OECD Events
April 12, 2020
The 81st session of the OECD Committee on the Digital Economy Policy (CDEP) will take place on 23 April 2020 in the OECD headquarters in Paris (France). None of the Working Parties will meet, except the Working Party on Data Governance and Privacy (DGP) to meet 21-22 April.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the meetings will take place with a reduced number of agenda items to focus on the OECD legal instruments (review of the Privacy Guidelines implementation, typology of risks for children online and a proposed recommendation ond data sharing) and the work on comparability of personal data breach notification. All remaining projects have been set to progress through written consultation, including work on country reports (Brazil and Latvia), Terrorist and Violent Extremism Content (TVEC) Reporting, Blockchain and the Digital Economy Outlook 2020, among others.
In addition to this regular meetings, the CDEP will organize two additional events: a workshop on Privacy and COVID-19 supported by the Global Privacy Assembly (15 April), and an expert consultation on data portability (17 April).
Civil Society participants are invited to engage in the ongoing work joining the CSISAC.
April 11, 2020
The OECD has invited the CSISAC to take part in an online workshop on "Addressing the Data Governance and Privacy Challenges in the Fight against COVID-19", supported by the Global Privacy Assembly (GPA). The CSISAC has suggested the OECD to include the concerns raised in the NGO and Expert Statement to the OECD Secretary General on COVID-19, Privacy, and Fundamental Rights. CSISAC Steering Committee member and EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg will take part as a speaker on behalf of the CSISAC. Members of the CSISAC working on privacy are invited to express interest to register for the workshop.
March 17, 2020
At the launch of the OECD Artificial Intelligence Observatory, CSISAC Steering Committee member and President and Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Marc Rotenberg emphasized the urgency to address the societal challenges introduced by AI. "Decisions using AI techniques are having real impacts on people lives, on employment, education and most notably in the criminal justice field, where many forms of bias are being replicated and embedded in automated systems of decision making". Rotenberg remarked that the OECD is the right place to address the AI challenges, echoing the support of the OECD for economic growth based on the rule of law, democratic institutions and fundamental rights. He exemplified the preeminence of the OECD in technological policy with the influential 1980 Privacy Guidelines, as they continue to inform national law , international agreements and professional recommendations. However "more than a decade intervened between the adoption of the privacy guidelines and the creation of the modern Internet, but we don't have that time to understand the far-reaching implications of AI".
In addressing the AI challenges, Rotenberg referred to the broad support of the Universal Guidelines for Artificial Intelligence, also endorsed by scientific societies, underscoring the importance of fairness, accountability and transparency. Rotenberg renewed CSISAC commitment for a continued engagement on the work on AI policy, finishing with a quote from US inventor Thomas Edison: "What we create with our hands, we should control with our minds".
February 10, 2020
The OECD has confirmed invitation to CSISAC Steering Committee Marc Rotenberg to take part in the launch of the OECD Artificial Intelligence Policy Observatory, and the presentation of the projected work on Blockchain technology, both in the context of the OECD Going Digital Horizontal Project , 26-28 February 2020 at the OECD headquarters in Paris.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming every aspect of our lives. It influences how we work and play. It promises to help solve global challenges, but is also brings real challenges for governments and citizens alike, remarkably in fields such as privacy, fairness and inclusion, as emphasized in the Universal Guidelines for Artificial Intelligence. Similarly, Blockchain technologies offer potential improvements, but it raises questions about voting and elections, identity management or energy consumption.
As it permeates economies and societies, what sort of policy and institutional frameworks should guide AI and Blockchain design and use, and how can we ensure that it benefits society as a whole? The CSISAC will continue contributing to this process bringing a civil society voice to the conversation consistently with the Civil Society Goals. Civil society participants are invited to express interest in joining the work of CSISAC in the context of the OECD Going Digital Horizontal Project.
The launch of the OECD AI Policy Observatory will be available through webcast visiting the link http://oecd.ai
November 13, 2019
The 80th session of the OECD Committee on the Digital Economy Policy (CDEP) will take place on 18-22 November 2019 in the OECD headquarters in Paris (France).
The Committee and its Working Parties will continue the work on Phase II of the Going Digital Horizontal Project, with an exploration of future policy and measurements for the Digitalisation Toolkit. The work on Artificial Intelligence will continue with an implementation guide for the Artificial Intelligence Recommendation, and the configuration of an expert network linked to the OECD AI Observatory. New proposals refer to topics such as Data Portability, Anti-terrorist reporting, and Regulatory Sandboxes. The Committee will continue the review of the Recommendations on Privacy, on Broadband and on Children Online. The review of the 2015 Digital Risk Management instrument will be kicked off, including discussion about the Global Security Forum and panels on Responsible Disclosure of Vulnerabilities, and about Digital Security Innovations. Other reports include topics on Bundled Communication Price Baskets, Measuring Data and Data Flows, Measuring Cloud Services, and the Digitalisation of Science, with an emphasis on privacy in the case of the reports on data breach notifications, and enhanced access to data. As usual, the meeting will include discussion about organisational aspects such as the program of work, budget and bureau nominations.
The CSISAC will take part in this set of meetings to bring the voice of Civil Society to the OECD policy making process. Confirmed participants include CSISAC Steering Committee member and Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Marc Rotenberg, CSISAC Steering Committee member Valeria Milanes from Asociación Derechos Civiles (ADC, Argentina), and CSISAC member Carolina Botero from Fundación Karisma (Colombia), all of them supported by CSISAC Secretariat Suso Baleato. The CSISAC wants to thank the EPIC for supporting this effort, together with the European Digital Rights (EDRi), and other contributors. Civil Society participants involved in the related topics are encouraged to express their interest towards getting involved in the ongoing work and join the CSISAC delegation at the OECD.
September 22, 2019
CSISAC member the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is co-organising the OECD Workshop on Enforcement and Emerging Technologies, to be hosted by the OECD on 18 November 2019. This event, co-organised by EPIC with the United Kingdom Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is planed to review the challenges to enforcement of privacy and personal data protection, in the context of the review of implementation of the OECD Privacy Guidelines. The CSISAC calls for civil society participants to engage in this work sharing their expressions of interest to take part in this meeting, specially those engaged in the impact of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence or Blockchain.
About CSISAC
The CSISAC is the voice of civil society at the OECD Committee on the Digital Economy Policy. We facilitate the exchange of information between the OECD and civil society participants, leading to better-informed and more widely accepted policy frameworks. The formal recognition of this Advisory Committee by the OECD was the result of an effort initiated in the 1990s decade to promote participation parity in the global policy-making. Today, the CSISAC is the main venue to channel the participation of civil society in the OECD work on the digital economy. To learn more about the CSISAC and how to engage in the OECD work, please feel free to contact the CSISAC Liaison at liaison@csisac.org
June 24, 2019
The 79th session of the OECD Committee on the Digital Economy Policy (CDEP) will take place on 1-3 July 2019 in the OECD headquarters in Paris (France).
The Committee will discuss the progress of the Going Digital Horizontal Project, and the plans for a second phase, with proposals including topics on online platforms and blockchain. Artificial Intelligence will be another prominent item, focusing on the framework to implement the recently adopted Recomendation. The Committee will discuss the outlines of the Digital Economy Outlook 2020, and the new proposals on the ongoing legal instrument reviews including on privacy, critical infrastructures, broadband development, an children online. Working parties and member countries are expected to provide an update on their latest activities. Organisational discussions will focus on internal review, the mandate, and updating about the G7/ G20 dialogue and the 2017-2018 program of work and budget.
