http://nick.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://nick.tigblog.org/post/71453 Jessica Mauboy just lost Australia Idol to Damien Leith. Damien is a really nice guy, I wouldn't mind listening to him sing from time to time. Actually neither of them have the talent of Bobbly Flynn. But this really should have been Jessica's moment.

Jessica comes from Alice Springs in the centre of Australia, and is half Aboriginal, half Indonesian. She is young, talented, down-to-earth, an amazing singer, and will be (is!) an incredible role model for young Australians. But it really would have been a further fantastic symbol for - and signal to Australia's long marginalised Aboriginal and remote communities, if one of their own had won the top award in this national version of the international phenomenon. As they interviewed her Nanna and cut to Darwin the Northern Territory where it seemed like at least half the town had turned out for the live cross (more like a U2 audience than a fan club) I was almost in tears.

While it's wonderful the Australian voting public are open to choosing an expat Irishman as their Idol, I can't help but wonder why they didn't choose such an obviously inspiring young woman.

Anyway, go Jess! I'll buy your record....
]]> Sun, 26 Nov 2006 06:29:00 EST http://nick.tigblog.org/post/71453 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/42036
On the work front, I'm starting to feel properly settled into GetUp. Sometimes it feels like our small full-time team of three is in a David vs Goliath battle against the rest of the world, which some days is stressful and bit overwhelming. On the other hand, sometimes it feels like we're winning. On Monday, the government dropped it's proposed changes to the Migration Act, which would have meant all refugees arriving by boat in Australia would be processed 'offshore', in another small Pacific country called Nauru. This was after a concerted campaign by community groups, much involving GetUp - our petition attracted 100,000 online signatures, and to drive the message home we hired a skywriter and wrote "Vote No" in the sky above Parliament House. Fun and effective - it was on every evening news.





I'm also getting into the Sydney groove. While there was an insane hail storm the other day, the weather here is generally beautiful - 24 degrees celcius tomorrow and that's the middle of winter. A bit different to grey London and artic Toronto! The first week I was here Alex came to visit and we also went north to a beach town called Noosa. Other than that, I've made the requisite trips to Bondi Beach, the Opera House and made myself comfortable on Sunday in many a Surry Hills cafe. Often, joined by Rohan who coincidently turned out to live directly behind my house. Which I'm sharing with a bunch of lovely people from Spain, Australia, New Zealand, and the Czech Republic.

Missing many people around the world, but looking forward to you visiting.

]]> Wed, 16 Aug 2006 09:18:00 EDT http://nick.tigblog.org/post/42036 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/38985 GetUp! which is organizing online a new movement of Australians interested in seeing a more progressive government.

It'll be interesting to delve more directly into national level politics. My take: For the last 10 years, Australia has been governed by the conservative "Liberal Party", under the leadership of Prime Minister John Howard. They're against Kyoto supporting George Bush in Iraq. They've slashed funding for many community, cultural and public media institutions, and introduced very harsh policies on refugees. The PM and the people around him and have done nothing for reconciliation with Australia's marginalized Aboriginal people, and scuttled any momentum in Australia's new millennium move to become a republic. They've introduced several waves of 'reforms' that significantly reduce people's rights at work, but during their time in office Australia's economy has increasingly relied upon the wealth generated by raw materials rather than from any new innovative companies (the only time I ever hear about an Australian technology company in the news, it's the illegal file-sharing company Kazaa!). So, in my view something needs to change. The problem is that the political opposition doesn't seem much better from a policy perspective (and they certainly are not very successful at winning national elections...). Australia remains a great place, but we could, and definitely need to, do much better, if we are to remain a relevant, safe, and constructive country -- part of a globalising and risk-filled world.

While I've been overseas mostly for the last couple of years, I've also been back to Australia quite a bit, and I think it is true that the quality of the political debate is much poorer in Oz compared to the UK and Canada. In both these other countries, there is genuine and relatively open discussion and reflection happening *within parties* (of all perspectives) and a whole community of people from community groups, policy groups, universities, activists organizations, the media, and all sorts of professions who take an active interest in reflecting on issues in an often non-partisan but generally progressive and constructive manner. Perhaps because voting is not compulsory they have to at least try to keep people engaged (rather than accept apathy). And just more parties (of varying degrees of health). There are also many more initiatives that exist that use new technologies (and after all, some of these things like "email" are not really new at all anymore - we all use them on a daily basis) to engage people in political discussion mobilization.

To a large extent, GetUp! is modeled on the success of activist websites in other countries (perhaps most of all, U.S. based Moveon.org). So, at least my understanding (I may well find I have this very wrong, so don't quote me!) is that GetUp is here to fill this niche - to use technology, the media, and community, to connect a progressive movement that can take effective action to make Australia a more progressive place. It's about giving a community, voice, and opportunity for influence to those that want to be part of Australian progressive politics, but have found themselves impotent, disconnected, and alienated by more traditional political structures.

I'm slightly daunted by the challenge ahead (I'll be Online Director), but excited to be working with a fabulous team including Brett Solomon (founder of the Oxfam International Youth Parliament). I've spent a lot of time these last few days reading the literally hundreds of blogs and comments that GetUp!'s existence (positive, negative, constructive and not so constructive) has already generated online since it's launch (in its first, very much start-up year, the website has garnered more than 100,000 members!). So I've have become very aware of the sizable needs ahead in terms of ensuring GetUp generates a lively and active following and becomes a trail-blazer (much like TIG) at learning about, using and mashing up new technologies to create new experimental forms of political community.

The move to Sydney will I hope go relatively smoothly and beyond work (the majority of the day, I do need to remind myself), it'll be fun to explore this great city (even if I am arriving in Australian winter). I'm looking forward to catching up with - and making many more Sydney friends, and being much closer to my family. At the same time, I'm sure I will miss even more my 'global family' (I just have to convince, coax, encourage, and help, you move to Australia too!) and specifically my friends from London and Toronto. And I guess that's why we have TakingITGlobal- which, of course I intend to remain even more actively involved with!

More details and I'm sure blogs, once I (ahem) sign the contract, move, start work, and work out exactly what it is they want me to do!]]> Sun, 28 May 2006 20:06:00 EDT http://nick.tigblog.org/post/38985 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/38949 blog entry) was the high point in my time at AI, with the Youth Strategy passed amidst what I felt was a relatively solid degree of excitement. I then spent eight months attempting to navigate the bureaucracy and "strategic" planning processes towards getting some serious implementation happening. But it just wasn't going far fast. I guess we'll all wait (a bit longer) to see whether Amnesty as an international movement can become a more relevant organization for new generations, but I certainly enjoyed working with some great colleagues there and learnt a lot about important human rights issues (which I'd like to explore more) and a lot about big organizations (which I'd prefer to forget).

