Opening Ceremony

So here I sit in awe of simultaneous translation in 7 languages. Babel had nothing on the United Nations. Under Secretary general for economic and social affairs, Mr. Sha Zukang, opened the conference with a speech most uncharacteristic of the UN... he mentioned the need to address the ongoing practical organization of the IGF programme, and in particular, the need to organize funding.

He also painted a broad picture of the Internet identifying it firstly as an economic engine, but that this engine had immediate and far ranging implications in the social sphere. In particular, that an economic engine may bring about increased freedom of expression and that this year's conference would also emphasize child protection.

Mr Mangabeira Unger (Extraordinary Minister for Strategic Affairs [best title ever?]) delivered perhaps my favorite quotable quote with reference to those who are skeptical of reform with ICANN.

So the realists will ridicule this initiative. But they are the ones to sink in anti-pragmatic pragmatism...

Guess that places me either with the Unrealists or the Surrealists. Let the conference begin.

The Assignment

The Internet Governance Forum 2007 will be held November 12-15 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It will be the most recent installment of the WSIS process which I have followed from afar since 2003. The International Development Research Centre has been nice enough to send me as a reporter to the conference, an offer for which I'm most grateful.

I've been assigned to cover "openness," one of this year's themes. What better way to promote the topic itself then by blogging the proceedings as much as possible? I'll be posting throughout the conference and will do my best to summarize the debate. Moreover, I'll be adding critical commentary from the Canadian perspective.

I should begin by adding that I'm a law student and that the proceedings will inevitably be filtered through something of a legal perspective. That said, I'll do my best to accurately cover technical discussions, as the Internet is ultimately a technical platform attempting to incorporate the many variables of humanity.

I leave for Rio on November 10th. If you're looking for something to read from the Canadian perspective, Prof. Michael Geist's website is always a good bet.

Expect to hear more soon..
Your correspondent at large,
Jeremy Hessing-Lewis