The CSISAC will take part in this set of meetings to bring the voice of Civil Society to the OECD policy making process. Confirmed participants include CSISAC Steering Committee member and Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Marc Rotenberg, supported by CSISAC Secretariat Suso Baleato. The CSISAC wants to thank the EPIC for supporting this effort, together with the European Digital Rights (EDRi), and previous contributors. Civil Society participants involved in the related topics are encouraged to express their interest towards getting involved in the ongoing work and join the CSISAC delegation at the OECD.
February 20, 2019
The CSISAC is planning to attend the OECD Going Digital Summit to be held 11-12 March 2019 at the OECD Conference Centre, Paris. This event will serve as the high-level closing of the two-year Going Digital Project, and will feature the presentation of several outcomes of this work including the reports on Measuring Digital Transformation, the Going Digital Toolkit and a finaly synthesis report.
The CSISAC will take part in the Summit facilitating the participation of civil society NGOs, activists and academics towards fostering a sustainable and ethical digitalisation process. Due to space constraints at the conference venue, participation will be by invitation, so participants planning to join the CSISAC delegation should contact the Secretary before the end of February to check for participation options. Alternatively, the OECD will be providing a live stream of the event to allow online participation.
October 22, 2018
The 77th session of the OECD Committee on the Digital Economy Policy (CDEP) will take place on 14-16 November 2018 in the OECD headquarters in Paris (France).
The Committee will be updated about the Going Digital Horizontal Project, including the outreach activities to promote the released reports, and the outline of the work for the second phase of the project. After the adoption of the Recomendation on Artificial Intelligence by the Council, the Committee will discuss approaches for implemention and monitor adoption. The Committee will discuss the outlines of the Digital Economy Outlook 2020, the plan for work on topics such as Online Platforms and the Future of the Firm, and it will be updated about the developments in the G7/ G20 dialogue. Organisational items include: the timetable for an internal review, a review of its mandate. The working parties and member countries are expected to provide an update on their latest policy activities.
The CSISAC will take part in this set of meetings to bring the voice of Civil Society to the OECD policy making process. Confirmed participants include CSISAC Steering Committee member and Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Marc Rotenberg, supported by CSISAC Secretariat Suso Baleato. The CSISAC wants to thank the EPIC for supporting this effort, together with the European Digital Rights (EDRi), and previous contributors. Civil Society participants involved in the related topics are encouraged to express their interest towards getting involved in the ongoing work and join the CSISAC delegation at the OECD.
July 25, 2018
The Civil Society council (CSISAC) is looking for expressions of interest from civil Society participants to take part in the OECD Workshop on Growing and Shaping the Internet of Things (IoT) Wellness and Care Ecosystem : Enablers and Barriers.
The workshop will be held in New York on 4-5 October, 2018 at Cornell-Tech. You will find attached the latest draft Agenda. The workshop will examine the state of play, opportunities and challenges in expanding the availability and use of IoT-related products and services to enhance wellness , deliver effective remote care, prevent
hospital readmissions and support functional ability. The workshop will aim to review and assess existing policies with a special focus on privacy and digital security and discuss use cases highlighting good practices to help policy makers and private sector move ahead and promote the positive elements of the IoT while minimising risks.
This workshop builds on recent work by the OECD on IoT (Smart Homes) and aims to feed into 2019-2020 work in this area as well as on Artificial Intelligence. It also aims to inform work on enhanced access and sharing of data for health , and on the implementation of the OECD Council Recommendation on Health Data Governance.
Specifically , it will aim to review:
· The emerging Internet of Things wellness/healthcare ecosystem;
· Critical enablers for progress to build out this ecosystem (what is
needed to unlock the value of IoT for wellness and healthcare);
· Best use cases and public policy advances across public and private
sectors;
· The value and potential benefits of a better developed IoT-based
health care environment;
· Main Challenges and Policy Implications with a special focus on data
governance, privacy and organisational accountability;
· Technical, legal and public policy barriers that need to be
addressed .
July 25, 2018
The Civil Society council (CSISAC) is looking for expressions of interest from civil Society participants to take part in the OECD Workshop on Online Platforms, Cloud Computing and Related Services.
As part of the OECD Going Digital measurement initiatives we are organising a 2-days workshop next 6/7 September on two key measurement challenges: (1) how to measure economic activities conducted through online platforms; and (2) how to measure the supply and demand of cloud computing and related products in economic statistics. Please see the attachment for more information on the Workshop. The discussion at the workshop will help identifying the data needed for measurement of online platforms, cloud services and related products in economic statistics and avenues through which these data can be gathered. The recommendations will be included in the overall Measurement Roadmap, a key part of the "Measuring the Digital Transformation" publication which will be launched at the main Going Digital conference in March 2019.
July 25, 2018
The Civil Society council (CSISAC) is looking for expressions of interest from civil Society participants to take part in the OECD is planning an Expert Workshop on "Protection of Children in a Connected World".
The workshop will be hosted by the University of Zurich (Switzerland) on 15-16 October 2018. This workshop is organised in the context of the review of the 2012 OECD Recommendation for the Protection of Children Online[http://www.oecd.org/sti/ieconomy/protecting-children-online.htm] . It will examine how the landscape that created the need for the 2012 OECD Recommendation has since evolved. Specifically , it will aim to
review:
· What new opportunities and online risks are emerging in a landscape
where children have become users of all sorts of devices, not just
computers and laptops but of multiple Internet-enabled and connected
devices?
· Have regulatory frameworks, policies and educational approaches kept
pace with the new online risks ? Can they be effective in mitigating
the new risks without disrupting children's beneficial uses of the
Internet and online interaction?
· What digital literacy deficits have to be tackled today and what new
critical digital skills are needed to strengthen children's risk
awareness and resilience?
· What are the relevant developments in the area of consent and
controls and what are the implications for policy?
· How can technological developments help build a protective
environment?
The workshop will gather international experts including representatives from the OECD, academia, from public and private sectors, policy makers,
representatives of relevant regional and international organisations,
regulators, clinicians and consumers' associations.
July 4, 2018
The OECD is planning an inaugural conference of the Global Forum on Digital Security for Prosperity in December 2018. The Civil Society council (CSISAC) is looking for expressions of interest from civil Society participants to take part in this event.
The OECD Global Forum on Digital Security for Prosperity is dedicated to multilateral and multi-stakeholder dialogue on digital security for economic prosperity. It aims to consolidate an international network of governmental officials and non-governmental experts dealing with digital security for prosperity, and facilitate convergence of views for a trusted and resilient digital environment.
This inaugural meeting will discuss the roles and responsibilities of actors for digital security. In particular, it will address good practice for digital security governance in businesses and other organisations, and how to make digital technologies more secure throughout their lifecycle. It will bring together experts from public and private sectors in OECD member and non-member countries in order to help shape the international public policy agenda in this area.
More about:
- Global Forum on Digital Security for Prosperity: http://oe.cd/ds4p.
- OECD Recommendation on Digital Security Risk Management for Economic and Social Prosperity: http://oe.cd/dsrm
- OECD work on digital economy policy: http://www.oecd.org/sti/ieconomy/
- OECD: http://oecd.org
February 23, 2018
The CSISAC has been invited by the OECD CDEP to take part in the OECD Workshop on Digital Security and Resilience in Critical Infrastructure and Essential Services. Lucy Purdon from CSISAC member Privacy International attendeded in the meeting in behalf of the CSISAC.