But beyond work, these months have been very special, on many levels. Thank you to everyone who has been part of my life and travels, in particular in Australia, the UK, Germany, Belgium, and since mid April, Canada.

Below are a few random photos of some key highlights.



After Jarra helped me buy a new camera, we spent an afternoon shooting


Seeing in the New Year overlooking Melbourne


Enjoying my last summer day in Melbourne before heading back to cold London!


Amnesty - lots of meetings always a bit of a blur (but fun for the moment)


Amazing times with Marc and friends in Berlin


Making Wontons, under the direction of Head Chef Franziska, in Hamburg


Having a drink Alberto and Alice, strangely enough this time not at "Seymours".


First day after leaving the great AI (Photo by Owen in Brussels)


The official photo call for "ICTs 4 Chocolate and Beer" Workshop in Brussels


WSIS youth caucus conference call (or "nerds weekend holiday in Europe"!)


Group trek to Niagra falls (Photo by Jarra)


Partying it up at TakingITGlobal (Photo by Kate).

]]> Sat, 27 May 2006 19:20:00 EDT http://nick.tigblog.org/post/38949 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/38761 Google Trends, which enables you to track searches and news articles in their system.

One of the more interesting things I came across was the startling increase in interest around HIV/AIDS at the time of World AIDS Day. No other major global issue seems to get this much 'bounce' on just one day.

You can also see how "Make Poverty History" died off as an issue after the G8/Live8.

I thought it was interesting to see how people search more for "poverty" but there are more articles about "terrorism".

And it's no surprise how everyone forgot about the Tsunami after it happened, but I didn't realize by how much!

You can see how ICANN consistently rates as more interesting than WSIS (thanks to the tech press)

But then I realized it was clearly broken/biased as it doesn't understand how much more trendy Melbourne is than Toronto. And I won't even provide a link to the comparison with Sydney!
]]> Sun, 21 May 2006 22:39:00 EDT http://nick.tigblog.org/post/38761 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/38283 an article about U.S. outrage that extremist Islamic groups are making modifications to computer games such as "Battlefield 2" to turn them into 'training programs for terrorists'. It's not unusual for savvy game-players/computer programmers to change or customize a game - but the difference here is that now players (represented by characters wearing Arab clothes) attack the U.S. forces who are seen as the bad guys.

One line in the article particularly stuck out for me:
"Battlefield 2 ordinarily shows US troops engaging forces from China or a united Middle East coalition."

Um... do I have this right? It's just fine for games to be a 'training ground' for U.S. kids, inculcating them into a culture of mistrust and violence towards Chinese or (fictional and vaguely muddled) Middle Eastern baddies.. but oh no, it's just not right for Middle Eastern kids to have Americans as the enemy!?

My hypocrisy meter is registering off the scale!

When will, by the way, someone create a cool and compelling game that involves something slightly more aware and socially responsible? Even if it does have to involve the military, how about a game that simulates a protection force for Sudanese refugees? Or better yet, a game where your goal is to stabilize Iraq and get out (rather than just kill everyone!). Any takers?
]]> Sun, 07 May 2006 00:19:00 EDT http://nick.tigblog.org/post/38283 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/34132
Cirque is a really inspiring company. Last time I wrote about them, I watched an incredible performance with young people from five continents they developed with Oxfam's International Youth Parliament in Sydney. Cirque is also financially supporting some incredible youth performance/circus projects in communities around the world. Noticed I'm using the word 'incredible' a lot - but they do put on a great show!]]> Tue, 17 Jan 2006 18:58:00 EST http://nick.tigblog.org/post/34132 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/32959 Global Voices workshop tomorrow. Elated and inspired, just waiting to be even more challenged and provoked tomorrow during the actual workshop. Supposedly, this gathering is meant to be a sort of annual get-together of people involved with the international web-blog run by Harvard. It seems to have taken on a bit of a life of its own, bringing together a who’s who of worldwide bloggers, internet democracy activists, online hip-hop diarists, technoprenuers, media analysts, former foreign correspondents, and.. you name it. In four sweet hours of conversation tonight I found myself discussing in depth the future of wikipedia (with someone actually closely involved in running it), the legitimacy of foreign intervention in democracy building (with someone pushing the boundaries in Morroco), new/surprising models for internet organizing with the founder of Pledgebank (check it out!), and e-democracy with the young former MP and one of the architect of Estonia’s world first effort at national elections via the web (and a former delegate to IYP who I may well have met in Sydney in 2000!). Not to mention brief conversations with the guy who popularized blogs in Iran, and the thinker behind the UK’s constitutional devolution (tomorrow I hope to catch up with them more!). Truly one of the most stimulating dinners of my life, and a real glimpse into the future of civic engagement, expression. I promise to write much more about this amazing event and some of the ideas being discussed over the coming days, as I know many of you also wanted to be here in London. Now I’ve got to take a deep breath and head to sleep to make sure I wake up early for tomorrow!]]> Fri, 09 Dec 2005 19:34:00 EST http://nick.tigblog.org/post/32959 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/32500 World Summit on the Information Society seems a bit like a dream - you know, those dreams involving 100 of your favourite people from different parts of your life (and indeed the world) doing extraordinary things in a surreal, slightly claustrophobic location – punctured momentarily with fleeting exchanges with world leaders, police with big guns, wonderful panoramic ocean views, and the bed-time lullaby that is BBC World.

It was fascinating to finally come to Tunisia, after hearing so much about this country - great, good, bad and ugly - for the last few years. The nation seemed to be taken over by the WSIS - schools were closed, public employees told to remain home, and half the population apparently newly hired as slightly menacing (but really rather lost?) security guards stationed three to every street corner. The absence of people (other than police) was unsettling and weird to say the least. And let's just say that the Tunisian National Flag Company seems to have done a recent roaring trade, with streets decked out in tens of thousands of coloured flags (totally beautiful, although I'm not sure how I'd feel if the UK lined every street of London with the Union Jack). The Tunisians put on a good show and everything (apart from giving the official bus drivers directions!) seemed to run smoothly.

