Session: e-Participation Principles

Concise Description:
The workshop will consist of a roundtable discussion, in order to ensure maximum interaction among participants. The issues will be framed as questions, in order to foster a more focused debate and to reach more concrete outcomes.
Building up on the positive experience of remote participation during IGF meetings, the workshop will explore two main topics:
a) The ways to strengthen online interaction among the members of the IGF community, in order to generate a continuous all-year debate, as proposed during the discussions that took place in CSTD WG on IGF improvement;
b) A strategy to raise awareness and foster the use of online channels for participation in other global meetings, with focus on the inclusion of developing countries in international policy-shaping as an underlying principle.

The workshop will count on speakers from all stakeholder groups, not only because the diversity of views leads to creative and out-of-the-box suggestions, but also because improving e-/remote participation should be seen as a collective responsibility of all the members of the community.

The round table discussion will have two parts, focussing on answering the following questions:
Part 1: Principles and global strategies:
What are the strategies to foster the use of channels for e-/remote participation by developing countries, least developed countries and remote areas?
How can we formulate a strategy to raise awareness and foster the use of online channels for participation in other global meetings, with focus on the inclusion of developing countries in international policy-shaping?
Can a set of principles and good practices be formulated to ensure the effective impact of e-/remote participants on policy-shaping process?

Part 2: Best practices and developing practices:

How can the IGF community make use of online channels of communication more efficiently to remain in contact and make the IGF a process that develops throughout the year? 
How can we carry out at least one of the IGF open consultations entirely online?
How can we foster the participation of remote speakers and speakers from hubs in workshops?