RE: [council] FW: [soac-discussion] Public Participation Committee public session, invitation for SO/AC leaders' participation

["Rosette, Kristina" <krosette@xxxxxxx>]

I think Bill's suggestions about reducing the information overload
barrier to entry apply to virtually all stakeholders.  Speaking for
myself, I would have found them invaluable.    


________________________________

        From: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of William Drake
        Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2010 12:00 PM
        To: Gomes, Chuck
        Cc: GNSO Council List
        Subject: Re: [council] FW: [soac-discussion] Public
Participation Committee public session, invitation for SO/AC leaders'
participation
        
        
        Hi 

        On Mar 2, 2010, at 7:05 PM, Gomes, Chuck wrote:


                Bill,
                 
                Thanks Bill.  Please respond to the three questions for
Council discussion.


        Sorry to be slow to respond but in the usual pre-departure
frenzy.  
        

                 


________________________________

                        From: William Drake
[mailto:william.drake@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] 
                        Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 1:02 PM
                        To: Olga Cavalli
                        Cc: Gomes, Chuck; GNSO Council List
                        Subject: Re: [council] FW: [soac-discussion]
Public Participation Committee public session, invitation for SO/AC
leaders' participation
                        
                        
                        I too would be very interested in this.  I've
been inter alia trying to encourage formation of a Development interest
group in the NCSG, have organized three IGF workshops on development and
Internet governance, will be writing about it for the UN, etc... 

                        Bill
                        
                        
                        
                        On Mar 2, 2010, at 5:06 PM, Olga Cavalli wrote:


                                Chuck,
                                I would be willing to participate in
this pannel, although I am not sure if it overlaps with other meetings
or activities I must be involved in.
                                Regards
                                Olga
                                
                                
                                2010/3/2 Gomes, Chuck
<cgomes@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
                                

                                Please see below a very late request for
GNSO participation in a panel that will be discussing the following in
Nairobi:
                                 
                                "a) What are the three most important
improvements ICANN can make to its public participation processes to
facilitate greater engagement by developing world stakeholders?

        Reduce the information overload barrier to entry.  The current
approach is in effect to throw people into the deep end of the pool and
say ok, learn to swim.  This is not how government staff and many others
from developing countries experience their entree into other
international institutions dealing with Internet and ICT issues, and the
noticeable contrast can be alienating.  I've had ministry and NGO people
say they can't figure out where to start, it's too overwhelming, and you
can't just pop in, sample, and figure out what's most relevant like you
might elsewhere, it feels like an up front long-term commitment to full
body immersion is required.  So revamp the maddeningly newbie-unfiendly
info architecture and content of the website, or at least provide a
parallel track that defines issues and their interrelationships in a
digestible form and then allows people to build their knowledge from
step a to b to c.   Maybe hire a couple staffers to serve as sherpa or
focal points with an explicit "there are no dumb questions" mandate,
and/or have a volunteer buddy system-ongoing and for meetings.  Expand
translation support.  Figure out some way to prepare people for the
cultural style aspect-discussions in ICANN are much more aggressive and
challenging (and, I am routinely told, "American") than what many people
are used to from their home cultures or other international spaces they
work in.

        Significantly expand outreach and capacity building efforts.  I
agree with Tim that the roving meetings are insufficient for this
purpose, particularly given the nature of the agendas and the
difficulties of trying to plug in and play (although they can be used as
platforms, e.g. NCSG is having a meeting with East African noncommercial
actors in Nairobi the night before Constituency Day, which some will
hopefully feel inspired to attend).  One or two annual regional seminars
of a capacity building nature would be really helpful (could in parallel
reduce regular meetings to two, or stop the roaming).  Could also make
better use of other opportunities like the IGF; currently, ICANN does a
ninety minute open forum that's a quick show and tell of the basic
institutional lay out and current issues, but it could be doing more
extended capacity building sessions.   Partner with bodies that provide
education and capacity building.  Commission an book/manual that maps
stuff out in a manner that works for educators and end users (and do NOT
call it ICANN for Dummies...there's a lot of sensitivity about being
talked down to, I've sat with developing country government and NGO
folks in WSIS/IGF meetings and seen rather adverse reactions to ISOC
presentations etc).  