Inside the Summit venue, it was quite easily to forget or ignore the reports outside (and in the global media) about Tunisia clamping down on freedom of expression just as it was hosting a Summit on the global Information Society. Certainly on the first day I spoke with a nice guy from Intel who seemed genuinely unaware of the human rights issues raised by local groups, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty and others. Although Summit delegates did get a minor taste for arbitrary procedures when plain clothed, un-badged guards would randomly block access between different rooms inside the Summit venue (Some of us tried to run/ram through but were mostly held back). Outside, towards the town centre, there were more serious protests and a counter-Summit organized by excluded human rights activists.

On the surface, with the police presence, pictures of President Ben-Ali ubiquitous, and a media that glowed in the government's triumph and little else, Tunisia certainly seemed totalitarian. At the same time, I got the sense (and was told by expats as well as local people) that there is little public dissatisfaction with the political situation. Certainly, I can appreciate that compared with its neighbours, Tunisia is an island of wealth, peace, religious moderation, and stability. You might say this is because it is not 'cursed' with much oil, or because it lacked the violent or confused de-colonisation of its neighbours. Or you might not care and just say 'well, things work pretty well here and I wouldn't want to live in someplace like Iraq.. or Algeria...or Egypt... or wherever'. In the areas I visited (mostly the more wealthy bits I guess) Tunisia seemed more apathetic than repressed. I wonder where resignation ends and apathy begins? And are there lessons for my own countries(s) and the rest of the world?

Reflecting on Tunisia might seem an odd way to start this blog - I had only a few moments to think about these questions, and it is true that Tunisia is sadly not the worst offender when it comes to Internet censorship. And the country - especially the Tunisian people- deserve everyone's thanks for hospitality and role in making this event happen. But just like I experienced in Johannesburg in 2002, the place - and it's political and economic reality- really does set the scene and the tone of your experience at a UN event.

On the Sunday after the Summit, Tom, Maja, Marouen and I headed to Korbus, a beautiful little hot spring on the beach a few hours out of the capitol, Tunis. It was great to be able to see a bit more of this country, feel its dynamic and unique cultural spirit and natural beauty. I'll have to come back and learn more - anyway I think about it, it was fascinating. And it was great to be able to spend short but very sweet time with these, and so many other good friends.

As for the Summit itself, I feel a deep sense of accomplishment. If you had asked me six weeks ago (as many did) whether I thought everything we had planned would come together, I could not have answered clearly. It is to Marouen's great credit that Youth participation in Tunis was smooth and dynamic. And this time last year, I would never have believed that the WSIS Youth Caucus would do so much in 2005, eclipsing even our work in 2003. From National Rural Campaigns to the Award programs, the capacity building workshops, and the Youth Hub, we learnt so many lessons from the past, became more efficient and demonstrated once again a model for youth (indeed civil society) participation in global decision-making processes and forums that will be looked to and (for sure) replicated elsewhere. Titi and Robert, who took over from me as the Facilitators of the Caucus did an incredible job managing everyone's contributions as well as high expectations!

The week was also a celebration of TakingITGlobal's growth and maturity. This probably deserves an entire blog entry of its own, but I'm immensely proud of what TIG has achieved in its short five years. It was fitting that on the same day we held our fifth anniversary dinner in Tunis (great night!) TIG launched in its 7th language - Chinese, and reached (well, roughly) 100,000 members! The value of UN Summits is rarely (or never) just the formal documents developed but in their ability to bring great people together- that so many of TIG's active staff and members could attend and gain renewed strength and insight for the work of this unique network was fantastic. I'm also excited about new potential partnerships in the Middle East and Africa, as well TIG's new key role in Telecentre.org, a global support program for local community access initiatives [always a key part of the big TIG vision].

Now finally to the issues that WSIS was supposedly held to address. It's fair to say that in a formal sense, not much really was achieved at all - no huge new financial commitment to bridging the digital divide, no really new paradigm or international legal standards relating to the role of information in development and human rights. And not even really a clear road-map for how the Internet will be governed after the US decided it wasn't ready to cede final control over ICANN's functions - except for a vague new UN Forum that won't have teeth. But really, when was WSIS ever about ICANN anyway? As someone astutely pointed out to me, no one seems to be complaining about the dictatorship of Google, despite the fact that they have far more influence over how people use the net on a daily basis than the U.S., ICANN, or that perennial bogey, Microsoft.

At least however, as a result of WSIS and the great amount of media coverage it generated (including in influential publications) policy makers around the world and in many NGOs (such as those I work with) have started to take these issues much more seriously and are beginning to recognize that new information and communications technologies are truly transforming our educational, professional, political, and social lives. The quality of the discussion and decision-making, as well as the grassroots innovation, can only improve as a result.

It's the end of WSIS, but just the beginning of the story....
]]> Mon, 28 Nov 2005 12:25:00 EST http://nick.tigblog.org/post/32500 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/29607
I've been to so many galleries - National Gallery, Portrait Gallery, Louve, Musee d'Orsay, Tate Modern... And churchs - from St Pauls to Notre Dame, Saint Chappelle and Sacre Coeur. And Palaces like Kensington and Buckingham. And sites like Westminster, Tower Bridge, the Eifel Tower. And so many gardens... Even went to the "Proms" at Royal Albert Hall to see a 40-person choir sing 40-part 16th century church music (that was quite serene, and a good deal too for London...).

The weather has been perfect here for days - but this afternoon it rained, so I've taken the opportunity to stay home (while my mum heads back to the National Gallery for a second visit) and take a bit of a break!]]> Sat, 10 Sep 2005 12:36:00 EDT http://nick.tigblog.org/post/29607 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/27958
Apart from that, three things really stand out to tell you about. Firstly, this is probably the most relaxing meeting venue I've ever been to. It's a beautiful old 'ranch', with lovely rooms set around a massive garden with pools and huge powerful waterfalls. Not necessarily five star luxary, but charming, and the avocado dip and salsa with every meal is my kind of thing. It's certainly creates a friendly atmosphere for what could otherwise be a very stressful gathering.

Certainly, I've got a new, much more dynamic, sense of Amnesty after being here. This is a virtually a 24/7 meeting- with first meetings scheduled at 7 and final meetings scheduled at 11. The agenda is packed with meaty issues - from addressing emerging human rights crises, to growth in Southern members, to the need to raise more money to do all this. And of course there are a lot of diverse views on everything - although better than the UN, everyone knows that at the end of the day they are 'on the same team'. So after all the work yesterday there was a big party. I was sooo exhausted (almost asleep before I went) but it was cool to meet new people from different parts of this sprawling organization.