The CSISAC notes the unprecedented risks faced by citizens and consumers in developing countries, due to data intensive initiatives lacking adequate security and privacy/ data protection frameworks. Cashless payment systems, biometrics, or credit scoring exemplify some of the ongoing potential risks of exclusion. The OECD privacy, security and cryptography guidelines provide useful directions to follow.
Fintech, energy and transport infrastructures, together with public services, present the biggest challenges. Market structures should allow governmental management of risk, including consistent reporting on data breaches and vulnerability disclosures. The lack of a common categorisation of critical infrastructures makes it difficult to address the issues of security and resilience. The CSISAC strongly encourages the reinforcement of the ongoing work at the OECD on the measurement and analysis of the digital economy, continuing the previous work on measuring critical infrastructures.
The CSISAC strongly disagrees with the notion of implementing resilience by enabling backdoors in systems, specially where it regards to breaking cryptography. This counterproductive approach bounces back when systems are compromised. It is not possible to entirely prevent data breaches, security failures or cyber-attacks. Instead of introducing vulnerabilities, resilience can be better built by enacting consistent and timely privacy, data protection and security frameworks; from technologies providing privacy and security by design, and by continuous stakeholder involvement. The CSISAC will continue fostering effective resilience in line with the Civil Society Goals, and the OECD many instruments, notably the Cryptography Guidelines, the Privacy Recommendation, and the Security Guidelines.
November 29, 2017
The CSISAC has participated in the 75th Session of the Digital Economy Policy Committee (CDEP), held after the meetings of the Working Parties on Measurement and Analysis (MADE), Communications, Infrastructure and Services (CISP) and Security and Privacy (SPDE). The CSISAC delegation was formed by the Steering Committee member Đorđe Krivokapić from EDRi, and CSISAC member Claire Milne in the CISP and MADE meetings. The CSISAC wants to thank all the civil society experts that have taken part in the preparation of the meeting, contributing with analysis and suggestions of the OECD draft papers and discussions.
The work during this session was organised around the OECE Going Digital project, one of the six OECD Horizontal Projects involving 14 Committees and OECD bodies, with a expected outcome including 80 projects, 70 reports and 15 workshops. The CSISAC has reiterated the interest in continuing the engagement in this stream of work, taking the Civil Society Seoul Principles, and the Civil Society Statement of the Cancún Ministerial as a reference. At this stage, the work is focusing on access to data, both as a resource for other developments such as artificial intelligence, and as a driver of new forms of data governance in the future.
Among the most relevant questions, the CSISAC is happy to see the general agreement on the continued adequacy of the OECD Cryptography Guidelines. Despite some trends threatening the capacity of individuals and organisations to protect communications and personal information, the OECD Guidelines will continue be serving the needs of the policy-making community as it has been doing sincd 1997. The CSISAC will continue fostering encryption by default to secure personal communications, and to minimise the impact on citizens and consumers from system failures potentialy deriving into data breaches.
New topics include the start of work to evaluate the role of blockchain technology as part of the wider digitalisation project. The CSISAC is happy to see the OECD following our proposal to work on this topic, made in the context of the 2016 Ministerial on the Digital Economy in Cancún, and will be contributing to the ongoing work. Another new prominent new area of work is the analysis on the impact of digital platforms. The increasing role of platforms in the economic, social and political dimensions raises questions about their impact, and how to measure it, towards identifying recommendations to guide the design and implementation of connected. policies. The CSISAC will continue engaging in this work, which will involve the need of answering questions about the governance of this platforms in the context of existing governance structures in the territories where they operate.
Many other important topics have been part of this work, with useful opportunities for civil society participants to take part in the conversations, including the Internet of Things with the many aspects concerning privacy and security, ICT and the environment, the protection of children online, digital risks or cross-border e-commerce. The CSISAC calls the Civil Society participants with expertise on those topics to engage in the ongoing work. You can learn more in the CSISAC website, or directly contact the CSISAC Secretariat
October 27, 2017
CSISAC Steering Committee member and President of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Marc Rotenberg attended the OECD Conference on Artificial Intelligence - "AI: Intelligent Machines, Smart Policies" (see the event agenda and speaker bios).
The conference provided a comprehensive overview of the many applications and challenges of Artificial Intelligence. Involving over 40 speakers, the conference provided a broad and informed overview of the most recent developments in this field. In addition to the CSISAC, Civil Society views have been put forward in the session on Transparency, Oversight, and Ethics by Konstantinos Karachalios (managing Director of the IEEE-Standards Association), and Johanna Bryson (Reader at University of Bath, and Affiliate, Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University). The CSISAC thanks the OECD for having included civil society views in the conference, and will continue offering advice and support to improve civil society participation with an emphasis on Security and Privacy.
The CSISAC was invited to take part in the final wrap-up session, together with the representatives of the TUAC, BIAC and ITAC Advisory Committees. In this session, CSISAC Steering Committee member Marc remarked the need to focus on impact on the public and the institutions, as AI-derived effects could lead to a non-sustainable path leaded by increased polarization and inequality. As a way to tackle this challenge, the CSISAC promoted algorithmic transparency as a way to ensure democractic accountability" for Artificial Intelligence. The CSISAC urged action by the OECD to develop a comprehensive policy framework for Artificial Intelligence, similar to the OECD Privacy Guidelines, noting the acceleration of deployment in the field, the earlier OECD work on Artifical Intelligence, and the multiple policy projects currently underway. The CSISAC found many of its own views reflected in the remarks of Anna Byhovskaya from TUAC (Labour Unions Avisory Committee), who remarked the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach, the need for keeping human control of AI development, the role of skills in equality for workers, and shared her concerns about market concentration, data ownership, and business models, proposing a human-centered approach. ITAC (Technical Advisory Committee) remarked that open access could be not always granted, mentioned the utility of standardization and certification for algorithms, stablishing a connection with the capacity of Intellectual Property regime to adapt, and noted the importance of ethics and embedding values in the system design. On human-centric AI, the CSISAC alligns with the remarks of Joanna Bryson about not competing with machines, but to extend ethics to data system similarly as humans did with the environment, towards building safe systems.
The CSISAC acknowledges the summary of OECD Deputy Secretary General Douglas Frantz, who remarked the "consensus on the need for a broad base conversation with many stakeholders" on the future and implementation of AI. The CSISAC acknowledges the contribution of the Chair in identifying the OECD as the right forum for development of policy framework, and agrees in remarking the urgency to deploy this important work.
The CSISAC will continue engaging in the work of the OECD in Artificial Intelligence, and strongly encourages civil society participants to take part in the preparation of the forthcoming meeetings of the OECD Committee on the Digital Economy (CDEP).
May 14, 2017
The OECD has invited the CSISAC to take part in the OECD Expert Workshop n Improving the measurment of digital security risk incidents and risk management, to be held in the Swiss-Re Centre for Global Dialogue, Zurich (Switzerland).
While the frequency and severity of digital security incidents has grown, our ability to measure, analyse, understand and manage them efficiently has not kept pace. A long standing problem is the lack of consensus on definitions, typologies and taxonomy, as well as a paucity of historical data on "digital security incidents, threats and vulnerabilities". The lack of data-sharing on such incidents and the resulting challenges in quantifying exposure to digital security risk has been an important impediment to the development of the cyber insurance market (among other
consequences).
