[IGFmaglist] IGF 2014 change of dates

Wed Jan 29 15:54:14 EST 2014

Dear Chengetai, Dear All,

First of all, a hearty welcome to Aysel Kandemir, Ms. Meral Oztarhan and
Mr. Gokhan Tok to the discussion, and hopefully we'll get a chance to
discuss further at the MAG meeting in Geneva.

Regarding the timing and the finances, while the change in dates from
September to August is a problem for all the reasons that Markus and others
have cited, having this discussion in the open about the tradeoffs of
timing and cost is really good for us to have.  If we had openly brought
the discussion about costs into the discussion last year in Bali we would
have avoided the inevitability of facing the discussion much later.  Budget
and costs are painful, but it's even more painful for all of our efforts to
ignore them and just assume that it's another party's problem to resolve.
 Collaborating with the Host Country on decisions that it has to make in
order to think through the tradeoffs is a really good thing for the IGF
community.  So thank you for bringing this up now.

Here is how I see the matter:

*1) Consider the cost-shifting impact on participants. * The 350k EUR
savings in cost on venue from September to October is realized by the host
country, but additional costs are then shifted to both *(a)* the
participants, who must purchase travel and accommodation traveling during
peak vacation season, and *(b)* the IGF generally, which will suffer in
attendance because of *(a). * For me, personally, the airfare difference
ranges from $552 to $1,100 more in August, and similar hotels run about
$140-$300 per week more.  Net additional cost in my case would be $692 to
$1,400.  This isn't a comprehensive analysis and rates will vary by
participants, but the low/high range is $830k (low) to more than $1.5m
(high). This additional cost indicates clearly that the financial decision
on timing implicates *tradeoff *rather than an obvious net gain, and that
the participants would indirectly bear the cost (and probably in excess of
the savings).  I'm fortunate to work for a company where the additional
expense to travel in August won't matter, but this is not the case for many
colleagues in civil society, many individual participants, and governments.

*2) Analyzing Costs Another Way: Moving to August costs EUR 310 more per
person.*  If we assume that there are 1,800 total participants to the IGF
and that 1,200 travel (those numbers may be wrong, but let's just assume it
for now).  The *savings *of the move on a per-capita basis (EUR 353k /
1,800) amounts to EUR 196 per person.  The additional cost in travel
amounts to $692 (EUR 506).  So: the total cost (on a per capita basis) to
move from September to August is EUR 506-196 = *EUR 310*. Of course,  the
participants don't pay for admission to the IGF so this calculus is
fictional, but looking at this on a per-capita basis can help make rational
business choices.  From that view, we can see that it is not a cost-saver
on a per-capita basis and will cost EUR 310 more.

*3) Consider the impact on credibility. * As I mentioned above, it is
really good that we are having this financial discussion in the open.
 However, it is very late to be having it because this analysis should
happen before the venue is announced.  At this point the United Nations has
issued Press Release
PI/2078<http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2014/pi2078.doc.htm>that
clearly announced the location of the IGF in Istanbul and the dates
for the event of 2-5 September.  Once this press release went out, it went
on the calendars of ministers, diplomats, executives, and civil society all
around the world.  These are the same people that have made vacation plans
as well.  It strikes me that it would be a very steep repetitional price to
pay for the host country, for the UN and for the IGF to now upend this
announcement---and as noted above in points 1 and 2, they will be paying
the difference in increased airfare, costs and inconvenience and that's
greater than the costs for the venue.  The reputational cost of making a
change after a formal announcement is hard to quantify, but is real.  This
is also related to the point that Kossi raises about cutting off or cutting
short regional IGF discussions *("Pouvons-nous prendre le risque que les
décisions de l'IGF ne soient pas nourries des réflexions issues de tous les
IGF régionaux?")*

*4). Consider alternative locations.  *We would all love to go to Istanbul,
although I think the question for the group might be whether or not the
dates are more important than the location, and whether the costs make a
difference.  Change always creates anxiety, but it may not be too late to
consider other locations, particularly if the Host Country Agreement is not
yet signed.

Sincerely,

Patrick

------
*patrick ryan *
public policy & gov't relations senior counsel, free expression and int'l
relations
patrickryan at google.com | +1.512.751.5346

On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 1:25 PM, Kossi Amessinou <amessinoukossi at yahoo.fr>wrote:

> Merci à Monsieur Chengetai pour le message.
> Je note que les réductions de charges financières inhérentes au
> changement de calendrier pour l'IGF 2014 sont importantes. J'invite
> les membres de l'IGF à considérer cette demande de changement de date
> comme étant exceptionnelle.
> Toutefois, je m'interroge sur les conséquences d'une telle décision.
> Pouvons-nous prendre le risque que les décisions de l'IGF ne soient
> pas nourries des réflexions issues de tous les IGF régionaux? La
> décision nous revient! Je souligne aussi que ces inputs régionaux sont
> souvent mineurs face à la diversité des débats et des points de vue
> qui sont appréhendés dans les IGF antérieurs. Il n'est pas moins vrai
> que l'ampleur des débats soit à la mesure des spécificités régionales
> en matière d'accès à l'Internet que nous voulons libre, neutre, à
> moindre coût et disponible pour tous sans discrimination.
> Nous devons aussi être très prudents dans l'examen de l'environnement
> politique en Turquie. Restons assez critique mais serein.
> Cordialement.
>
>
> 2014-01-29, Chengetai Masango <cmasango at unog.ch>:
> > Dear All,
> >
> > In response to the questions on details surrounding the change of dates:
> >
> > The Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA) that is
> > tasked to host and fund the 2014 IGF Meeting by the Ministry of
> Transport,
> > Maritime and Communications of Turkey contacted the United Nations
> > Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), asking for a change
> of
> > dates due to financial reasons. Moving the dates to 19-22 August will
> garner
> > a significant reduction of 53% in the rental cost, a saving of 353,000.00
> > Euro. (Please see the attached a letter from the ICTA to the UNDESA).
> >
> > In parallel, UNDESA has been trying to support the host government to
> come
> > up with the best possible solution for all involved parties, while
> > containing costs, and had agreed with the date change on the UN side, to
> be
> > consulted with  MAG.  The financial reason put forth by the host
> government
> > is rather compelling and cannot be ignored.
> >
> > Additionally, three members of the organizing committee from the ICTA
> (Ms.
> > Aysel Kandemir, Ms. Meral Oztarhan and Mr. Gokhan Tok) have joined the
> > mailing list this week to better understand the IGF process. Ms. Kandemir
> > and Ms. Oztarhan will most likely join the MAG Meeting in February in
> > Geneva. We welcome and invite them to participate directly in the
> > discussions.
> >
> > We hope that we have your understanding and support in this matter given
> the
> > facts at hand.
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Chengetai
>
>
> --
> AMESSINOU Kossi
> Ingénieur TIC
> ICT Engineer
> Contact: 00229 95 19 67 02
> skype: amessinou
> @amessinou @bigf
> http://www.facebook.com/amessinoukossi
> www.linkedin.com/pub/kossi-amessinou
> Que Dieu vous bénisse.
> Dans le silence, Dieu nous parle!
>
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