Finally, I was really impressed and interested yesterday by a session at the Opening Plenary (in the pic/credit AI). Four prominent human rights activists who are not part of Amnesty were invited to take the floor and provide an outsiders critique of the organization and identify areas of greatest influence and the greatest need for change. The whole session was based around questions from the floor. They included Makau Mutua, one of the most prominent critics of Amnesty, who argues Amnesty's work is too western and has a 'savior mentality'. (I tend to think this is somewhat true... although it is an area Amnesty is certainly trying to change..). Irshad Manji spoke extraordinarily eloquently and daringly about the need to 'not be afraid' in criticizing cultural practices and wedded attitudes that are contrary to universal notions of human rights. While grounded in 'what amnesty should do', the wide-ranging session included intelligent comment on issues ranging from women's rights to abortion, gay rights in Muslim countries [and worldwide], and the root causes of terrorism. Irshad was certainly provoking and convincing (if sometimes perhaps a little too strident)-- I'm going to give her book, 'The Trouble With Islam' a read anyway!!

So that's my check in. Off now to make final preparations for tomorrow's Theme Meeting on Youth, and then more Avocado dip for lunch!! Maybe find some sleep. Back to London on Wednesday.
]]> Mon, 15 Aug 2005 10:42:00 EDT http://nick.tigblog.org/post/27958 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/27139
From left to right: Franziska, David, me, Jen, Mike, and Ben. Pic: Brem]]> Wed, 03 Aug 2005 16:39:00 EDT http://nick.tigblog.org/post/27139 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/25893 CNN)

I was leaving home to head to meet up with Alex, then to the airport for a weekend in Italy. Alex is staying in Russell Square, and had just walked past the area where there was a bus explosion a few minutes earlier. We couldn't find each other for a few hours and mobile phones only had very patchy coverage due to congestion. Anyway, finally found him (had to find my way around police cordons which have cut off much of central London). Missed flight but going tomorrow.

The atmosphere seems very despondent. Like with Sept 11 in New York most people in this central area are in pubs or cafes watching television. Not a very good start to London's Olympic plans or the G8 meeting. I hope that the G8 meetings agenda - of so many important issues - is not forgotten because of the terrorism, but this is a reminder that we live in a really scary world!

]]> Thu, 07 Jul 2005 07:55:00 EDT http://nick.tigblog.org/post/25893 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/25157 ICTs Creativity. Thomas did a fantastic job organizing the event, which explored the importance of creating interesting content and applications that take advantage of new information and communications technologies. I presented on a panel about, inevitably, 'Youth for Youth Content' and you can download my presentation here. I was a bit nervous about how it would go down--structured as a comparison between the European Union and the Crazy Frog Ringtone, but the audience seemed happy.

It was lovely to hang out with Thomas and Titilayo and meet many new and old friends. In particular, it was really good to run into John Perry Barlow, founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who was presenting on one of the panels. Back in 1998, John acted as the wise adult sage for a group of 15 teenagers (myself included) at Junior Summit 1998 where we developed a plan for Nation1, through which I eventually found myself at TakingITGlobal. With some others from the conference, we went to a great Vienna Schnitzel restaurant for dinner on Friday evening. It certainly made me reflect (munching on two gigantic Schnitzels!) on the last seven years of my life... which seems like forever and a flash at the same time.

The weekend following the conference was a truly great little holiday, which I really needed. Titi, Thomas, Michael, and I went to a scale model exhibit of Leonardo Davinci's inventions, a Strauss/Mozart conference (along with 12 bus-loads of American tourists), the cafe that is home to the famous Sacher Torte, and to a fabulous Mexican restaurant. On Sunday, we were joined by Kyra (from the Free Software Foundation Europe, and Ricardo (a digital artist and professor from Lebanon) at the Albertina, one of Europe's most famous galleries. I felt like I was -- in fact I was -- a real tourist for once!]]> Wed, 08 Jun 2005 11:27:00 EDT http://nick.tigblog.org/post/25157 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/24978 "This is a historic moment," said Tristan, a 30-year-old teacher. "It's the first step towards a Europe based on solidarity that protects people not markets". Monique, who is retired, said 'France will set an example for countries across Europe to unite together in the fight against neo-capitalism.". Members of the far-right, who also supported a "no" vote, celebrated elsewhere.

The Independent, Mon 30 May 2005

You couldn't be blamed for being confused about what exactly is going on here....

I would be severely confused, if the result of the French EU Constitution Vote didn't echo so closely my experience of the Australian Republican Referendum in 1999.

That Referendum was an opportunity for Australians to update their Constitution to reflect the fact that these days most Australians find it faintly bizarre their 'head of state' has another full-time day job, as monarch of a country on the other side of the world.

In the Australian Referendum, like the French one:

- Ultra Right and Ultra Left combined forces, mostly under the ultra-left banner.

- The No Campaign's primary public message was not "Keep the Queen" [there is no way that would have worked!] but that "This is a Politician's Republic" and "Voting No is the Only Sure Way to Get a Real Republic at Another Vote Really Soon".

- A lot of otherwise very irrelevant minor public figures aligned themselves to the 'NO' cause, mostly as a way to gain national exposure.


The result in Australia was:

- Spillage of the moderate/progressive vote into the No Camp, meaning while 85% of Australians wanted to get rid of the Queen as head of state, 55% voted against pretty much exactly that!

- After the referendum, the No Camp quickly split, with the Die-Hard conservatives almost immediately dropping any pretence that "No meant a BETTER referendum down the road", affirming that of course NO really did mean NO to change at all!

- The conservative PM, John Howard (who had been in the No Camp) was strengthened and the mainstream progressive side of politics demoralized.

- Several of the leading 'Anti-politician's Republic' campaigners subsequently became politicians themselves with the Conservative government at the next election!

- Seven years later Australia continues to have - and looks like having for the long term - the British Monarch as our head of state.

Of course, the reality is that this is an anachronism that is on the wrong side of history! But probably the Monarchy in Britain will collapse before Australians get another chance to do it themselves.

Is there more hope for Europe?

Image: Reuters/Philippe Wojazer]]> Mon, 30 May 2005 14:47:00 EDT http://nick.tigblog.org/post/24978 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/24192 How to Win Campaigns: 100 Steps to Success" by Chris Rose. It's a brilliant book, capturing, challenging, and reinventing in 230 pages (and not exactly 100 steps!) the received wisdom of activists, PR agencies, political campaigners, new economy evangelists, and 'the man in the chip shop queue' [yes, he's British] into a bible for anyone looking to mess things up and create change.

Normally I quite like giving away all the best ideas of good books on my blog, but in this case I encourage you to actually go out and invest your $25 or so in a copy. You can buy it online from the publisher. [I managed to find mine at Waterstones superstore in London but I think they are now sold out].

