[FoME] IGF Academy announces fellows, commences work to build successful NRIs

Sa Sep 17 18:27:09 CEST 2016

Dear colleagues,

for your information.

Kind regards
Matthias Spielkamp

***IGF Academy announces fellows, commences work to build successful NRIs***

Berlin, Colombo, Johannesburg, September 13th, 2016

IGF Academy, a new initiative aiming to foster freedom of expression by
strengthening Internet governance structures, has announced its fellows.
Initiated by German NGO iRights and funded by the German Ministry of
Economic Cooperation and Development, IGF Academy partners with APC and
LIRNEasia to provide support to 16 fellows from Africa and Asia for
building or enhancing their nation’s IG infrastructures.

IGF Academy kicked off in August with two regional workshops. Fellows
from Congo (Brazzaville), Namibia, Togo and South Africa met in
Johannesburg, their colleagues from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Sri
Lanka convened in Colombo. Short biographies of the fellows can be found
on IGF Academy’s website at http://igf.academy/#fellows

Main goal of the workshops was for fellows to start the development of
strategic roadmaps for their national IG processes and to provide
fellows with a platform to collaborate with their peers. Experts
provided input on IG basics, stakeholder mapping, fundraising and
communications strategies, and logistics organisation.

The roadmaps are focused on enhancing freedom of expression by improving
the already existing Internet governance processes, or by creating such
processes in the fellows’ countries. Additionally, the IGF Academy aims
to strengthen ties between local and regional Internet governance
stakeholders and freedom of speech experts, and to provide concrete
steps for multistakeholder participation in the global United Nations
IGF. The IGF Academy thus contributes to a local, (cross)regional and UN
global dialogue on freedom of expression and information.

“We are happy to see such a highly qualified and motivated group of
experts in their respective fields take on the challenges of
strengthening freedom of speech by enhancing Internet governance
processes in their countries,” said Matthias Spielkamp, board member at
iRights and Project Lead for IGF Academy.

“The interdependence of Internet governance and media regulation is
still not seen clearly in many countries, and here I am explicitly not
just talking about the Global South. So I’m excited that we can provide
fellows with a genuine opportunity to work on the interface of these
issues, with the expectation that this in the long run will strengthen
both,” adds Lorena Jaume-Palasí, senior project manager at IGF Academy.

The IGF Academy will hold online meetings with the fellows as well as
provide webinars to assist them with the finalization of their strategy
roadmaps until the upcoming global IGF. It will support all fellows to
attend the IGF, to be held from 6 to 9 December in Guadalajara, Mexico,
and will organise a meeting on-site prior to the global IGF to prepare
the fellows to participate in the forum.

For more information about the IGF Academy go to: http://igf.academy/
Find IGF Academy on Twitter at @IGFAcademy

***About IGF Academy***
IGF Academy was initiated by iRights in March 2016. It aims to foster
freedom of expression on the Internet and inclusive and transparent
national Internet governance and policy processes. Fellows from four
African and four Asian countries will be supported in the creation
and/or consolidation of multistakeholder, national Internet governance
structures.

The IGF Academy is run by iRights in cooperation with APC and LIRNEasia
and funded by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.

***About iRights***
iRights is a non-governmental organisation based in Berlin. Consisting
of iRights e.V., a charitable non-profit, and the independent think tank
iRights.Lab, we have been active at the intersection of digitisation and
society for more than ten years. Since 2005 we run the iRights.info
online platform, one of Germany’s premier resources for information and
discussions on copyright, privacy, media freedom and Internet governance
issues. We develop joint projects and provide research and consultancy
for a wide range of stakeholders: foundations and other NGOs, government
and public entities, private companies, academic institutions and
individuals. Our mission: To harness the opportunities of digitisation
for the promotion of democracy and the public good. Our approach: We
offer our expertise and create spaces for the cooperative development of
practical outcomes and solutions.

For inquiries regarding IGF Academy please email igf-academy [at]
iRights [dot] info

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