The development of a more reliable and comprehensive data set on digital security incidents and digital risk management practice would likely require:
- consensus on typology and taxonomy;
- trusted public-private digital security incident repository;
- incentives (e.g., mandatory notification requirements) to promote reporting of incidents and data sharing by organisations.
At the workshop, organised on the basis of Chatham House rules, different experts shared their expertise on the topic, contributing to the improvement of the knowledge about the scarcity of data and statistical models capable to assess digital security incidents risk.
The potential un-insurability of digitalisation, and the insufficient characterization of the potential incidents, happened to be illustrated by the case of the difussion of the eternal-blue based ransomware, indicating the need to assess the role of issues such as a mass surveillance, or the militarization of cyberspace, in addition to those linked to the spread of software mono-cultives and the vulnerabilities derived from a commercially oriented intellectual property framework for algorithms.
Finally, two approaches have been proposed to solve the difficulties to addr need for further collaboration between data sources: the first one, based on a shared repository, and the second one based on standards to ensure the consistency in the collection and comparability of the data.
June 8, 2017
The CSISAC has participated in the 74th Session of the Digital Economy Policy Committee (CDEP), held in conjunction with the meetings of its Working Parties on Measurement and Analysis (MADE), Communications, Infrastructure and Services (CISP) and Security and Privacy (SPDE). The CSISAC delegation was formed by the Steering Committee members Marc Rotenberg in in the CDEP and SPDE, and Claire Milne attending the SPDE and the MADE. The CSISAC wants to thank all the civil society experts that have taken part in the preparation of the meeting, contributing with analysis and suggestions of the OECD draft papers and discussions.
An important part of the meeting was focused in the update about the Horizontal Project Going Digital, and also in the discussion of the draft chapters of the forthcoming Digital Economy Outlook, where the CSISAC contributed asking for a more consistent coverage of the privacy and security issues, raising the assymetry in the responsabilities derived from data collection, specially with regard to consumers. The need to remark the importance of security and privacy aspects was a common issue in the interventions and proposals of CSISAC, including the reports on data security breaches, national privacy policies, digital security incidents or digital risk management. The CSISAC expressed interest to take part in those projects, and also to engage in the ongoing reviews of the Recommendations on Cryptography, on Critical Information Infrastructures, and on Children Online.
At the CISP and the MADE, the CSISAC contributed with analysis on the differnt reports on telecomunication policy and digital measurements. The case of the refugees was raised by the CSISAC in the context of an analysis about broadband access in rural and remote areas, and the need to take into account also low usage and pre-payment mobile communications in order to ensure the integrity in the compariosn of telecommunication prices, as those could speak about affordability issues; where the need to use the price payed by the user, instead of the potentially different price announced on the provider websites was raised as well. Still in the measurement work, the CSISAC encouraged the OECD to continue performing research on the effects of robotisation in the labour market, as the strong findings could suggest potential displacements of labour to lower skilled positions, that should need to be considered by policy-makers.
The CSISAC will continue fostering this issues as specific policy issues in the context of the Civil Society Goals, engaging in the OECD Horizontal Project on Digitalisation. The involvement of the CSISAC will consist in the participation of the policy making process both at the OECD and at the interaction with other international settings, and the dissemination of the resulting outcomes. The CSISAC calls the Civil Society participants with expertise on digital topics to engage in this process. Learn more about the CSISAC, or directly contact the CSISAC Secretariat <liaison@csisac.org>
June 5, 2017
The OECD has invited the CSISAC to take part in the 2016 OECD Forum: Bridging Divides, to be held the 6th of June in the OECD headquarters in Paris (France). The CSISAC Liaison will take part as a table host leading the discussion in two sessions. The first session will focus on Inclusive Growth, and it will be introduced by OECD Carol Guthrie, Head of Public Affairs and Media, PAC. The second session will focus on Artificial Intelligence with confirmed participants including Diego Piacentini, Italian Government Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Søren Pind, Minister for Higher Education and Science, Denmark; and Yuko Harayama, Executive Member, Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, Cabinet office, Government of Japan.
November 18, 2016
Technology Foresight Forums are organised by the OECD Committee for Digital Economy Policy (formerly Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy) to help identify opportunities and challenges for the Internet economy posed by technical developments.
Foresight forums represent a collaborative effort of policy makers from member and non-member governments, business, civil society, and the Internet technical community. Past forum topics include radio frequency identification (RFID), next generation networks, participative web, and cloud computing. On 17 November 2016, the OECD held the 2016 Technology Foresight Forum on Artificial Intelligence (AI). The event took place in the November CDEP, and the CSISAC was invited to take part.
The event focused on 'Applied AI', meaning already existing capacities, instead of in the more general notion of the term. The Forum presented the latest developments, and discussed the policy implications derived from societal changes like the substitution of human labour by AI systems and the need to address the resulting inequalities, the monopoly of the data and software that enable this technology, or threats to civil liberties connected to privacy and security issues.
The topic raised the interest of the CSISAC membership, which contributed with analysis and comments building on the background document distributed as preparation for the Forum. Contributions included CSISAC Steering Committee members Marc Rotenberg and Claire Milne, Michael Gurstein and Roger Clarke. At the Forum, the CSISAC Liaison focused on introducing the notion of 'algorithmic transparency' as a useful way to evaluate and prevent the potentialities and risks of AI, remarking the importance of algorithms for automated decission-making and their falibility. The Liaison expressed concerns about the proposals made at the meeting to evaluate algorithms on a log-basis only, as that would provide only ex-post evidence; and also the need to re-evaluate the intellectual property frameworks so to not avoid innovation in algorithms and proper evaluation and assesment. Finally the Liaison showed support to the proposals raising the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach, supporting the interest for the OECD to foster work in this area, and expressing the interest of the CSISAC to engage
May 11, 2017
The 74th session of the OECD Digital Economy Policy Committee and its working parties will take place from the 15th to the 19th of May in the OECD headquarters in Paris (France). The CSISAC will take part in this meeting to bring the voice of Civil Society to the OECD policy making process.
The May session of the CDEP will focus on getting progress in the Horizontal Project on Digitalisation, an effort derived from the outcomes 2016 Cancún OECD Ministerial Meeting, involving 13 OECD Committees in addition to the CDEP itself. The Committee and its Working Parties will continue working in the preparation of the next edition of the Digital Economy Outlook, and a review of the Telecommunications Policy in Mexico. The OECD Recommendation on the ICTs and the Environment will enter a monitoring process, and the analysis on remote broadband access will be proposed for approval. The statistical work will include analysis on robotisation, ICT investment, and also on digital risk management. The work on security and privacy will focus on the analysis of indicators about children online, and reports on the protection of critical infrastructures, security data breaches, or security incidents.
The CSISAC invites all civil society participants engaged in these topics to get involved in the preparation of the meeting.
About the CSISAC
The CSISAC is the voice of civil society at the OECD Committee on the Digital Economy Policy. We facilitate the exchange of information between the OECD and civil society participants, leading to better-informed and more widely accepted policy frameworks. The formal recognition of this Advisory Committee by the OECD was the result of an effort initiated in the 1990s decade to promote participation parity in the global policy-making. Today, the CSISAC is the main venue to channel the participation of civil society in the OECD work on the digital economy.
