GigaNet is the “global internet governance academic network,” a new
network of researchers in the field of internet governance. GigaNet
plans to hold annual conferences preceding the forum and engage in
research collaboration and discussion around IG issues. The first
GigaNet pre-conference vastly exceeded the expectations of its
organizers, filling the room to capacity (80+ people) and provoking
many compliments about the value and quality of the presentations and
discussions.

About 40 eligible academic members will be added to the group as a
result of the meeting. At the business meeting, chaired by William
Drake, important decisions regarding the governance of the group were
mooted for final confirmation on the group's listserv. The meeting
proposed to use the IGLOO content sharing tool
as its public face and space for private interaction for a year. It
will retain its current mail list and add all members meeting the
eligibility requirements quickly. Eligibility will be for individuals,
not institutions, although methods of cooperation with organizations
were discussed. In particular, UNESCO expressed considerable interest
in working with the group.

The need to set up a decision making
structure or “executive officers” was discussed. W. Drake suggested a
number of committees or sub-areas, such as a web space mgmt group,
membership, constitutional. Nanette Levinson proposed to make the
existing startup group, plus some new volunteers, as the Executive
committee for another year.