Talk:Blockchain technology and internet governance – Edu 3 2017
First virtual meeting took place on May 3 on Zoom during (10.00-11.00 CEST) with the participation of five members: - Walid Al-Saqaf - Michael Oghia - Hanane Boujemi - Nadira Alaraj - Anton Zeunko
Ken Hansen, Arvin Kamberi and Renata Aquino Ribeiro had sent their apologies due to unsuitable time zones. But we would love hearing their feedback on the below summary of the meeting. An audio recording of the meeting is also available here: https://app.box.com/s/uj2nusrjy7efpdb1hjo8l5t29mzc9mgd .
Meeting summary: The meeting started with a welcome from Walid and a brief introduction by each participant.
Then the following agenda items of the meeting were presented:
1) Welcome & brief round of introductions
2) Discussing the blockchain session's agenda and speaking roles
3) Discussing the format of the interactive exercise
4) Promotion and outreach efforts
5) Any other business
Due to time constraints, it was agreed that the last points on promotion, outreach efforts and any other business are to be left to the mailing list.
Org Team member roles It was agreed to have the 90-minute session composed of two segments, the first in the form of an interactive exercise (game) to demonstrate what blockchains are and how they works and the second focused on the connection between blockchain technology and Internet Governance. Apart from running the practical hands-on game to show how the blockchain works, Walid expressed interest in raising points about standardisation and interoperability. Michael said he is interested to raise the point of the potential environmental effects of the wide spread of blockchains would cause in terms of storage use and bandwidth consumption. Hanane indicated her willingness to bring up the fact that there is deficiency in research and literature when it comes to blockchain's connection to Internet governance and questions about control and power. Anton said he would address any technical questions that could emerge. It was agreed to ask other organizing team members missing from the meeting to propose having a role.
Format of educational session Introducing blockchains in a form of a game was thought to be a great way to engage the audience, including those who do not have a technical understanding of the technology. It was agreed that moving from using beads to moving colored rubber bands would be more appropriate. (See example here: http://www.elenareidphotography.com/img/s8/v76/p1400986498-3.jpg) Anton suggested to open up the ability to solve puzzles and be miners to the audience instead of pre-defined set of miners. Simplification of the game was seen as crucially important. One way to simplify it is to limit the colors. That being said, it was agreed to try and avoid over-simplifcation and attempts should be made to stay true to the main general blockchain characteristics. Participants agreed that using a board with clear instructions would be necessary and timekeeping will be crucial. Equal weight was given to the learning experience through the game as well as the post-game session linking blockchain technology to IG.
