brochure.

In a letter, signed by six civil society organisations, argued that the participation of CCI in any form in a conference organised with the financial support of Ericsson would question the integrity and independence of CCI.

On the issue, Chawla said, "I am not aware of the point raised. (I) will see and take a position."

"The participation of CCI at this conference raises serious concerns of conflict of interest. Further, CCI's sharing of platforms with private actors would compromise the credibility and independence of CCI," said the letter sent to Chawla and also marked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief Justice of India and several other ministries.

Ericsson is currently facing three CCI investigations on matters related to Standard Essential Patents and licensing of technologies on fair and equitable terms.

"Ericsson is not only an event partner but also giving a speech at the inaugural session," says the content of the letter. "We understand that the focus of the event is on two issues viz. Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) and the competition aspects of licensing agreements," the group has argued.

A CCI member on the condition of anonymity said, "As per the competition Act, 2002, it is our responsibility to raise awareness regarding competition issues. At such forums, the discussions which happen are of conceptual level only. No specific cases are ever discussed." "We have not got the letter as yet. We will take a decision as soon as we receive it," he added.

Unless there is an interaction, how can there be awareness about these issues faced by the country, asked Assocham.

D S Rawat, the chamber secretary general, said, "This is not the first time that Assocham is organising a function on the very same subject. It has in the past organised six-seven such functions, where CCI had participated."

CCI will give its view points and others including Ericsson will also give their view points, which will not have an impact on the watchdog's decisions on specific cases, he said.

"There will always be these disgruntled people who instead of contributing positively to the society, take negative stance," he added.

When contacted, an Ericsson spokesperson declined to comment on the issue.

Alternative Law Forum (Bengaluru), Centre for Internet and Society (Bengaluru), IT for Change (Bengaluru), Knowledge Commons Collective (New Delhi), National Working Group on Patent Laws (New Delhi) and Software Freedom Law Centre (New Delhi) are the six non-governmental organisations who have collectively raised the issue.

The letter argued that all the judicial or quasi judicial bodies are expected to avoid not only actual conflict of interest but also the perceived conflict of interest.

"As you know, the conflict of interest arises when there is an actual or perceived threat of the primary interest of the organisation (CCI) being influenced by the interest of another organisation/s (Ericsson)," it said.

It also pointed out that the issue of SEPs and licensing practices was an important public interest issue and the restrictive conditions and barriers to access SEPs would affect the technological and industrial development of India. Further, it would affect the consumers by creating economic barriers to access the benefits of communication technology equipment such as mobile phones.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/news/business-standard-august-6-2015-dilasha-seth-and-deepak-patel-assocham-event-sparks-row-over-conflict-of-interest-by-cci

Assignments

praskrishna — 2013-07-30T05:08:05Z

Assignments

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Assamese Wikipedia at IISC

praskrishna — 2013-12-31T03:34:36Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/assamese-wikipedia-iisc.pdf

Assamese Wikipedia

praskrishna — 2014-06-04T03:16:44Z

Assamese Wikipedia

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Assam Wikipedia Workshop 1

praskrishna — 2012-10-19T06:02:53Z

Assam Wikipedia 1

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Assam1.jpg

Assam Wikipedia 2

praskrishna — 2012-10-19T06:07:14Z

Students learning Wiki editing

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Assam2.jpg

Asian Video Cultures: In the Penumbra of the Global

praskrishna — 2013-11-20T09:35:13Z

Brown University organised the Asian Video Cultures event at the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts between October 24 and 26, 2013. Nishant Shah presented a paper titled “In Access: Approaches to Understand Digital and Online Video in Contemporary Asia”.

Read about the event on Asian Video Cultures website here.