In order to fullfil its mission, CSISAC participates in the regular meetings of the OECD Digital Economy Committee (CDEP) and its working parties: the Working Party on Measurement and Analysis of the Digital Economy (MADE), the Working Party on Communication, Infrastructures and Services Policy (CISP) and the Working Party on Security and Privacy in the Digital Economy (SPDE). In addition, the CSISAC takes part in the OECD Ministerial Meetings organizing a Civil Society Forum, and also in other OECD meetings and projects connected to the Digital Economy Policy.
The participation of the CSISAC consists in the circulation of the draft reports and working papers of the OECD among civil society experts for analysis and assessment prior to the meeting, attendance by CSISAC representatives at the regular sessions of the OECD committees, and the submission of policy assessments for the ongoing policy guidance. In addition, the CSISAC nominates high level experts to participate in ad-hoc instruments like expert groups or advisory panels linked to specific policy developments.
The structure of the CSISAC is defined in the CSISAC Charter. To join the CSISAC, individuals or organizations should endorse the Civil Society Seoul Declaration, demonstrate a commitment to the public interest, and do not represent any business, technical organization, government entity, or other institution that sets public policy. To learn more about the CSISAC and how to join, you can visit the CSISAC Website or directly write to the CSISAC Liaison <liaison@csisac.org>.
December 13, 2016
At the 73rd session of the CDEP, the OECD announced a dialogue with the G20 on digitalisation in the context of the focus given by the G20 Presidency to the topic, and the planned OECD horizontal project on digitalisation.
The CSISAC has been invited to take part in that dialogue, and the CSISAC has accepted the invitation towards fostering the Civil Society Principles in the G20 extension of the OECD work on the digital economy. The OECD has welcomed CSISAC proposal to extend the current participatory structure to the G20 meetings, having the Liaison plus one representative appointed by the Steering Committee to participate in behalf of the CSISAC. Several CSISAC members have expressed their interest in taking part in that process, and the Steering Committee will be exploring the opportunities with that purpose.
The first step for the OECD-G20 dialogue will be a meeting to be held the 12th of January in Berlin. In addition to this, a consultation process has been launched to set the thematic priorities for the civil society process (C20). The CSISAC is encouraging its members to take part in the consultation towards ensuring a proper alignment between the civil society process and the G20 focus on digitalisation.
June 21, 2016
Harvard Business Professor Shoshana Zuboff spoke about "The Secrets of Surveillance Capitalism" at the opening of the CSISAC Forum in Cancun, Mexico. Professor Zuboff warned that the structure of the digital economy is incompatible with democratic institutions. "In our lifetimes, we observe capitalism shifting under our gaze," said Zuboff. "Surveillance capitalism is a coup from above. Like all incursions of power, we must focus on the fundamental legitimacy of surveillance as a mode of accumulation. We must interrupt, outlaw, and regulate the capture of behavioral surplus. This is necessary for society, for people, and for a return to the healthy evolution of capitalism."
June 21, 2016
Civil society organizations from more than a dozen countries are hosting a forum "Toward an Inclusive, Equitable, and Accountable Digital Economy" in Mexico. The forum is organized under the auspices of the Civil Society Information Society Advisory Council (CSISAC), "the voice of civil society at the OECD," in conjunction with the OECD Ministerial on the Digital Economy. The CSISAC Forum features NGO leaders, technology experts and government decision makers. The NGOs affirmed the Seoul Declaration and also called attention to new issues for the digital economy, such as algorithmic transparency, market consolidation, and metrics for human rights and social progress. CSISAC is an outgrowth of the Public Voice campaign to promote civil society participation in decisions concerning the future of the Internet. Similar NGO meetings were held in Ottawa in 1998 and Seoul in 2008. #CSISAC #OECDdigitalMX
May 23, 2016
The OECD has announced a Ministerial Conference about Innovation, Growth and Social Prosperity in the context of the Digital Economy, to be held the 21-23 June 2016 in Cancún (México). This event is expected to set the agenda for the digitalisalization of the global economy in the following decade. Provided the deep implications of that process for social justice and human rights, the CSISAC is working to foster the voice of civil society in this event, according to the goals of the Seoul Declaration.
Travel Grants
In order to foster Civil Society participation, the CSISAC has actively explored options to retrieve funds to contribute to the participation costs. A criteria for travel grant was defined to prioritise goal alignment, capacity building and regional and gender diversity, and a call was published asking for expressions of interest to benefit from a travel grant. As the result of that initiave, the Steering Committee, received a total of 40 travel requests, and developed the capacity to cover the 90% of them.
Among the granted participants, 53% of them come from Latin America, 24% from Europe, 18% from the USA and CAN, and 6% from Africa. Mexico is the most populated delegation, with 41% of the LatAm groups, followed by other countries like Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Paraguay and Argentina. Gender balance is on the 50% rate, and we are proud to have also a member of the LGTB community.
Any remaining fund will be distributed among the pending travel requests after the meeting.
The CSISAC wants to thank the Ford Foundation, the Open Societies Foundation, the Government of Mexico and the Electronic Information Privacy Center (EPIC) for their economic support. That is the material foundation that makes such diversity possible.
Civil Society Forum
The main goals of CSISAC in the context of the OECD Ministerial on the Digital Economy are:
- to evaluate the progress on the Seoul Declaration, and to review emerging issues in the digital realm, towards setting the Civil Society goals for the OECD,
- to enlarge the long-term participation of civil society in the OECD process through the CSISAC, with a focus on non-governmental groups, activists and scholars from Latin America, and
- to consolidate the recognition of the CSISAC as the main channel for civil society participation at the OECD.
In pursuing those goals, the CSISAC is organizing a Civil Society Forum, to be held the 21st of June in the OECD Ministerial meeting venue. The purpose of the Forum is to foster the dialogue between the Civil Society participants and the governmental representatives and OECD officials attending the Ministerial meeting.
With this purpose, a Programm Committee has been formed with active Civil Society participants, including groups, activists and scholars with an emphasis on the Latin American countries. The Forum will be structured in three Civil Society panels, where civil society, governments and the OECD will have a dialogue about the Seoul Declaration, the emerging issues and the Civil Society goals. In addition, the Forum will have a panel focused on online platforms jointly organized with TUAC, the Trade Unions Advisory Committee of the OECD. The Forum will be closed with a panel where CSISAC, TUAC, OECD and governmental representatives will reflect on the outcomes of the Forum towards the Ministerial discussion.
The updated schedule of the Forum can be find in the CSISAC Forum site: http://csisac.org/events/cancun16/
A maximum of 100 participants will be allowed to register for the Civil Society Forum. CSISAC members planning to attend are strongly encouraged to contact the Liaison so to ensure attendance as part of the CSISAC delegation.
Registration and Logistics
Participation in the Ministerial and connected events, including the Civil Society Forum requires registration in advance. Registration is needed for all participants, including those invited by the OECD or by CSISAC, and it needs to be managed personally by the involved person. Deadline for registration is the 3rd of June, 2016.
The registration process, including deadlines, is entirely administered by the OECD through an official Ministerial site. The CSISAC do not manage the registration process. Registration for the Ministerial and connected events, including the Civil Society Forum, can only be done individually in the following link:
There is no registration fee to participate. Travel, lodging and any other costs are expected to be provided by participants on their own. Hotel booking must be done individually by each participant in addition to the registration process. The main venue of the Ministerial conference is to be located in the 'Moon Palace' meeting complex in Cancún. Participants pursuing alternatives in the city center should consider as well transportation to the venue.