As I've been reading, I've been making posters to hang around my desk(s) with some of the best insights and diagrams.

For example, Chris provides one of the simplest descriptions of the difference between 'campaigning' and 'education' that I've ever seen!

Differences in the Process/Cycle of Campaigning and Education
Campaigning
Problem
Awareness
Concern
Urgency
Anger
Action

Education
Problem
Awareness
Knowledge
Understanding
Reflection
Confusion

The book has many other great insights around campaigning planning, framing a campaign within the context of the public's existing perceptions, and making sure a campaign offers solutions as well as problems. It also provides one of the most up-to-date analyses of new approaches to using the media - including network centric ambient advertising I've seen (I've yet to find a good book on this subject).

p.s. The link to download the map of youth movement powerpoint in my previous update now works... sorry it was an error of my hosting company not my fault!]]> Sun, 24 Apr 2005 09:31:00 EDT http://nick.tigblog.org/post/24192 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/23907
Househunting

Ever since I arrived in London, I've been in temporary sub-let arrangements, borrowing people's apartments and generally lacking a stable base. So on Monday, I spent about five hours (after work until almost 10pm) with two real estate agents who showed me about fifteen different flats, and in the end I choose one in Hackney, which is in the North East of the city. I've had very diverse reactions from people when I say I'm moving there -- it appears to have a reputation as a pretty rough neighborhood -- but well, it seemed nice, and people said the same thing about my suburb of St Kilda in Australia until very recently and now they think it’s the coolest place ever. So I'm hoping the same will be true of Hackney. Anyway, my little apartment is very bright with a mezzanine bedroom and its quite a good deal. Today I made the inevitable trek to IKEA and stocked up on some nice colorful kitchen and bedroom essentials! It'll be nice to move in this coming Tuesday. It was pretty interesting to see the level of commitment (and over-time!!) real estate agents put into their rental clients here, but I guess they are getting paid good money!

UN ICT Taskforce Meeting

On Tuesday morning I rushed off to catch a 7.30 plane from Heathrow to Dublin, where the 8th Meeting of the UN ICT Taskforce was being held. I got thoroughly lost on arrival and ended up in the middle of nowhere, but it was nice in a way because in my trek on foot back across Dublin (with the aid of a trusty map purchased from a corner store) I was able to get a bit of a taste for the city!

This meeting was actually quite special. For the first time since I've been involved in international policy looking at the impact of technology on society and the digital divide, there was a meeting devoted entirely to education and the needs of young people. No more stupid WSIS 'rules of procedure' or endless discussion about financing (when no money is available) and Internet governance (when its unlikely the US government will just 'give up' its control to the UN in the Age of Bush). Instead, discussion about how ICTs can improve access to education in the developing world, and how in the North classrooms must respond to a Google Generation. Real Stuff. That this meeting happened at all was largely thanks to Brendan Tuohy, who is Secretary General of the Department of Communications (and anachronistically also "Marine and Natural Resources" from the time when 'communications' was barely more than divvying up the 'resource' of the airwaves). Anyway, he is the Vice Chair of the UN ICT Taskforce, and is a huge believer in youth- not just in rhetoric, but in action. Early in 2004, when the Taskforce met in New York, Brendan took me out to dinner with his team of amazing young Irish staff and we had an incredible discussion for hours walking through Times Square about TakingITGlobal, Ireland, life, etc. Back then he promised that he would try and organize a meeting of the Taskforce on youth.

So he kept the promise (in the meantime, announcing major support for Gesci) and here I was in Dublin! Along with Titilayo, Jen, Maja, Diogo, Dabesaki, Julia and other members of the WSIS Youth Caucus. Brendan had also invited tons of younger Irish people, who were fascinating to meet. The Youth Caucus had a really successful time, with several presentations and speeches, the regularly daily newsletters, and several side-meetings about new projects.

One of the high points for me was just seeing Jen again. I miss Jen, she's such a great friend and so inspiring to be around. We went on a walk around Dublin, stumbling across tourist sites, and sat in a pub (I had a Guinness and there was irish music!) and talked until my throat hurt, but it was great!!! I hope she posts some of the pictures soon.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay for all the meeting, as I had to head back to London late on Wednesday evening - but it was great to be part of it for a few days. I hope to be able to go back to Ireland and catch up with some of my new Irish friends for a bit longer later in the year.

Oxfam

Thursday morning bright and early I found myself in Oxford, visiting Oxfam International, where they were having a planning meeting of their new "Youth Team". I was invited to give a little presentation [which I have put online for download - its 2MB in Powerpoint] on the Global Youth Movement, who does what, who works with who, strengths and challenges etc. This was meant to ensure their planning was grounded in an understanding of the external world - in reality I think it only served to overwhelm them. But nevertheless, I had great fun making the PPT, it generally went well and I enjoyed staying for the rest of the day to contribute a bit to their conversation. I have a lot of passion for Oxfam's International Youth Parliament, so I'm sure whatever they do will be great. I also had dinner with the group and chatted to Duncan Pruett, who works with the trade union movement (including trying to setup the ".union" domain name!) as well as Oxfam.

Make Poverty History Event

Back to London, on Friday I had a big day of catching up to do with Amnesty work... After that was done I rushed to meet Jen (who'd flown in from Dublin) at Paddington Station and we headed down to Westminster, looked out across the Thames River as the sun was setting and met up with Nicole and May from International Youth Parliament for a great Thai dinner before heading off to Westminster Abbey...

For it was the ALL NIGHT Vigil for Trade Justice, organized by the huge Make Poverty History Coalition of pretty much all of the development-oriented charities in the UK, led by Oxfam, Christian Aid, ActionAid, Save the Children etc. What an amazing night they had organized - starting off with a big service in Westminster Abbey, followed by film screenings, cafes, discussions, comedy, a club - followed by breakfast and a candlelit vigil outside Tony Blair's House at 10 Downing Street. Sadly, I was not up for it all after a crazy week and fell into my bed about 2am. Tried to get up again at 6 for the breakfast but failed. But the logistics were incredible.

As the BBC noted today, Make Poverty History is an example of a new type of creative campaigning - using clever branding, celebrities, the media, stunts, public protests, public figures, consumer apparel (White Bands) to further a simple cause. The fact that all the charities are working in alliance (for the first time?) gives it enormous clarity visibility - like Reebok, Nike and Adiddas suddenly saying "Ok, all our advertising will just say "Buy some Shoes"). And because it is part of a global coalition, it can leverage the strengths and celebrity contacts of partners worldwide. Good stuff.