Agenda

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2013 at 6pm (Martinos Auditorium, Granoff Center)
Screening and Q&A with director Paromita Vohra
Partners in Crime (2011) – http://www.parodevi.com/?p=323
*followed by reception

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25 (Englander Studio, Granoff Center)

8:30-9am *Breakfast

9am Welcome – Bhaskar Sarkar

Session I: Infra-structures

9:15 Jenny Chio, “Video Documentary and Rural Public Culture in Ethnic China”

10:15 Chia-chi Wu, “Wei dianying and Xiao quexing— Technologies of ‘Small’ and Trans-Chinese Cinematic Practices”

Coffee Break

11:30 Patricia Zimmerman, “EngageMedia: The Gado Gado Tactics of Indonesia’s New Social Media”

Lunch 12:30-1:30pm (*for participants)

Session II: Circulation

1:30 Feng-Mei Heberer, “An Archive of Bad Feelings, a Site of Public Address – Experimental Video Works from Asian Germany”

2:30 Rahul Mukherjee and Abhigyan Singh, “MircoSD-ing ‘Mewati Videos’: Circulation and Regulation of a Subaltern-Popular Media Culture”

Coffee Break

3:45 Michelle Cho, “Cosmopolitics and Kpop Video Culture”

4:45-6:15pm Screening and Discussion with Paromita Vohra
Q2P (2006, 53 min) – http://www.parodevi.com/?p=254

7pm Dinner

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26 (Englander Studio, Granoff Center)

8:30-9am Breakfast

Session III: Intimacies

9am Niranjan Sivakumar, “Minorigate: The Perils and Potentials of Global Cultural Circulation”

10am Conerly Casey, “Bollywood Banned, and the Electrifying Palmasutra: The Sensory Politics of Love and Pornography in Northern Nigeria”

Coffee Break

11:15am Nishant Shah, “In Access: Approaches to Understand Digital and Online Video in Contemporary Asia”

Lunch 12:15-1pm (*for participants)

Session IV: Occupation

1pm Mariam B. Lam, “Archival Trauma, Critical Regionalism and Southeast Asian Video Arts”

2pm Nathaniel Smith, “Vigilante Video: Japan’s New Netizens and the Wrongs of the Right”

Coffee Break

3:15pm Celina Hung, “Documenting ‘Immigrant Brides’: the Stakes of Multiculturalism in the Taiwanese Media”

4:30 Closing Roundtable: “In the Penumbra of the Global”

7pm Dinner

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/asian-video-cultures-october-24-26-2013

Asian Regional Consultation on the WSIS+10 Review

praskrishna — 2015-09-27T11:33:33Z

The Asian Regional Consultation on the WSIS+10 Review was held in Pattaya, Thailand from September 3 to 5, 2015. The event was organized by The Internet Democracy Project, Bytes for All, APNIC, the Association for Progressive Communications, ISOC, Global Partners Digital and ICT Watch. Jyoti Panday participated in the meeting.

The Asian Regional Consultation on the WSIS+10 Review brought together experts from different backgrounds and from around the Asian region who were concerned about issues concerning ICTs, sustainable development, human rights and Internet governance, to ask: what are the issues that our governments need to squarely address in the process of the review?

The meeting was conceived as a highly interactive working meeting that was geared towards producing a joint submission to the next input round on the Review outcome document.

Agenda of the meeting can be accessed here.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/asian-regional-consultation-on-the-wsis-10-review

Asian Forum on Global Governance

praskrishna — 2013-11-20T04:35:38Z

The Asian Forum on Global Governance is an annual workshop jointly organized by the ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius, and the Observer Research Foundation.

See the details on the Asian Forum on Global Governance website here. Sunil Abraham will participate in a panel discussion. Click below for:

This year's Asian Forum is scheduled to take place from November 10 - 19, 2013 in New Delhi, India. The nomination and application process commences from March 15 and the last date for submission of applications is June 1, 2013.

The Asian Forum on Global Governance will take a close look at the Asian region and at the challenges facing the global community. The primary objective of this forum is to provide an instructional and networking platform for young professional leaders to discuss, debate and challenge conventional interpretations of the existing complex realities confronting communities and leaders. The program provides a unique opportunity for them to confer with high-ranking figures from the political, business and academic communities from around the globe, and especially from Asia.

Though the emphasis is on Asia, there will be a fair mix of young leaders from Europe, Americas, Africa, Asia and Australia. The participants will be drawn from diverse sectors and streams of study. Each of these participants will, at the outset, be nominated by senior figures – Heads of Governments, Ministries and Government Departments, the CEO’s of major National and Multinational Companies, Heads of Universities and of Non-Profit Organizations – and thereafter carefully selected by an eminent jury of experts.

