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# IGF 2018 WS #186 Local content: a unique opportunity for underserved regions

Format:

Birds of a Feather - 90 Min

Theme:

Media & Content

Subtheme:

LOCAL CONTENT & MULTILINGUALISM

Organizer 1: Emmanuel ADJOVI, International Organization of La Francphonie
Organizer 2: khouloud Dawahi , UN MYCG

Speaker 1: BETTY FAUSTA, Technical Community, Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC)
Speaker 2: Tijani BEN JEMAA, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 3: Mona Al Ashkar, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 4: Destiny Tchéhouali, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

Relevance:

At the closure of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) November 2005, we were expecting that due to the vertiginous evolution of the technology, the digital divide between the global North and the global South will be narrowed if not eliminated through the usage of Internet, but today, we can observe that this evolution brought a real added value for the global North while it had a very small effect on the global south for several reasons (endogen and hexogen). The local content in local language is today a real opportunity for these underserved regions to have an identity on the net and more importantly to have an economic growth induced by the production of such content (literature, culture, Sciences, online applications, etc.). How these regions should take the opportunity? What are the barriers? Is there success stories?

Session Content:

Since the format of the session is a Birds of a feather (BoF), it will be a spontaneous debate among all attendees with no panelists or speakers. But to stimulate the discussion, we prepared 4 discussants (subject matter experts) who will intervene when needed, without any priority. The moderator will introduce the topic and open the floor. Remote participants will be treated equally with the physical participants. The discussion will be about Why and how local content in local languages would bring growth for developing countries, what kind of content, how it can affect the daily life of the grass-root population, etc. Each time the moderator finds the queue empty, he gives the floor to one of the discussants. The discussant can also ask for the floor, and they will put in the queue as any other participant. Draft Agenda: Introduction by the moderator (7 min) Open discussion by all (attendees, remote participants and discussants) (75 min) Discussion summary by the moderator (5 min) Closing by the moderator (3 min)

Interventions:

This session format doesn’t require any presentation or speech preparation; it will be an open discussion moderated by the onsite moderator with the support of the online moderator for remote participation. But we invited discussants who have already addressed the topic of local content with different approaches and different experiences to participate in the debate providing their perspectives and lessens learned so far. Special attention will be given to remote participation. All participants (physical attendees, remote participants and discussants) will be treated equally. The onsite moderator introduces the topic at the beginning of the session, and summarize the debate at the end before closing.

Diversity:

• Organizers o The 2 organizers are from developing counties (Haiti & Tunisia) o Geographically diverse (GRULAC and Africa) o One of them is a young (29 years old) o One is from Civil Society, the other is from International Organizations o Gender balanced (a Woman & a Man) • Speakers/Discussants o 2 Women and 2 Men o from different geographic regions (Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America & Caribbean and North America) even if they are mostly from developing countries o From various stakeholder groups (Civil Society, Technical community, Private sector, Academia) • Moderators o Onsite moderator is a woman from Africa, Government o Online moderator is a young man (31 years old) from Europe, Academia • Rapporteur o A woman from Europe In total, 9 diverse persons will be involved as organizers, speakers, moderators and rapporteur. • Gender: (5) women & (4) Men • Regions: (3) Africa, (1) Asia Pacific, (2) Europe, (2) LAC region and (1) North America • Stakeholder: (1) Government, (1) Private Sector, (1) Civil Society, (2) International Organization, (3) Academia and (1) Technical community. • Youth: (2) young and (7) adults

Online Participation:

Remote participants will be given all due attention. The trained remote moderator will take care of their interventions and advise the onsite moderator of any new remote intervention. There will be 2 mic queues: one for the in room attendees and another for the remote participants, and as long as there are people on both queues, the moderator will alternate between them.

Discussion Facilitation:

This session format doesn’t require any presentation or speech preparation; it will be an open discussion moderated by the onsite moderator with the support of the online moderator for remote participation. Discussants participate in the debate providing their perspectives and lessens learned so far. Special attention will be given to remote participation. All participants (physical attendees, remote participants and discussants) will be treated equally. The onsite moderator introduces the topic at the beginning of the session, and summarize the debate at the end before closing.

Onsite Moderator:

Christine Arida, a woman from Africa, Government, [email protected]

Online Moderator:

Komi Nuga, a young man from Europe, Academia, [email protected]

Rapporteur:

Rachida FAkHRI, a woman from Europe, International Organization, [email protected]

Session Time:
Wednesday, 14 November, 2018 - 10:10 to 11:40
Room:
Salle VII

## Archived Content

- 2017 IGF: Geneva
- 2016 IGF: Jalisco
- 2015 IGF: João Pessoa
- 2014 IGF: Istanbul
- 2013 IGF: Bali
- 2012 IGF: Baku
- 2011 IGF: Nairobi
- 2010 IGF: Vilnius
- 2009 IGF: Sharm El Sheikh
- 2008 IGF: Hyderabad
- 2007 IGF: Rio de Janeiro
- 2006 IGF: Athens

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## Additional Information

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## Contact Information

United Nations
Secretariat of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF)

Villa Le Bocage
Palais des Nations,
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland

igf [at] un [dot] org
+41 (0) 229 173 678