So that was my week - next week is the big move + I'm trying to finish off a best practices paper exploring what Amnesty does well with youth. And I want to go see The Interpreter!! (Anyone seen it yet?)]]> Sat, 16 Apr 2005 18:07:00 EDT http://nick.tigblog.org/post/23907 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/23438 UK United Nations Youth and Student Association's Annual Meeting, where for some bizarre reason they asked me to be the guest speaker. Anyway, it was a fun day, as usual the best part of these things was the social side (re)meeting lots of cool people... but it did also provoke many thoughts...

For the first time, they'd decided to have the Youth meeting alongside the Annual Meeting of their 'adult' counterparts, the United Nations Association. But it turns out, the average age of UNA members is... wait for it... 80! It's impossible to state this delicately- clearly, this is an organization that is literally dying out! They're down from 90,000 members to just 7,000 since the 1970s. One of the sessions yesterday (more popular with the elders than the young 'uns) looked at how to foster dialogue between the newly resurgent Youth wing and the 'rest' of the UNA.

On first glance, this seems pretty much a lost cause. The suggestions in my break-out group included a Bingo Night and an 'all ages cafe' for conversation in a local church hall. Back to the drawing board I think. That said, perhaps there are possibilities: I met some lovely older women who had incredible stories to tell from their time working in the UN Secretariat at its founding. Quite inspiring....

The divide between the youth adult wings is largely a result of the huge divide in demographics. It's a very rare 25 year old who, upon 'graduating' out of the youth wing, would want to join the white-hair brigade (However lovely experienced they are) at UN Bingo. Has it always been this way? Why is there literally NO ONE between the age of 25 and 70 in this organization?

Perhaps this seems like a lot of Blog-space to devote to the graying of a little UK association, but (while extreme) they are far from a unique story... At Amnesty, when presenting our new draft Youth Strategy, I was challenged by National office Chairs who told me "we actually don't have a youth problem. we have a 25-35 problem". Anecdotes I've heard from other groups suggest this is a widespread problem in the west.

Perhaps there are a few things going on here.

1. The 'playing out' of GENERATIONAL THEORY?: In which each generation counter-points its immediate predecessor. I tend to be curious about generational theory rather than a big believer in it.. Seems a bit too much of a 'generalization' theory... :) But lets indulge Gen theorists for a moment...

- In line with generational theory, the 'GI Generation' (born ~1901-1925) to some extent 'Silent Generation' (born 1925-45) are actively involved in associations - building blocks of post-war society, bringing communities together creating local and national support networks, plus acting as an outlet for 'doing good'.

- The Baby boomers, born post-WW2, and coming of age during the 60s and 70s movements, were more activist and established their own 'action' oriented groups - Greenpeace being a classic example. Where their parents were all about creating orderly, rule-based, sort of conservative, institutions like the UN, the Boomers were much more radical in their choice of association. (These groups are, I guess, declining as the Boomers have mellowed with age and turned into Tony Blair types.. :) ).

- The Gen Xs(born roughly from 65-83) who are more 'individualistic', live for the moment, and are just not "joiners"...would rather die than be part of a little community association meeting weekly in their local church.

- Millennial generation (Gen Y), who in contrast are more responsible, concerned about social issues, more peer-oriented, generally willing to associate with brands+ but also very media savvy. The theory contends that the Millennial Generation believe they have/are willing to get engaged in an unifying 'good' 'mission'.

Perhaps the most important thing we can TAKE AWAY from a generational theory analysis is to avoid making the potentially disastrous ASSUMPTION that those youth getting involved today are ONLY involved because they are young -- and that soon they will leave. IN FACT, if we give Millennials good reasons to stay in an organization, they most probably will, as their generation is 'pre-disposed' to this sort of thing (just as the G.I. generation is!!) unlike the next three generations ahead! All the more reason to INVEST like never before in today's youth.

2. Organizations don't "mean enough" to youth.

What's key is providing the "Good reasons". Frankly, unless young people have a fabulous experience in an organization, there is little reason for them to commit to the long haul. These days, there are thousands of great social and activist organizations for youth to get involved in: maybe they remain slightly out of the mainstream consciousness but usually if youth can find one, they can find MANY more. This is a "choice" generation! In fact, youth rarely expect one organization to fulfill their personal goals AND change the world, so participating in SEVERAL seems like a good idea. Not least because the Internet makes it relatively easy to follow what's going on without too much of a commitment.

But at a basic level, it's about doing things which appeal to them, which excite their emotions and make them really feel like the org has a special/meaningful role in their lives. This means ensuring youth can participate in DECISION MAKING, providing action opportunities that use TECHNOLOGIES and techniques they are comfortable with, and providing social and fun events which allow them to MAKE FRIENDS and see the organization embedded within their CULTURE, and allow them to see REAL CHANGE NOW/QUICK WINS. Do ALL these things and the org will find a special place in the young members heart.

3. Organizations don't respond to the life circumstances of 25-40 year old age bracket.

A (~80 year old) guy from a local UNA branch was telling me, a litle disdainfully I felt [but with good intentions], that the youth were too hung-over from Friday night partying to get up in time for their regular 10am Saturday meetings. I proposed, a bit cheekily, that they should move the meeting to the afternoon so that youth can go out on Fri night AND still come to the UNA meeting. This didn't seem to have much appeal to him!

But really, it's not just the YOUTH they need to be flexible around. Those in the 25-35 age bracket also have different life circumstances. Maybe they travel a lot. Maybe they have a hectic work life. Maybe they have a young family. Maybe they ALSO have different expectations and needs. Whereas social activities are important for youth and elderly, maybe for those ages 25-35 it's more about doing something practical, getting out of a 9-5 job or away from kids, lending professional expertise, seeing results...

Whatever the exact problem is, I think NGOs and community associations that seek broad community engagement need to do a LOT more work and analysis on the idea of membership segmentation for marketing, meetings, organizing and activism.. approaching the whole concept with more flexibility and creativity than they currently are.