The participants will be between 28 and 35 years of age. They would have acquired significant professional experience and would already exhibit promise at work.

Agenda

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Arrival in New Delhi at Hotel Oberoi, Dr. Zakir Hussain Marg, New Delhi, 110003 (Ph. +91.11.24363030)

14.00

Arrival and Check-in at Hotel Oberoi/ Lunch

16.00
19.00

Optional Heritage Walk

Spend an Afternoon Exploring the Woods and the Fort of Rai Pithora

Long before the Mughals came to Delhi, the only territory which was inhabited was Qila Rai Pithora in what is now South Delhi. Excavations have found evidence of settlements at the site. The city had 13 gates, of which only some signs of three—Hauz Rani, Barka and Badaun-- have been found so far. The Badaun gate has been mentioned by the famous traveller Ibn Batuta and could have been the main entrance to the city. We will explore the ruins of the old fort built by Prithviraj Chauhan, climbing the crumbling ramparts and fort walls to get a panoramic view of the forest surroundings.

20.00

Dinner at Restaurant “The Rooftop”, Hotel Oberoi

Welcome Remarks
Sascha Suhrke, Program Director, Governance, ZEIT – Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius, Germany

Monday, November 11, 2013

Reimagining Sovereignty

09.00 09.10	Welcome Remarks Sunjoy Joshi, Director, Observer Research Foundation, India Manfred Lahnstein, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, ZEIT – Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius, Germany
09.20 09.30	Co-Chair Address C. Raja Mohan, Head, Strategic Studies, Observer Research Foundation Theo Sommer, Editor-at-Large, DIE ZEIT
09.30 09.50	Honorary Patron’s Address Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Government of India and Honorary Patron, Asian Forum on Global Governance
09.50 10.30	Breaking the Ice: Self Introduction by Participants
10.30 11.00	Tea/Coffee
11.00 11.30	Keynote Address: Gridlock: Why Global Cooperation is Failing When we need it Most David Held, Master, University College, Durham, UK
11.30 12.30	Plenary Discussion
12.30 13.00	Group Photograph
13.00 14.30	Lunch
14.30 16.30	Panel Discussion: A New Definition of Sovereignty Ashley Tellis, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, USA Siddharth Varadarajan, Editor, The Hindu, India Shen Dingli, Vice Dean of the Institute of International Affairs, Fudan University, China Michael Schaefer, Chairman, BMW Stiftung, Germany
16.30 17.00	Tea/Coffee
18.30 19.00	Bus Transfer to Lodhi Estate
19.00 22.00	Cocktails and Dinner Hosted by Sunanda and Shashi Tharoor
22.00 22.30	Bus Transfer to Hotel Oberoi

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Technology, Security and Society

09.00 09.30	Plenary Address: Technology vs. Sovereignty Reka Szemerkenyi, Chief Foreign and Security Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister of Hungary (TBC)
09.30 10.30	Plenary Discussion
10.30 11.00	Tea/Coffee
11.00 13.00	Panel Discussion: Internet and the State: A New Area of Conflict Tripurari Sharan, Director General, Doordarshan, India Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), India Katharine Sarikakis, Professor, Department of Communication, University of Vienna, Austria
13.00 14.30	Lunch
Working Groups
14.30 17.00	Technology, Security and Society a) Drones and Sovereignty b) Cyber Security and Privacy c) Democracy and New Media
17.00 17.30	Tea/Coffee
17.30 18.00	Rapporteur’s Report
19.30 20.00	Bus Transfer to Restaurant “China Kitchen”, Hyatt Regency
20.00 22.30	Dinner
22.30 23.00	Bus Transfer to Hotel Oberoi

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Economic Gridlock: From one Crisis to the Next

09.30 11.30	Panel Discussion: Elusive Global Financial Governance Steffen Kern, Chief Economist, European Security and Markets Authority, France John Hulsman, President, Hulsman Enterprises, Germany Manfred Lahnstein, Former Federal Minister of Finance, Germany Jwalant Nanavati, Co-Head, Corporate Finance, BNP Paribas, India
11.30 12.00	Tea/Coffee
Working Groups (shorter format)
12.30 13.00	Gridlocks in Rulemaking a) Is the UNSC still Relevant for Peace and Security? b) FTAs, Regional Blocs and Equity: Who will Represent the Voiceless in Trade? c) Oceans: Governing the New Arenas of Contest or Cooperation?
13.30 14.30	Lunch

