This is a report on the OECD's consideration of the CSISAC proposal at the ICCP (Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy) meeting that took place in December 2008 in Paris.
By way of background, at the conclusion of the OECD Ministerial conference in Seoul this summer, the Secretary General recommended that the OECD "begin the process of formalizing the participation of civil society and the technical community in the work of the OECD on the Internet economy." This proposal followed many years of effort by civil society organizations at the OECD and the specific recommendation of the civil society groups that participated in the 1998 Ministerial in Ottawa as well as the groups that supported the 2008 Civil Society Declaration in Seoul.
For the last several months, civil society organizations worked together to develop a consensus proposal for a "Civil Society Information Society Advisory Council (CSISAC)." This proposal, which is available online, was distributed to the OECD delegations, along with a similar proposal for an Internet Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC), and a background paper that was prepared by the OECD Secretariat on "The Participation of
Non-Governmental Stakeholders in the Work of the ICCP Committee." This document is classified "For Official Use" and cannot be distributed at this time. The summary states:
"This document . . . outlines a process to formalise the
participation of civil society and the Internet technical community
in ICCP work. It then describes the practical modalities proposed for
all non-governmental stakeholders – business, labour, civil society, and the
Internet technical community – to participate in ICCP work."
The discussion item "The Future of the Internet Economy Ministerial: involvement of stakeholders " took place on December 11, 2008. The Secretariat presented the OECD paper and then took questions from the delegations. We were then given an opportunity to present the CSISAC proposal. Bill Graham of the ISOC then presented the ITAC proposal.
Additional questions followed.
There was discussion as to whether the current stakeholders, BIAC (business) and TUAC (labor), could represent the issues raised by civil society and the technical community. There was discussion about the addition of other stakeholder groups. There were questions about budget impacts on the OECD. There was discussion about the criteria for participation in the new stakeholder organizations. There was also
discussion about the implications for stakeholder participation in other OECD committees.
The stakeholder representatives were then asked to leave the room so that OECD member governments would have the opportunity to review the proposals. That discussion took approximately 1.5 hours.
Following the discussion, we received several informal reports about the outcome of the meeting, but we will not know the actual decision until there is a formal communication from the OECD. We have asked the OECD to provide a brief summary to this list as soon as possible and then a formal declaration once the OECD has followed its necessary procedures.
What we understand at this point is that the OECD-ICCP viewed the proposals favorably and is prepared to formally recognize civil society and the technical community as stakeholder participants in the work of the OECD-ICCP. There are still outstanding questions about procedures that may need to be adopted for stakeholder participants, and perhaps some proposed changes to the CSISAC charter. We will know more when we hear from the OECD.
Overall, this is a good outcome and we are on track for the recognition of the CSISAC at the OECD.
CSISAC Liason
