EU policy/Eurodig 2014

About EuroDIG

EuroDIG is the European regional section of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). It is a forum where all sectors of society meet to discuss and shape the future of the internet in all its dimensions: political, economical, cultural, societal, etc. Everyone can take part and contribute - not only by joining the conference either physically or via remote participation, but also from the very beginning by shaping the programme and topics over the call for proposals. The conference is held in English and will take place in Berlin on June 12 & 13, 2014. It is free of charge.

Who is behind EuroDIG?

EuroDIG is organized by a secretariat which is supported by five permanent institutional partners: the Council of Europe, the European Commission, the Federal Office of Communications of Switzerland, the European Broadcasting Union and the EURALO, the civil society's European Regional At-Large Organization of ICANN. The event takes place once a year in a different country in Europe. In 2014 Germany will be the host country for EuroDIG. It will be hosted by the Association of the German Internet Industry, eco and under the patronage of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and in co-operation with the Federal Foreign Office as the hosting location.

Joining the Conference

The conference is open to everyone, anytime. There are several ways to take part & get involved.

BEFORE THE CONFERENCE
There are several preparatory meetings where you can get in touch with the organizing and partner institutions as well as many other organizations and individuals interested in a contribution both personally or via remote participation. The next meetings are:

• January 31st | Berlin | Open Planning Meeting | Location TBD| The corresponding link for remote participation will be posted in time at EuroDIG's website and also shared over Twitter and Facebook under the hashtags mentioned below
  
• Mid of February | Geneva | Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) Meeting of the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
  

DURING THE CONFERENCE
June 12th & 13th | Berlin | EuroDIG conference
You can either register (no fees or charges incurred) and come to the premises in Berlin or participate remotely. The corresponding links will be published timely at the website of EuroDIG as well as over Twitter and Facebook.

TWITTER HASHTAGS #eurodig & #igf
On these hashtags news and information around the global Internet Governance Forum as well as this regional Internet Governance conference are shared. Connect with the community!

Costs

The conference and planning meetings are free of charge. Yet, participants need to take care on their accommodation, travel expenses, etc. themselves. Please note that pre-registration over the online form at eurodig.org is mandatory.

What is a Call for Proposals?

It's all about the topic! The call for proposals is one of the participatory elements to shape the conference programme. Everyone is encouraged to submit a proposal. Important to note is that no duties go along with a proposal, hence, no need to be present at one point of time, no justification, no interpretation.

What is a Proposal?

A proposal is the call for thematic input for the conference programme. The content is up to you: there are no rules with regards how a proposal has to look like. It can be a question, it can be an issue you have never seen being discussed on any European conference on internet matters, it can be a thouroughly drafted idea related to a current or future hot topic with a digital dimension.

The proposal only has to fit two requisits: it must be submitted in text form and it has to be in English. You can include a link to a video, etc, to illustrate your point. However, there is no way of inserting or attaching a file and you cannot save your idea and return to it at a later point. Just insert and submit. This is how the form looks like: http://www.eurodig.org/2014-subject-proposal Please also check the hints and tips below with a proposal example as an orientation or our padlet.

Topics: To mention a few for your orientation: Anonymity, big data, bitcoins, censorship, copyright, cyber-crime, cloud computing, cyber-security, digital education, digital culture, digital divide, e-government, e-participation, freedom of expression, net-neutrality, new media, open-data, privacy, social media, surveillance, youth participation, youth policy and any other topic with a digital dimension you can think of!

How to write a proposal: Hints, Tips and Some Examples

In fact, there is no especial secret recipe to make a proposal successful. Each and every proposal counts, therefore the hints and tips below are just some advice to increase the quality of your proposal, to illustrate what a proposal can be, and help the secretariat to have some fun while going through all the proposals they receive.

• Relevance of the topic (for you, for society, for the world...)
• Added value of your proposal for the conference
• Clear question or objective of the topic
• Dimension (e.g. geographical, cultural, etc.)

Important: A proposal is about a topic. Only.

It is NOT about:

• A format (e.g. panel, workshop, open format)
• Explaining how to implement certain topics
• Attaching a list of speakers

In other words: submitting a proposal doesn't mean that you have to provide for a certain format (a lecture, a panel discussion, etc.) and for the speakers. It is only about shaping the programm of the conference in a participative, bottom-up process.

PROPOSAL EXAMPLE
This proposal example has already been submitted and is only an example to give you an idea of how a proposal could look like.

PROPOSAL EXAMPLE

• Specific Issue / Question:

Internet social networks and journalism – What's the future of journalism in the social networks' era? What rules shall be applied to this activity? Are the governments aware of this new reality? Are there public or private organizations gathering information from social networks without permission? Do citizens know how to deal with information that appears on social networks? Do citizens know what's real news and what are commercial messages sent by media outlets trough social networks? How can citizens protect themselves from masked messages? How can journalists be free to write and spread news through social networks without harming citizens’ rights?

• Concise Description:

In an era dominated by online journalism and social networks, it's very important to establish rules that convey citizens and journalists. The transparency that used to dominate print editions and the relationship between audiences and journalism in no longer true. At the same time it's important to assure that State or self‐regulation mechanisms do not harm the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press.
Click here to submit a proposal.

I Need Help with My Proposal / I Have Some Questions

In particular for young people the Youth IGF Germany offers support and advice. Get in touch with them, e.g. Lorena Jaume-Palasí or Nadine Karbach, at info (at) jugend-igf-d.de. Or send Hauke Gierow from Reporters without Borders Germany a tweet (@h4uk3) or an e-mail: hg (at) reporter-ohne-grenzen.de

You'd like to ask questions, get more hints and help in a more personal way? Hang with us out! Hang Out Session Dates (links will be posted timely before the session):

• 18.12. 17h-19h Join hangout
• 19.12. 18h-19h Join hangout
• 20.12. 16h-18h

Last call - last help possibility: You can also approach from 27th-30th of December Hauke Gierow from Reporters without Borders Germany at the CCC Congress and join him in a proposal jammin' session. Just tweet him @h4uk3!

To link up with other interested people and organizations, use the twitter hashtag #eurodig or join this facebook group "EuroDIG proposals"

Deadline

The deadline to submit a proposal is December 31st. Afterwards, the EuroDIG secretariat gathers all proposals and clusters them. The results will be presented online in January and they will be discussed in an open meeting held on January 31st in Berlin (more information details at eurodig.org). During this event the theme of the conference will also be discussed and decided upon.

I've Submitted a Proposal. What now?

All proposals are collected and clustered. They will be presented online in January on eurodig.org and discussed in the open planning meeting in Berlin, on January 31st 2014. This year there is a new online voting procedure. So you can also participate remotely. Follow and participate in the meeting remotely or just drop by! More information about the meeting details will be provided on eurodig.org prior to the open planning meeting. The procedure is the same every year: check here the milestones for 2014.

Proposal Overview

For transparency and effective collaboration, please find here an overview over planned proposals. The overview may also serve as a source for inspiration. For dynamic brainstorming & connections between related topics and new link see here Proposals EuroDIG 2014

About this Page and its Purpose

We are members of the German civil society, from Reporters without Borders Germany and the German Youth Internet Governance Forum. With the support of Wikimedia, we want to provide the civil society with an easy and efficient possibility to coordinate and draft proposals and offer advice and help when needed.