International Technology Support

May First/People Link seeks funding to democratize and expand participation in the World Social Forum (WSF) and Climate Justice movements through the Internet.

As ​Peter Waterman points out:

The WSF still has one foot firmly in the 20th century: NGOs, Organisations, Institutions, Funding Dependence, Ecologically destructive transcontinental flights and equally anti-ecological forum sites. It has also been having the greatest difficulty, I think, in placing its other foot in the agora offering the greatest freedom – cyberspace.

For the last several years, May First/People Link has been working on the "other foot" by sending teams of technologists to build bridges between global convergence attendees and the vast majority of people unable to attend in person, via live video and audio streaming, multi-media web sites, and our collaborative democracy tool. Through our work, we've prioritized building local capacity for supporting the technology and have contributed to a culture of inclusive participation into the very planning of international gatherings.

May First/People Link seeks funding to continue and expand this work over the next year. There are four critical meetings - Cochabamba + 1 in Montreal, the Paris World Social Forum IC meeting, the COP17 convergence in Durban, South Africa, and Rio + 20 in Brazil. May First/People Link is seeking: $51,420 to help build diverse international participation in these meetings.

About May First/People Link

May First/People Link is a membership organization based in the United States. It is one of the oldest progressive providers of Internet to non-profits in the world. Our membership consists of over 500 members, most of which are organizations (the rest are individual members). By joining as a member and paying yearly dues, an organization receives free, unlimited website and email hosting. Our vision is to build a network that values an Open Internet by committing to the use of Free and Open Source Software and making principled decisions regarding policy and practices that affect online communication.

We believe that the Internet is humanity's way of facilitating the communication necessary to build movements to save the human race and the world. The converging crises in the major capitalist economies, the precarious state of the world environment, the political crisis in government in so many of the world's countries and the usurpation of government authority by international banks and committees have brought humanity to a point of urgency and increasing certainty that something must be done to save itself. When all else fails, human beings come together to communicate and figure out how to survive; that is our legacy as a species.

Our Work: Democratizing Global Convergences

Our movement work with the social forum began with the US Social Forum in 2007, where we helped lead the technology sub-committee overseeing the first social forum with full online registration from beginning to end. In 2008, at Social Forum of the Americas in Guatemala, we held our first collaborative democracy workshop linking participants in Guatemala with participants in New York, in real time. We repeated this workshop at 2009 World Social Forum in Belem, Brazil (this time brining in Belem, Guatemala, Quebec and New York in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and English). In 2010 we were invited to support the Global Conference on Climate Change in Cochabamba, where we provided a free video stream of all major events using all free and open source software. In June 2010, May First/People Link was central to the organizing of the technology working group and media center. Our Social Forum work continued in October at the World Education Forum in Palestine. In December, the UN Bolivian Mission sponsored our tech support work during the COP16 meeting in Cancun. And, most recently, we provided support to both the World Social Forum in Dakar (where we were accepted onto the International Committee) as well as helped organize the Indymedia Africa center taking place during the forum.

Our work with international convergences complements two other important MFPL projects.

In 2011, in collaboration with the Praxis Project, we are launching a Techies of Color Training Institute. This program provides an intense, supportive mentored training program for activists of color in the United States to become professional-level, politically progressive and movement involved technologists. Capacity building both inside and outside the country are each critical in their own right, and more importantly they are mutually supportive.

In addition, we are developing a International Outreach and Training. The goal of the project is to provide follow up training to the local organizations anchoring the international convergences. This extra step is critical in helping the local, anchoring and participating organizations benefit over the long term from the brief period of intense labor and expertise that becomes available during the convergence.

Goals for Ongoing Work

This year, our work will focus on reaching our goals of:

• Increasing participation:
  The core goal of our work is to transform the global movement, helping us reach our potential as truly mass and inclusive movements
• Using Experience:
  Our past experiences and technical knowledge that we've accumulated over the past few years are specifically crafted to this historical moment's crises and the political goals of the alter-globalization movement. We will:
  • continue to use this experience to provide guidance and assistance to local organizers that host large convergences for social movements and networks.
  • create a Technology Group within the WSF Communications Committee to coordinate with other organizations invested in software implementation
• Building Capacity:
  It is important for other participating organizations to effectively implement and use Internet technology such as social media and communications for their ongoing movement work. We will:
  • pursue follow-up work that helps to build capacity with social movement organizations such that expertise and access are shared tools for social change.
  • outreach to organizations to join, and therefore strengthen, our network of protected Internet users at May First/People Link.
• Spreading Awareness:
  The ownership, control, and use of corporate versus alternative social media, Internet technologies, and communications has an impact on our international networks. Our politics around an Open Internet will ultimately raise consciousness about technology choices that will ensure that the power of communication over the Internet remains a force for social change. We will:
  • advocate for and support the use of Free and Open software
  • engage in critical debates on the future of the Internet within various communities, organizations, and institutions

Work Plan and Timeline

• World Social Forum
  • First meeting in 2011 will be held in Paris at the end of May.
  • Second meeting has yet to be determined.
• Several convergences will be held each year. We will work with those that are close to use both politically and geographically.
  • The Cochabamba +1 convergence will be held in April 2011 in Montreal.
  • COP17 will take place in Durban, South Africa in December 2011
  • Not all convergences have been announced and often our assistance is requested at short notice. In 2010, we organized technology at 4 convergences.

Budget Summary: Expenses

Work stipends: $500/week per person Food and Accommodations: $50/per day per person

Environmental Movement Convergences

Montreal Convergence
Travel (4 people by train from NY)	$650
Food/Accommodations (space donated by Alternatives Intl)	$560
Support work (Minimal stipends for 4 people, 1 week)	$2000
Technical Equipment	$250
Montreal Total	$3460
COP17 Durban Convergence
Travel (airfare 4 people)	$8000
Food/Accommodations (4 people, 3 weeks)	$4200
Support work (Minimal stipends for 4 people, 3 weeks	$6000
Technical Equipment	$500
Durban Total	$18700
Rio + 20 Convergence
Travel (airfare 4 people)	$8000
Food/Accommodations (4 people, 3 weeks)	$4200
Support work (Minimal stipends for 4 people, 3 weeks	$6000
Technical Equipment	$500.00
Durban Total	$18700

World Social Forum

Paris Meeting/G20
Travel (4 people)	$2400
Food/Accommodations (2 people, two weeks)	$2880
Paris Total	$5280
Estimated Cost of 1 Other WSF Meeting	$5280

Total

Total sum requested

$51,420