March 14, 2016
The OECD has opened the registration process to attend the Ministerial Conference on the Digital Economy: Innovation, Growth and Social Prosperity, to be held the 21-23 June 2016 in Cancún (México). The CSISAC encourages civil society participants to engage in the preparatory work and to register for participation in the Ministerial. This post provides the basic information on registration, logistics and travel support to participate in the Ministerial.
Registration and Logistics
Participation in the Ministerial and connected events, including the Civil Society Forum on the first day, will require registration in advance. Registration is needed for all participants, including those invited by the OECD or by CSISAC, and it needs to be managed personally by the involved person.
Registration deadline is June 3, 2016. A maximum of 100 participants will be allowed to register for the Civil Society Forum. CSISAC members planning to attend are strongly encouraged to contact the Liaison so to ensure attendance as part of the CSISAC delegation.
The registration process, including deadlines, is entirely administered by the OECD through an official Ministerial site. The CSISAC do not manage the registration process. Registration for the Ministerial and connected events, including the Civil Society Forum, can only be done individually in the following link: http://www.gob.mx/economiadigital/en/
There is no registration fee to participate. Travel, lodging and any other costs are expected to be provided by participants on their own. Hotel booking must be done individually by each participant in addition to the registration process. The main venue of the Ministerial conference is to be located in the 'Moon Palace' meeting complex in Cancún. Those pursuing cheaper alternatives in the city center should consider as well transportation to the venue.
Travel Support
The Steering Committee of the CSISAC is looking for opportunities to support travel costs of CSISAC members planning to attend the CSISAC Forum. A travel fund is planned to be available thanks to the contributions made by the Ford Foundation, the Open Societies Foundation and the Government of México among others. The priority to distribute the available fund among the eligible participants will be decided according to the following criteria.
- Criteria 1: Goal alignment. Priority will be given to participants showing engagement with the goals of the Civil Society Seoul Declaration and involvement in the preparation of the Forum and the Ministerial.
- Criteria 2: Capacity building. Priority will be given to participants belonging to and representing established groups. The purpose is to encourage participation from groups that stand to benefit the most and develop capacities at the forum. In the case of individuals, activists will get priority over experts and scholars.
- Criteria 3: Regional diversity. Priority will be given, in this order, to groups from 1) Latin America, with priority to those operating in OECD countries, 2) Africa, 3) BRICs.
Support for travel is decided by the Steering Committee of the CSISAC and requires the approval of a travel budget in advance to the event. Approved travel budgets are to be reimbursed after the event only, so participants need to purchase travel tickets and lodging on their own. Participants are not eligible for travel support when they benefit from funding granted by the same entities sponsoring CSISAC travel to the Ministerial.
Request for travel support is done sending the following information to liaison@csisac.org: i) contact data, ii) expression of
interest stating how participation CSISAC Forum can benefit the
applicant/ organization, iii) short biography showing the engagement
with the Seoul Declaration, iv) a travel budget including transportation
costs and any other requested am mount, v) registration confirmation or invitation letter, if any.
About CSISAC and the OECD
CSISAC is the voice of civil society at the OECD Committee on the Digital Economy Policy. We facilitate the exchange of information between the OECD and civil society participants, leading to better-informed and more widely accepted policy frameworks. The formal recognition of this Advisory Committee by the OECD was the result of an effort initiated in the 1990s decade to promote participation parity in the global policy-making. Today, the CSISAC is the main venue to channel the participation of civil society in the OECD work on the digital economy.
You can learn more about CSISAC visiting the official website, or sending your question to the CSISAC Liaison <liaison@csisac.org>
June 1, 2015
The Civil Society Information Society Advisory Council (CSISAC) is the "voice of civil society" at the OECD. CSISAC strengthens the relationship between civil society and the OECD and promotes better-informed and more widely accepted policies for the IT sector. CSISAC contributes to the OECD's work on Digital Economy Policy and promotes the exchange of information between the OECD and civil society. The OECD provides civil society participants with substantial empirical analysEs that enable informed policy assessments; CSISAC provides the OECD with the essential perspectives of experts and NGOs leaders.
In order to fullfil its mission, CSISAC participates in the regular meetings of the OECD Digital Economy Committee (CDEP) and its working parties: the Working Party on Measurement and Analysis of the Digital Economy (MADE), the Working Party on Communication, Infrastructures and Services Policy (CISP) and the Working Party on Security and Privacy in the Digital Economy (SPDE). The participation of CSISAC consists in the circulation of the draft reports and working paperS among Civil Society experts for analysis and assessment, attendance at the regular meetings by CSISAC representatives, and the submission of policy assessments for the ongoing policy guidance. In addition, CSISAC nominates high level experts to participate in the ad-hoc sessions like expert groups or advisory panels linked to specific policy developments.
The next meeting of the OECD Digital Economy Policy Committee and its working parties will take place from the 22th to the 26th of June in the OECD headquarters in Paris (France). The meeting will cover topics like the revision of the Security Guidelines, the Internet of Things, the effects of ICT in jobs and skills or statistics on children online. The draft reports and working papers will be circulated to the CSISAC membership to facilitate analysis and assessment in time for the meeting. CSISAC encourages Civil Society experts to join the task forces on their topics of interest so as to provide substantial and high quality contributions to the OECD policy-making process.
CSISAC wants to acknowledge the contribution of the Open Society Foundation (OSF), the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), and the European Digital Rights (EDRi) for their continued support, among other contributions.
June 29, 2015
The June sessions of the OECD Committee for the Digital Economy Policy have finished today. CSISAC wants to thank Steering Committee members Marc Rotenberg from EPIC and Claire Milne for leading the task forces and attending the Working Parties and the Committee, together with the CSISAC Liaison. In addition, the Civil Society delegation benefitted from the expertise of CSISAC member Martin Schmalzried on the children online topic.
The meetings included the 20th MADE (Working Party on Measurement and Analysis of the Digital Economy), 53nd CISP (Working Party on Communication, Infrastructures and Services Policy), 38th SPDE (Working Party on Security and Privacy in the Digital Economy) and the 69th CDEP (Committee on the Digital Economy Policy). In addition, CSISAC took part in the preparatory meetings for the 2016 Ministerial, including the 3rd Ministerial Steering Group and the 1st Stakeholders Coordination Meeting.
Thanks to the voluntary contribution of CSISAC experts in the analysis and assessment of the OECD draft reports and working papers, the Civil Society delegation contributed to achieving the following outcomes:
- A new revised Security Guidelines that explicitly recognizes transparency, human rights and responsibility among its principles, increasing the potential for accountability by replacing the previous 'national security' frame with a 'risk management' approach. The acknowledgment by the OECD of the contribution made by CSISAC during the revision process can be recognized in the adoption by the OECD of the proposal to launch the guidelines in an event to be hosted by EPIC in Washington.
- Increased awareness about the challenges of the digital economy, as only the benefits were initially planned for discussion in the Ministerial. This holds for the four themes of the Ministerial, and includes security and privacy aspects and balancing individual and group interests in the Internet of Things, the potential of privacy enhancing technologies for innovation, or consumer protection and quality of jobs with regard to emerging digital platforms like Uber. CSISAC members are invited to engage in the drafting process of the Ministerial panels to ensure that this need is sufficiently reflected in the Ministerial dossier, and to nominate High Level delegates to participate as speakers in the panels.