At least the elderly composition of UNA has one striking benefit over a completely youth-oriented org like TakingITGlobal: UNA is largely solvent based on significant, steady income from estate Bequests!]]> Sun, 03 Apr 2005 16:17:00 EDT http://nick.tigblog.org/post/23438 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/23352 Terri, Sarah and Maja about the WSIS Youth Caucus. We came up with some great new strategy! :) The other day, in a real life meeting here at work I found myself referring to an email I had received from someone the previous day - and only when someone pointed how strange it was this person emailed me when he is apparently out of town, did I realize I had COMPETELY DREAMT the email [I can still picture the exact text!]. Isn't this bizarre? hehe. But on the other hand, if only I can teach myself to read email/type in my sleep, maybe this is solution to always feeling like i need another day to get things done?]]> Fri, 01 Apr 2005 07:24:00 EST http://nick.tigblog.org/post/23352 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/23219
This interesting article in the New York Times today reports on new grassroots movements in Zimbabwe which are mobilizing public consciousness against the Mugabe regime through what can almost be termed guerrilla/viral marketing tactics. One group leaves condom packets on bus seats stamped with big "Z" - standing for their name, "Zvakwana". The Times describes the group as "a meld of guerrilla theater and the philosophies of Gandhi and King." At least that is one stunt that will grab attention. The big question is whether Zvakwana's 10,000 strong activist network will succeed in promoting democratic change in a country where those who don't vote for the incumbent are denied centrally rationed food, and Amnesty International says free elections are 'impossible'.

To be honest, four months ago I would have thought the chance they might succeed toppling the Mugabe regime through local networks and marketing gimmicks, would be about one in a million.

But just think about what happened in Kyrgyzstan this week. Apparently inspired by their fellow ex-Soviet comrades in Ukraine and Georgia, people took to the streets after supposedly rigged elections, received surprisingly high levels of support from the police and security forces, and took over the Presidential palace - all in a day's work. (Or at least, what seems to have happened... It all occurred so quickly and dramatically I'm yet to see any complex analysis in the media).

The civic uprising in Ukraine during December's Orange Revolution was one of the most inspiring "global events" in the past few years. Years otherwise dominated by civil liberties clamp-downs, terrorism and war. Perhaps it was overly romanticized, perhaps it is not truly welcomed by a large portion of eastern region of Ukraine, perhaps it's just a new 'bad lot' taking power... I don't know.... But events in Ukraine, dominating world headlines for weeks (until finally the Tsunami disaster pushed them further back) were good for ordinary people's movements (civil society) around the world. In glorious colour, they reminded people around the world of the potential of passive resistance, protest, politics, and the importance of standing up for democratic liberties.

It's almost too obvious to bother stating, but clearly The Orange Revolution (and preceding that, the Rose Revolution in Georgia and the overthrow of Milosevic in Serbia...see my 2001 update on youth group "OTPOR") have done far more to inspire new democratic movements and inform their tactics - than George Bush's War in Iraq (which arguably has done little more, to date at least, than create chaos and a new breeding ground for terrorism). I had been concerned for a while that after the disastrous Iraqi mess, many people in countries where human rights are routinely abused would have to "put up with" their undemocratic regimes because those of us outside such countries who have been calling for change would be too concerned it might play into an American desire to attack another country in its "axis of tyranny". But that was buying into the idea that change could only come about through some type of external intervention. Thankfully, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, even Palestine's recent elections, demonstrate that people can bring about positive change themselves.

A question I have had (and know many share) is the extent to which foreign organizations are involved. George Soros and the Open Society Institute are mentioned all over the place in articles on these revolutions (including in Zimbabwe) and I'd not be surprised if they were providing significant financial help to support otherwise genuinely local movements. Good on them too, I say. Supporting democratic institutions is their mission, after all. Those that see a problem in this usually claim Soros and OSI is little more than a front for the CIA, a bit like various trade union organizations and student groups were during the cold war. If you've read anything by Soros recently you'd know that he thinks George Bush's Presidency is the worst thing to happen in a long time - he spent millions of dollars of his own money on grassroots voter mobilization efforts to see John Kerry elected. It probably would have succeeded, if Karl Rove didn't coordinate an even better one. He certainly sees a difference in their approach to the "spread of freedom".

The strength and timing of these movements may be partially to do with an influx of cash and a run of dubious elections. But it might equally have something to do with increased information sharing - and the power of satellite news networks to beam protests around the globe. (The Times article notes those in Lebanon largely viewed the Ukraine situation on Al Jazeera). And Otpor, Pora, and the other youth movements involved have demonstrated significant use of the Internet to coordinate their action. Is what we are seeing in non-democratic and developing countries comparable or similar to what we saw emerge six years ago in the (almost entirely Western) Seattle-born anti-globalization movement? That is, global protests - with similar missions, very loosely coordinated - drawing inspiration from events elsewhere?

Either way, I'm very interested in seeing where all these grassroots campaigns for change lead us this year and next. I'd love to hear your take....

(Incidentally the picture comes from a fascinating blog called Orange Ukraine)]]> Sun, 27 Mar 2005 18:56:00 EST http://nick.tigblog.org/post/23219 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/22959
It was a real privilege to be able to attend and meet some of these amazing human rights defenders and leaders in the non-profit/advocacy field. My task was to co-present a plenary on Saturday evening looking at youth engagement, activism and participation. As it was after dinner on a Saturday after a very long day of presentations, it was very impressive that almost all of them showed up!!! Dedicated!! Their excitement, questions, feedback, and enthusiasm really bodes well for the future of youth/student involvement in the organization. hooray! I also got to sit at the back and listen to some of the brief policy debates today, and it's amazing to see how an organization of this size and diversity takes its role as a watchdog for human rights so earnestly and professionally.

Oh and I got in 'big trouble' from the USA Chair last night over drinks for not being a member of Amnesty (just a consultant). To be honest, I hadn't joined on purpose - both because I already financially donate to a couple of other charities [and believe you can contribute to many causes in different ways], and also because (unlike TIG) with Amnesty you have to join a particular national office and as you know I have trouble staying in one country for more than a few months... But I think they inspired me to sign up today, so maybe that means I'll also have to decide whether I'm going to be staying in the UK for a while!]]> Sun, 20 Mar 2005 19:11:00 EST http://nick.tigblog.org/post/22959 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/22794
Anyway, what I love most about it is not just that I can now add to my digital music collection without simultaneously deleting others from the rather full laptop HDD. No, it's that thanks to Mr Jobs and his company, I am going to become a much more learned person. Well, at least better read - or is that heard? Yes, I've discovered audio books. Wonderful things!