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Demography and Governance

09.00 09.30	Plenary Address: Dreaming with a Billion Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Government of India and Honorary Patron, Asian Forum on Global Governance
09.30 10.30	Plenary Discussion
10.30 11.00	Tea/Coffee
11.00 11.30	Panel Discussion: Delivery of Public Goods Rakesh Basant, Professor, Indian Institute of Management Yogesh Jain, Founder and Secretary, Jan Swasthya Sahyog (People’s Health Support Group), India Glauco Arbix, President, Brazilian Agency for Innovation, Brazil Chhavi Rajawat, Sarpanch, Soda Village, India (TBC
13.00 13.15	Preparation for Site Visits (Collection of Packed lunch)
13.15 18.15	Site Visits
19.30 20.00	Bus Transfer to Restaurant “Indian Accent”
20.00 20.30	Dinner
22.30 23.00	Bus Transfer to Hotel Oberoi

Friday, November 15, 2013

10.00 10.45	Review of Site Visits by Participants
10.45 11.00	Wrap-Up Remarks by Chair
11.00 11.30	Tea/Coffee
Climate Change, Sustainable Development and the Crisis in Multilateralism
11.30 13.30	Panel Discussion: Climate Change and Sustainable Development: The Roadblocks to Consensus Aled Jones, Director, Global Sustainability Institute, Anglia Ruskin University, UK Lydia Powell, Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, India Catherine MacKenzie, Lecturer in Law, University of Cambridge, UK
13.30 14.30	Lunch
14.30 17.30	Simulation Exercise
17.30 18.00	Debriefing Session
19.30 20.00	Transfer to “The Lodhi”
20.00 22.30	Dinner
22.30 23.00	Bus Transfer to Hotel Oberoi

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Agra Retreat (ITC Mughal, Taj Ganj, Agra, 282001; Ph: +91 562 4021700)

08.00 11.00	Bus Transfer to Agra (Breakfast Served on Bus)
11.00 12.00	Arrival and Check In at ITC Mughal
12.00 13.30	Lunch
Post Lunch Session
13.30 15.30	Panel Discussion: Religion and Democracy Tarek Fatah, Writer and Political Activist, Canada Charles Kupchan, Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, USA Ananya Vajpeyi, Ananya Vajpeyi, Associate Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, India (TBC)
15.30 16.00	Tea/Coffee
16.00 19.00	Preparation for Debating Day
20.00	An Indian Evening

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Agra retreat

08.30 10.30	Visit to Taj Mahal
10.30 12.30	Visit to Agra Fort
12.30 13.30	Lunch
13.30 16.30	Bus Transfer to Delhi
20.00 22.30	Dinner at “The Rooftop”, Oberoi Hotel

Monday, November 18, 2013

Debating Day

09.00 09.30	Directions for Debating Day
09.30 12.30	Working Groups (Preparation for Debating Clubs) Will Sovereignty Trump Globalism? Is Green Capitalism an Oxymoron? Is Asia Facing a Demographic Nightmare? Does Social Media Strengthen Democracy?
13.00 14.00	Lunch
14.00 16.00	Debating Sessions
16.00 16.30	Tea/Coffee
16.30 17.00	Results
19.30 20.00	Bus Transfer to “Olive Beach”, Mehrauli
20.00 22.30	Dinner
22.30 23.00	Bus Transfer to Hotel Oberoi

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Valedictory Session

09.00 09.10	Opening Remarks by Organizers
09.10 09.30	Keynote Address: Riva Ganguly Das, Joint Secretary & Head, Public Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India
09.30 10.20	Valedictory Address
10.20 11.30	Plenary Discussion
11.30 12.30	Dean’s Address and Distribution of Certificates
12.30 13.30	Lunch
13.30 14.00	Closing Session
Departures Commence
20.00 22.30	Dinner at Chez Saran