Hi, can please somebody forward this email to the ALAC list? Thank you. jeanette Greetings, The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) is currently preparing its 10th Ministerial Meeting on “The Future of the Internet Economy”, which will take place in Seoul, South Korea, June 17-18 2008. APC and the Internet Governance Project, together with the 'Public Voice', is working with the OECD secretariat to increase participation of Civil Society groups in shaping the agenda of the Ministerial meeting and in organising a one day stakeholder pre-event on June 16th 2008. This message contains general background information about the OECD and the 10th Ministerial meeting, and some of the opportunities for civil society participation. A second message will soon follow, outlining these opportunities in more detail, include some of our preliminary thinking about priorities for civil society engagement with this process, why we think you should get involved and how you can get involved. We look forward to working with you on this! Jeanette Hofmann, Karen Banks, Milton Mueller About The Event ============= The OECD, an inter-governmental organisation that consists of 30 member Countries, will hold a Ministerial Meeting on “The Future of the Internet Economy” in Seoul, Korea, on 17-18 June 2008. www.oecd.org/futureinternet. The OECD Ministerial Meeting aims to formulate guiding principles and policies for the future development of the Internet economy. Recognizing that the world depends to a growing degree on the Internet, the goal is to help governments establish policies responding to new developments and concerns arising from the changing role of the Internet in our society and economy. The Ministerial meeting will be preceded by a day of “stakeholder fora” on June 16 2008, to give an opportunity to civil society and the business sector to present their viewpoints on the future development of the Internet economy. More information on the Ministerial and Stakeholder fora are available online. The OECD Ministerial Meeting offers a broad international public space to discuss the economic and societal implications of the emerging information economy. Civil society groups active in the area of information society related issues should use this opportunity to network among themselves and collectively express their visions on guiding policy principles for the development of the Future of the Internet economy. About The OECD ============= Membership in the OECD includes the majority of European countries, Canada, the United States, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Turkey, Japan and Korea. The OECD headquarters (the secretariat) is based in Paris. The OECD provides a setting where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and work to co-ordinate domestic and international policies. The OECD engages in policy analysis, data gathering, monitoring, and forecasting in many different areas but in particular for economic, environmental and social issues. In the fields of digital economy and information society, the OECD covers many areas that are of interest to civil society, such as privacy law enforcement, user-created content, network neutrality and gender in ICT employment. Reports of the OECD Committee of Information, Computer and Communications Policy can be found at (www.oecd.org/sti/ict) The OECD has relationships with about 70 non-member countries and a number of non-governmental entities such as the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) and the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC). There is as yet no formal link to civil society organisations, but the OECD is currently considering its relationship to the non-governmental sector with a view to greater inclusion. Public Consultation – open until September 14th 2007 ========================================= The OECD Online Public Consultation provides an opportunity for all stakeholders to comment on the topics and issues to be discussed at the OECD’s Ministerial meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy. The online consultation is open until September 14th and can be found here: http://www.oecd.org/document/9/0,3343,en_21571361_38415463_38985417_1_1_1_1,... Please contact us if you have difficulty accessing or completing the online version. Opportunities for Civil Society Engagement ================================== The next message will contain more detailed information about opportunities for Civil Society participation in the 10th Ministerial process including: o Linking work in other public policy processes (such as the World Summit on the Information Society and The Internet Governance Forum) with the OECD Ministerial meeting o Gathering Civil society statements and reports that deal with future development of the internet o Preparation of a Civil Society Declaration o Preparation for a one day civil society stakeholder event on June 16th2008 o Information about preparatory events in the run up to the meeting o A time-line of the process and important dates References ========= o The Public Voice has a resource site with links to useful background documents, a calendar of related events and a schedule for the Public Voice monthly calls:http://www.thepublicvoice.org/events/oecdministerial.html o About the OECD: http://www.oecd.org/pages/0,3417,en_36734052_36734103_1_1_1_1_1,00.html o About the 10th Ministerial Meeting: www.oecd.org/futureinternet o The OECD Public Online Consultation: http://www.oecd.org/document/9/0,3343,en_21571361_38415463_38985417_1_1_1_1,... o The OECD Organising Committee: www.oecd.org/sti/ict