Introduction

The Internet is a fundamental component of economic, social, and political life around the world. It currently connects more than three billion people, and it is estimated that 50 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2020. The stable and flexible functioning of the Internet is increasingly important for developed, emerging, and developing countries and their citizens.

The governance of this ecosystem has long been the concern of a selected group of stakeholders, but the number of interested parties, both state and non-state stakeholders, is increasing as global connectivity spreads. Internet Governance is a contested topic, where the Middle East and Adjoining Countries School on Internet Governance (MEAC-SIG) will try to offer understanding, framing, and actions to be taken in this Internet governance current environment. It will offer potential governance scenarios and analyse its international, regional and national political, economical and technical implications.

Objective

MEAC-SIG aims at stimulating the MEAC regional Internet community and ensure effective participation in regional and global Internet Governance fora.

The MEAC-SIG will help individuals from the Middle East and Adjoining Countries [1] to better understand the global and regional Internet Governance issues, settings and processes while gaining access to comprehensive and structured knowledge on the various aspects of Internet Governance, and the actors, issues and settings surrounding it.

Format

The MEAC-SIG will offer a 5-day intensive learning course spanning five tracks. The course will cover the political, legal, economic, socio-cultural, technological and other dimensions of the Internet Governance (e.g. academia and research) within the context of the MEAC regional imperatives. The program is expected to carry theoretical sessions, role-plays, and participants engagement activities.

Future Aspects

The MEAC-SIG program intends to continue community development by creating an alumni network and have students engage in ICANN, ISOC, IGF, Arab IGF and other relevant regional activities and fora. Those involved will ensure that the MEAC-SIG program is rotated on yearly basis to various countries of the region.

Target Audience

We are inviting Academia and Research, Civil Society and NGOs, Government and Public Sector, Technical Community, in addition to the Private Sector and Businesses from the Middle East and Adjoining Countries to take this unique opportunity to attend taking into consideration the limited seats available.

Call for Applications

The window for applying to attend the school is now closed.

Past MEAC-SIG Events

The first edition of the MEAC-SIG took place in Kuwait during May 25-29, 2014 with a generous invitation and host from the Kuwait Information Technology Society (KITS). More can be found at MEAC-SIG 2014.

The second edition of the MEAC-SIG took place in Tunis Gammarth, Tunisia during May 25-29, 2015 with a generous invitation and host from the ISOC Tunisia Chapter. More can be found at MEAC-SIG 2015.

The third edition of the MEAC-SIG took place in Beirut, Lebanon during 8-12 August 2016 with a generous host from Social Media Exchange (SMEX). More can be found at MEAC-SIG 2016.

About the Local Host

Nic.tr (".tr" Domain Names) Administration has been registering ".tr" internet names since 1991 in the Computer Center of Middle East Technical University, which had provided the first internet connection to the country, with the guidance of IANA and ICANN.

The policies and procedures in terms of ".tr" domain name registration were constituted and executed by the Computer Center of Middle East Technical University from 1991 to 1998. Nevertheless, Nic.tr (".tr" Domain Names) Administration has started to operate as an individual department of Middle East Technical University since 1998 due to the increasing work load.

Nic.tr (".tr" Domain Names) Administration is currently located at METU - Informatics Institute.

The Ministry of Transport established the "DNS Working Group" in 2000 which functions under the authority of the Internet Committee and consists of eleven corporate members of sector representatives, as a means to apply the division of legislative, executive and judical powers to Nic.tr (".tr" Domain Names) Administration. In this context, DNS Working Group operates as the legislative power by determining policies, rules and procedures while Middle East Technical University performs registry (execution). Not only does the DNS Working Group determines policies but also ensures that the public opinion and any suggestions are taken into account and implemented to the policies and applications of METU in order for the internet domain names in Turkey to improve in a democratic environment.

Domain names has an increasing importance due to the developments in electronic trade in relation to the widespread use of internet. Consequently, the disputes over the internet domain names as well show an increase and thus, precautions, regulations and dispute resolution mechanisms are to be created as a means to resolve the debates on a local and global scale. Division of powers principle is one of the functions of Dispute Resolution Mechanism and the attempts to establish such mechanism with a smilar understanding of its international examples are being conducted with the guidance of DNS Working Group.

Venue

Middle East Technical University

Ankara, Turkey

Google Maps (here)

Material

For further reading, folks are encouraged to read/watch content found at the following links:

• The History of Internet Governance (Video | 1 hrs 22 min)
• Internet Governance Outlook 2016: Cooperation & Confrontation (EN)
• The Start of a New Beginning: The Internet Governance Forum on Its Road to 2025 (EN)
• An Introduction to Internet Governance by Jovan Kurbalija (Several Languages)
• Guidebook Internet Governance (EN)
• Governing the Internet by Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (EN)
• ICANN Handouts (EN)
• Exploring Multi-Stakeholder Internet Governance (EN)
• Internet Fragmentation - An Overview (EN)
• The Working Group on Internet Governance - 10th Anniversary Reflections (EN)
• BCG Report on e-Friction (Report and Appendix | Supplement)

Contact Us

For any questions or inquiries, please write to the MEAC-SIG 2017 Steering Committee at meac-sig-sc [at] icann [dot] org .

Agenda

Not available yet

Slides

Role Play

Event Pictures

Post-School Articles

[1] The MEAC Region covers the 22 Arab States, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.