My first purchase, completed this evening (after three days of bus commutes to work) was "Plan of Attack" by Bob Woodward, a journalist famous for breaking the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Nixon. In Plan of Attack, Woodward painstakingly recreates the road to the Iraq war, examining the thinking, key meetings, emotions and reflections of Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Powell and a few others in the CIA, State Dept and Pentagon. It doesn't come across either for or against Bush. The U.S. President comes across as a much more hands-on leader than I had assumed, although a bit macho and emotionless and FAR too trusting of his subordinates (and their institutions/processes) on the issue of proof of weapons of mass destruction (the rest, esp. CIA Director George Tenet and Cheney, come across as almost blind to the truth on that matter!). Assuming Woodward's book is accurate, I was perversely pleased to read that they (well, at least Bush) did actually believe (based on what he was told) that WMD existed. If they had gone to war without any rationale at all - or a more 'scary' one, then that might have been worse! (Certainly, we the public will demand a higher burden of proof of WMD next time round, I hope- after we, and the press, failed to keep Bush, Blair et al accountable last time). The question really is, how on earth did they come to believe WMD were in Iraq? Why the focus on Iraq? (when Blair and others thought North Korea and Iran were the far greater problems). Someone really needs to apologize for the intelligence failure that has resulted in far too much death and suffering. The other huge question is why oh why oh why was only about 1/100th the planning time given to "after the war" compared with "the war". These were questions I'll have to wait for another audio book to be 'written' to properly answer!

Oh, and P.S. I was pleasantly surprised about the characterization in the book of Richard Armitage, who was Deputy Secretary of State in Bush's first term. He is a regular guest on Australian late night news programs - we poor Australians are always fobbed off with people who have fancy titles but no real power it seems. Anyway, he and Powell come across as sensible and somewhat cool headed (well, at last somewhat more honest - even if they kept their concerns to themselves to save their jobs!) within an administration that seems to be just a tad masochistic, rushing -- far too wrapped up in the concept -- into an unnecessary conflict.]]> Fri, 11 Mar 2005 19:30:00 EST http://nick.tigblog.org/post/22794 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/22778
Mr Ibrahim was the former deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, before being fired by President Mahathir and then charged with sodomy (and related "abuse of power") in 1999. In fact, it's more likely President Mahathir considered him a political threat. Ibrahim was a "reformist" who felt there needed to be political change and an end to corruption to fuel the economy which had suffered during the Asian Economic Crisis of 1997-98. Amnesty named him a Prisoner of Conscience, due to concerns his the judiciary at his initial trial were politically partial and because laws against same sex relations are contrary to human rights (let alone pretext for jailing political opponents). Shortly after being jailed he was beaten. [See Amnesty's actual press release/statement on Anwar rather than just my quick summary].

It was fascinating to hear what he had to say. He seemed remarkably calm about his wrongful arrest and seven years imprisonment. He mentioned he'd been to see Nelson Mandela a few weeks ago and commented that compared to Mandela's, his own had been a "short walk to freedom". Everyone laughed at the reference to Mandela's biography.

One person who works on Urgent Actions (appeals for AI members to write letters to authorities on behalf of prisoners of conscience) asked whether Mr Ibrahim had heard of Amnesty's campaign for his freedom. He mentioned that while he was not allowed documents, his wife made sure that when she and his children came each month/week, each child had to memorise a different document to heart - and this is how he found out news. He was very passionate about Amnesty and offered to volunteer a few hours a week while he is living and teaching in the UK. Asked if he had a message for those who wrote letters on his behalf, he said "write more!".

His main interest at the moment is promoting freedom and democracy (he noted he was sounding similar to Bush's inaugral address...) and understanding between Muslims and non-Muslims, as well as democratic and economic reform. Altogether, it was lovely and inspiring to hear him talk!

Click here to visit the page of Amnesty's current appeals for action.]]> Thu, 10 Mar 2005 18:00:00 EST http://nick.tigblog.org/post/22778 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/22541 report saying that all the good people who've been hard at work at the WSIS Prepcom 2 in Geneva shouldn't worry so much, because the Digital Divide is well on the way to being closed and in fact we've already exceeded targets we set for 2015 in the WSIS Action Plan. I guess this is like those other World Bank reports where they said Argentina was a model economy just before it went into depression, and that building huge dams was great for the environment just before they flooded ancient valleys.

Yes, I admit the World Bank does have a point when it says more than half the world's population lives within mobile telephone reception. But really - when did reception equal having a phone? And when did having a phone equal 'digital divide bridged'. I mean, people had phones years before anyone even came up with the term 'digital divide'. It's this oversimplification of the debate on the digital divide which is at the heart of the WSIS problem.

Really, what the UN should be exploring is whether people have freedom to express themselves through technology or whether they get locked up in jail like those in blog-unfriendly regimes the world over. Or whether there is effective financing for content in local languages and about local issues. Or whether education systems are effectively responding to the changing expectations of their tech-savvy pupils. And whether people are literate in the first place.

WSIS- and the digital divide - was never meant to be about phones.

~

I had a great time in Geneva last Thurs-Monday working with the Youth Caucus and reconnecting with great friends. And while perhaps the crowd in Geneva was smaller this time and less focused on the policy debates under discussion in the main halls, it was really heartening to see the number of cool projects - from the World Summit Award to the Youth Radio to the National Rural Youth Campaigns for the Information Society getting off the ground. Great to see those who were there.]]> Fri, 25 Feb 2005 12:54:00 EST http://nick.tigblog.org/post/22541 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667 http://nick.tigblog.org/post/22365
It was extremely refreshing to see him pressed on all the most key issues (even if some of the people had odd perspectives) and REALLY put on the spot by the voters... some of the most dramatic moments came when he was pushed on what he was doing about violent crime by a woman who said she was a victim of rape, and by an extremely eloquent younger guy who pushed him on policies related to religious schools. What made it FAR more than the 'Town Hall meeting' you sometimes see politicians agree to do was that the voter and Blair were literally sitting face to face, one-on-one, about 40 centimeters apart, and they were allowed follow-up questions. Indeed, often they got into a debate.

This is what democracy should be like! What I can't understand is why this sort of thing doesn't happen in other countries? Australia and Canada etc? Perhaps British politicians are just more skilled debaters and super polished public performers so they feel more confident they can handle it. Maybe in Britain there is much more media diversity which increases the pressure for politicians to make themselves available. And maybe the public here is just more demanding. Anyway, for a political junkie like me it was gripping TV. If only we could do away with the boring journos and political correspondents and have this kind of exchange everyday! And I frankly came away giving Tony Blair at least a LOT of credit for managing to keep up at least a semblance of articulate responses for an hour on some really difficult topics to really irritable customers.

I'm off to Geneva tomorrow for the WSIS Phase 2 Prepcom 2 for the next five days. Then back for more London fun! ]]> Wed, 16 Feb 2005 19:04:00 EST http://nick.tigblog.org/post/22365 -33.8833333 151.2166667 -33.8833333 151.2166667