Want to show the world what you're doing with the net?

IGF workshops provide your chance

By Kieren McCarthy, 26th July 2006

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If you are using the internet to change the world and you want the world to know it, today's your lucky day.

The inaugural meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) - a new, open meeting agreed to by the world's governments in November - will be held at the end of October this year and the organisers are looking for people to run a series of workshops to show the world what the internet is capable of.

The meeting will be visited by the world's governments, non-governmental organisations, the private and civil sector, as well as the press and ordinary internet users. It will take place near Athens and, in between the main sessions, a select number of 40 minute workshops will take place.

Workshops will also be audiocast so internet users from around the world will also get a chance to hear them.

The forum has four main themes: openness (meaning freedom of expression, free flow of information, ideas and knowledge); security (creating trust and confidence through collaboration); diversity (promoting multilingualism and local content); and access (internet connectivity: policy and cost).

If you feel your work fits into any of those categories and you want a spot on the world's biggest stage, you need to write a proposal of less than 1,000 words covering your workshop and what it will contain. All submissions for workshops will then be put forward to a meeting of the IGF's Advisory Group who will make final decisions on 8 September.

Successful applicants will then have just under two months to prepare for the meeting which runs from 30 October to 2 November.

Details of how to apply can be found on the IGF website. You have until 2 August to apply if your submission is not in English, otherwise you have until 24 August. Good luck. ®