- Adoption of the proposal to hold a Civil Society Stakeholders Forum in coordination with TUAC -labor unions stakeholder- in parallel to the forums organized by BIAC -the business stakeholder- and ITAC -the technical community stakeholder- the day before the Ministerial. In addition, a CSISAC member will participate in the High Level Plenary that will serve to launch the Ministerial in the first day, opening the way to effectively feed the Ministerial with the output of our Forum, perhaps in the form of a Civil Society Declaration. CSISAC has started to explore possible alternatives to maximize the Civil Society participation at the Ministerial. With that purpose, CSISAC has invited the OECD to coordinate with the Mexican delegation the logistics of Civil Society participation.
The meetings of the CDEP represent an important milestone, as the work of CSISAC during the following year will focus on the preparation of the Ministerial. The organization of the Civil Society Forum is expected to concentrate the efforts of CSISAC in order to contribute constructively to the outcomes of the 2016 Ministerial in Cancun (Mexico).
CSISAC wants to acknowledge the contribution of those who have been providing the resources to support our activity, mainly the Open Society Foundation, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and the European Digital Rights (EDRi). That leads to a big thanks to Meryem Marzouki from EDRi, the 'architect' of CSISAC, who has recently handed over her responsibilities after many years of excellent work. In addition, COFACE-EU has contributed by sending a delegate to provide input on the OECD work on children online.
January 31, 2015
OECD work to date has helped solidify the general understanding of the Internet as a general purpose technology and the need to preserve its open and decentralised nature. Yet further work is needed to demonstrate that good Internet policy making not only supports an expanding open Internet economy, but also stimulates innovation and economic and social growth.
The next Ministerial meeting will encourage the ongoing dialogue and associate emerging and developing countries to discuss how Internet policy making can address current and emerging issues in a way that helps mitigate risks to, and maximises the economic and social benefits of, the Internet economy.
Demonstrating the importance of Internet policy making will also set the scene for a discussion on how innovation in the Internet economy can be leveraged to address key challenges in the economy and society that demand policy attention now or in the near future, such as lack of jobs growth and ageing populations.
July 1, 2010
Two of the Information, Communications, and Computer Policy committees of the OECD held meetings during the week of June 14-18, the Communications Infrastructure and Services Policy Working Party (WPCISP) and the Working Party on the Internet Economy (WPIE). There was also an all day workshop on the Role of Internet Intermediaries, to discuss the role that Internet intermediaries play in achieving the policy goals identified at the Seoul OECD Ministerial Conference in 2008.
CSISAC participated in all three events, and will report on the pubic aspects of these events. At the WPCISP, CSISAC Liaison Stephanie Perrin and Public Knowledge's John Bergmayer are attending. At the Internet Intermediaries Workshop, Gwen Hinz of Electronic Frontier Foundation, Anna Fielder of Privacy International, Marzena Lipman of Consumer Focus and Eric Goldman of the University of Santa Clara presented civil society perspectives on various panels. Milton Mueller of Syracuse and Delft Universities and David Banisar of Article 19 also participated.
CSISAC has provided comments on a detailed paper on the Role of Internet Intermediaries, which has yet to be publicly released. Civil society's concerns are focused on the delegation of social policies and enforcement to third party actors without respect for due process, accountability, transparency, and the human rights of Internet users. CSISAC is preparing a detailed paper on the issues, and would be pleased to welcome civil society contributions to this effort. Please contact liaison@csisac.org if you have an interest in the topic.
Several papers from the working party on Communications Infrastructure and Services Policy are expected to be derestricted in September, and CSISAC continues to provide input on this work. Centred on aspects of competition and integration, the impact of bundling of internet services, and the issues surrounding mobile roaming, these papers impact various aspects of the core CSISAC policy focus areas:
- Privacy and the non-transparent use of customer information
- Consumer protection, particularly in matters of service costs and the lack of transparency in service costs, including taxes, which in turn makes free choice of service alternatives virtually impossible
- Security and autonomy with respect to information, and intellectual property
On June 17-18, the Working Party on the Internet Economy discussed, among other issues, the focus on information and communications technologies to foster the "green" agenda. Once again, this focus is of great interest to civil society members across the spectrum of concern. Whilst members welcome ICTS to address energy conservation, resource management and efficient public transportation, this cannot be at the expense of individual autonomy and personal privacy. There is great promise for the return to user control in intelligent buildings and smart networks, but only if these options are built in. It is therefore vital to engage in this discussion, and civil society is solicited to participate in upcoming CSISAC policy briefs on the topics.
February 23, 2010
The 28th meeting of the Working Party on Information Security and Privacy (WPISP) will be held on 8-9 March, 2010. The meeting will address several important issues of interest to CSISAC members such as identity management, the protection of children online, the 30th Anniversary of the OECD privacy guidelines. The 59th meeting of the Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy meeting (ICCP) will be held on March 10-11, 2010. Topics to be discussed are ICT & green growth, ICT & innovation, internet intermediaries: policy implications, among other topics.
Marc Rotenberg, Anna Fielder, CSISAC Steering Committee Members, and Katitza Rodriguez, CSISAC Liaison will attend the meeting.
February 1, 2010
The year 2010 marks the 30th Anniversary of the OECD Privacy Guidelines. The Guidelines consist of eight principles that have provided the basis for national laws, international agreements, and privacy frameworks that have been adopted around the world. In the Civil Society Seoul Declaration, CSISAC reaffirmed "its support for the OECD Privacy Guidelines as a fundamental policy instrument setting out minimal requirements for the transborder flow of personal data."
To commemorate the anniversary, OECD has planned several events for 2010:
- March 10: OECD Roundtable on the impact of the Privacy Guidelines, Paris, France;
- October 25-26: Privacy, Technology and Global Data Flows, Jerusalem, Israel. The event will be hosted by the Israeli Law, Information and Technology Authority, and held together with the 32nd International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners Meeting.
- December 1: The theme will focus on the economics and human rights dimension of Privacy, Paris, France.
On January 28, International Privacy Day, CSISAC Steering Committee Member EPIC presented the 2010 International Privacy Champion Award to the Honorable Michael Kirby for his role in the development of the OECD Privacy Guidelines. For more information: OECD: The 30th Anniversary of the OECD Privacy Guidelines.
January 7, 2010
The OECD Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy (ICCP) has released its preliminary calendar for 2010.
- The 28th meeting of the Working Party on Information Security and Privacy (WPISP) will be held on 8-9 March, 2010.
- The 59th meeting of the Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy meeting ((ICCP) will be held on March 10-11, 2010.
- The 43th Meeting of the Working Party on Communication Infrastructures and Services Policy (WPCISP) will be held on 14-15 June, 2010.
- The 60th Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy (ICCP) will be held on September 29 to October 1, 2010.
- The 29th meeting of the Working Party on Information Security and Privacy (WPISP) will be held on December 2-3, 2010.
December 12, 2009
On December 14-17, the OECD Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy will host its Annual Working Party meetings on Information Economy (WPIE) and Communication Infrastructures and Services Policy (WPCISP).
The WPIE undertakes analysis of the digital delivery of content. Specifically, "OECD work includes stocktaking studies in the following areas: scientific publishing, music, on-line computer games, mobile content, user-created content, digital content and the evolution of the film and video industries and public sector information and content." To learn more about the OECD - WPIE work, please go to OECD's website.
