Introduction

As part of the ICANN Middle East Strategy [1] devised by the Middle East Strategy Working Group (MESWG), ICANN aims to develop and sponsor outreach programs and initiatives in partnership with national and regional stakeholders in order to stimulate the regional Internet community and ensure effective participation in regional and global Internet Governance fora.

To that end, ICANN through MESWG’s Task Force on Capacity Building and Awareness (TF-CBA) will be organizing the Middle East and Adjoining Countries School on Internet Governance (MEAC-SIG) 2015. This annual five-day event will be comprised of focused sessions tailored to fit the region's needs. These sessions will be covering a broad range of issues from technical to policy aspects of Internet Governance.

Objectives

The MEAC-SIG will help individuals from the MEAC region 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 within the context of the MEAC regional imperatives.

The program is expected to carry practical oriented workshops, round tables, and case presentations.

Future Aspects

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

Target Audience

The target audience will be derived from the countries of the MEAC region that are expected to be comprised of students, practitioners, researchers and professionals from the following sectors:

1. Academia and Research
2. Civil Society and NGOs
3. Government and Public Sector
4. Technical Community
5. Private Sector and Business

The Inaugural Event

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

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. The venue for the event was the Regency Tunis Hotel. The organizer for the event was ICANN.

Material

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

• An Introduction to Internet Governance by Jovan Kurbalija (Several Languages)
• Governing the Internet by Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (EN)
• ICANN Handouts (EN)
• Exploring Multi-Stakeholder Internet Governance (EN)

Agenda

The final agenda can be found here. 

Slides

• Introduction to Internet Governance | Fahd Batayneh | May 25, 2015
• ccTLDs, gTLDs, and IDNs | Fahd Batayneh | May 26, 2015
• dotTN Operations and Management Policies | Wafa Dahmani ZaaFouri | May 26, 2015
• Policy Development at ccTLDs | Michuki Mwangi | May 26, 2015
• New gTLDs | Tijani Ben Jemaa | May 26, 2015
• Understanding the DNS Industry | Baher Esmat | May 26, 2015
• The Africa DNS Forum and DNS Capacity Building | Kevin Chege (Presented by Michuki Mwangi) | May 26, 2015
• ICANN, the IANA, and Regional Initiatives | Fahd Batayneh | May 27, 2015
• New TLDs and IDNs | Khaled Koubaa | May 27, 2015
• Understanding Public Policy and Exploring Internet Public Policy | Khaled Koubaa | May 28, 2015
• The Way Forward (WSIS, IGF, IANA, WSIS+10, and UNGA) | Chafic Chaya | May 29, 2015
• Internet of Things (IoT) | Hafedh Alyahmadi | May 29, 2015

Students Contributions

• dotIR Domain Names and IG | Mahdi Taghizadeh
• Internet Governance and Standards | Omar Isbaitan
• DNS-Based Internet Filtering | Zied Bouziri
• How Iran Censors and Limits The Internet | Mahdi Taghizadeh
• Digital Rights Under Human Rights International Standards | Ikram Ben Sassi and Saloua Oueslati
• Internet of Things (IoT) | Omar Isbaitan
• Open Access | Chokri Ben Romdhane
• Internet Policy Analyst | Hamza Ben Mehrez
• Internet and its Evolution A Regional Perspective | Zakir Syed
• Who are the Stakeholders in Internet Governance | Houda Belkassem
• Societal Change | Ahlem Ismail

Content Shared by Students

• Terms and Conditions of IRNIC Reseller Agreement for Foreign Resellers of .IR Domains | Mahdi Taghizadeh
• Islamic Republic of Iran: Computer Crimes Law | Ikram Ben Sassi
• Open Access Video | Chokri Ben Romdhane
• Internet Policy Analyst Radio Interview | Hamza Ben Mehrez

Event Pictures

You can find pictures for the event at https://www.flickr.com/photos/isoctunisie.

Students Event Reports

• Ahmed Jedou (AR)
• Hamza Ben Mehreza (AR, EN, FR)