Anthony Vetter, CSISAC Steering Committee Member, and Katitza Rodriguez, CSISAC Liaison will attend both meeting.
October 7, 2009
The Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will host a series of meeting from October 12-16, 2009 in Paris, France.
The 27th Meeting of the Working Party on Information Security and Privacy (WPISP) will be held in October 12-13. From Emerging Privacy issues to portability, competition, and innovation, the ICCP Technology Foresight Forum on Cloud Computing will be held on October 15. A briefing Paper on Cloud Computing and Public Policy prepared for the Forum has been released.
The 58th session of the Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy will be held at the OECD Headquarters in October 15-16, 2009.
The Civil Society Information Society Advisory Council will be represented by Gus Hosein from Privacy International, Gwen Hinze, International Policy Director Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and member of CSISAC Steering Committee, and Katitza Rodriguez, CSISAC Liaison, and International Privacy Director Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).
August 11, 2009
On September 10-11, 2009 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Information for Development Program (infoDev) / World Bank are organizing a joint workshop on ICT for Development.
According to OECD's website: "Information communication technologies (ICTs)s are crucial to reducing poverty, improving access to health and education services and creating new sources of income and employment for the poor." (...) "But there are substantial discrepancies in access to ICTs between countries, particularly at the North-South level, but also within countries, depending on key factors such as gender, rural coverage, skills and educational levels."
This workshop aims to share best practices in:
* Access to ICTs and the Internet
* Broadband policy and development
* Access to ICT payment and remittance services
* Cross border co-operation and security
* ICTs and the environment
* ICTs for education
Karen Banks, Network Development Manager, Association for Progressive Communications (APC), CSISAC member, will speak at the "Access to ICTs and the Internet" panel.
The full information of the event is available online
June 14, 2009
The Working Party on Internet Economy (WPIE) will be held on June 17-18 in Paris, France. This Committee focuses on digital content, ICT diffusion to business, ICT-enabled offshoring, ICT skills and employment, the publication of the OECD Information Technology Outlook, and ICTs and the Environment.
Some topics that this Committee addressed are:
- Economic impacts of broadband; Digital broadband content (public sector information, film and video, online advertising); Access and distribution to digital content, including user generated content; content protection, mobile commerce; RFID and other sensors.
Some issues that might be of interest of CSISAC members are:
- Balance Intellectual Property Policies, Digital Inclusion, Employment, ICT & The Environment, A2K, Privacy & Transparency, Pluralistic Media, Consumer Protection
June 14, 2009
The Working Party on Communication and Information Services Policy (CISP) will be held on June 15-18 in Paris. France. This Committee "reviews telecommunications and Internet policy, reviews developments in information infrastructure: regulatory reform, convergence of telecommunication, Internet, cable television and broadcasting networks".
Some topics that this Committee addressed are:
Telecommunications regulation, Domain Name System, IP network connection and interoperability, competition in voice markets; Policy and regulatory implications of new wireless technologies; sensors Networks, RFID; New applications, services and protocols, Bandwidth and traffic exchange.
Some issues that might be of interest of CSISAC members are:
- Intellectual Property, Privacy & Data Protection, Consumer Rights, Internet Governance, Network Neutrality, Digital Inclusion
March 17, 2009
On March 16-17, 2009, the US Federal Trade Commission (US FTC), in conjunction with the OECD and APEC, hosted a conference on "Securing Personal Data in the Global Economy." The conference addressed how companies can manage personal data-security issues in a global information environment where data can be stored and accessed from multiple jurisdictions.
Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) spoke at panel 5 : "Data Flows and Cross-Border Conflicts".
Transcripts are available online.
March 26, 2009
The second annual meeting of the OECD Working Party on Information Security and Privacy (WPISP) will be held in Paris on October 12-13, 2009, right before the Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy.
March 26, 2009
The second Annual Meeting of the Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy (ICCP) meeting will be held on October 14-16, 2009 in Paris, right after the OECD Working Party on Information Security and Privacy (WPISP).
June 3, 2009
On 27-28 May 2009 the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation hold an OECD Conference on how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can improve environmental performance and mitigate climate change in all sectors of the economy. The outcomes will be particularly relevant in the context of the United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held on 7-18 December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark (COP15).
This high-level conference follows up on an OECD workshop in Copenhagen in May 2008 and the OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Internet Economy in Seoul in June 2008.
The conference gather civil society groups like Consumer Focus UK, Consumers International, Greenpeace, Conservation International, Global Connectivity, International Institute for Sustainable Development (Canada), and Association for Progressive Communications . The draft program is online. All the information about the event is here: http://www.green-ict.dk.
Contact:
For more information about civil society participation in this event, please contact katitza (at) epic (dot) org no later than Friday March 27, 2009
February 3, 2009
The next OECD-ICCP meeting (Committee for Information, Computer and Communications Policy) will be held in March 11-13, 2009 in Paris, right after the OECD Working Party on Information Security and Privacy (WPISP).
January 29, 2009
On December 11, 2008, OECD-BIAC organized a workshop on ICT and Innovation in Paris, France. The workshop was designed as an input to the OECD Innovation Strategy. The meeting focused on the ICT sector itself and innovation ICT applications across sectors, current economic challenges and supporting policy.
January 29, 2009
In December 2008. the OECD participated in the third Internet Governance Forum which took place in Hyderabad, India. This included organizing an Open Forum on the Outcomes of the Seoul Ministerial Chaired by Ambassador David Gross, Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, United States. Panelists for this event included Peter Voss, Head of Division, International Policy for Information & Communication Technologies, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Germany; Tom Walker, Director Europe and International, BERR, United Kingdom; Gulshan Rai, Director at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, India; Joseph H. Alhadeff, Vice President for Global Public Policy and Chief Privacy Officer, Oracle Corporation , Chair of BIAC's Information, Computer and Communication (ICCP) Committee, Vice Chair of ICC's Commission on E-Business, IT and Telecoms; Katitza Rodríguez Pereda, Public Voice Coordinator; Bill Graham, Strategic Global Engagement, Office of the President, Internet Society (ISOC) and Marcus Courtney, Head of Department, UNI Telecom Global Union.
January 29, 2009
On June 8-9, 2009, OECD is organizing a conference on Sensor-Based Environments, Lisbon, Portugal. The objective of the event is to bring together policy makers, researchers, business and civil society to better understand how sensor-based and ubiquitous computing technologies can help address some of the most important global challenges (e.g. health and aging, transportation, environment, security and defense) and what policy makers can do to stimulate innovation in this area. This conference will follow up on previous OECD work on RFID.
Civil Society Members of CSISAC who are interested to follow this discussion, please, contact katitza (at) epic (dot) org. Any other inquires, please, send it directly to OECD.
January 29, 2009
On April 15, 2009, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum and the OECD is organizing a symposium on the Protection of Children Online in Singapore to foster an exchange of best practices to promote a safer Internet environment for children.
January 29, 2009
On May 27-28, 2009, the OECD and the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation will hold a conference on “ICTs, the environment and climate change”.
January 29, 2009
On March 16-17, 2009, the OECD, in conjunction with APEC and the Federal Trade Commission, will host a two-day international conference: “Securing Personal Data in the Global Economy" in Washington DC. A live webcast will be available on the day of the event.
January 29, 2009
On February 19-20, 2009, ANACOM will host an OECD Expert Workshop on Measuring Mobile & Wireless Service Data in Lisbon, Portugal.