        More generally, recognize that improvements to the PPP can only
get us so far as long as the larger political problems are not
addressed.   While there's been progress in expanding GAC and drawing
developing country people to in-region meetings, there are still
widespread perceptions out there that suppress engagement and inter alia
steer people toward intergovernmental bodies as the places to address
Internet issues, including some that are in ICANN's turf.  This is
especially the case with ministry of communication and foreign affairs
types; many Group of 77 representatives (it's actually 130 countries
now, including China) will tell you their governments don't participate
because they don't want to "legitimate ICANN," that ICANN is dominated
by the US government and US corporations so their interests could never
get a fair hearing, that ICANN still needs to be made subject to some
sort of intergovernmental oversight or be replaced for certain
functions, etc.  So there's a need for some soft power and diplomatic
engagement, cultivation of in country-constitutencies (including other
government ministries), recruitment of developing country people into
visible leadership positions across the organization, and on and on.  By
themselves, a better web site, more translation services, travel grants,
and so on aren't going to win hearts and minds and build support and
engagement; a holistic strategy is needed.


                                b) Should ICANN incorporate a greater
focus on the developing world in its work and if so, how?


        ICANN needs to better reflect the global topography of Internet
usage or there will be all kinds of ramifications over time.  A few
options might include:

        Consider establishing some sort of identifiable home for
development in the ICANN nexus, even if small.  Signaling is important,
and almost every relevant intergovernmental body has a development
branch or office of some sort. And has development promotion as an
explicit part of its mission.  Yes ICANN is not the UN and its mission
should not be greatly expanded, but it is an international body that
sets policies that affect developing countries, and there's no place
tasked with identifying and suggesting approaches to development
concerns.  Could be centralized, or feed into/support efforts at the
SO/AC level (e.g. the nascent development interest group in NCSG).   

        Add a development session as a regular feature of the meeting
programs.

        Where relevant, factor a development assessment into the
decision making process as a standard element, so that when pricing of
new gTLDs or EOIs or vertical integration or whatever is being
addressed, questions about the possible impact across developing
countries (recognizing there's great heterogeneity in that category) are
at least considered, maybe even addressed through special provisions
etc. 


                                c) How can the work of ICANN be given
greater relevance where there is low Internet density per capita - and
what priority should be given to reaching stakeholders in countries with
the lowest Internet connection density? (see the World Bank statistical
link under "Materials and References" below to look up statistical
information of the kind referenced)."


        Obviously, the needs of the least developed countries are
different from those of upper income developing countries.  While
ICANN's not in the business of supporting infrastructure deployment,
FDI, domestic regulatory reform and the other top priorities in the
LDCs, it could liaise with organizations that are where issues relevant
to its mission are part of the mix. And per the above, undertake some
targeted efforts to identify the special needs of LDCs with respect to
its operations, support or provide capacity building, help cultivate
communities of interest, etc.  

        Maybe some of the above sounds like mission creep and doesn't
appeal to everyone here.  Where you stand depends in part on where you
sit, and I'm in Geneva amidst an intergovernmental/NGO nexus that's
heavily focused on developing country concerns and wherein one can
routinely hear things said about ICANN that would make your head spin.

        Best,

        Bill

                                

                                Note that this conflicts with the
"Registration Abuse Policies Initial Report Information Session" on
Wednesday afternoon in Nairobi. 

                                Because of the late notice on this, it
really is not possible to develop a GNSO position on the issues to be
discussed, so I believe the best we can do is to identify a volunteer
who would for the most part participate in a personal capacity and
attempt to represent to the best of her/his ability what they understand
to be views of GNSO community members.

                                Is there anyone who would be interested
and willing to participate on this panel in Nairobi?  Please respond as
soon as possible if you are interested. It might be helpful if any
volunteers would provide brief personal answers to the three questions
to allow other Councilors to comment between now and 10 March and
thereby obtain a little broader GNSO input before the session.

                                Chuck


________________________________

                                From: owner-soac-discussion@xxxxxxxxx
[mailto:owner-soac-discussion@xxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Nick Ashton-Hart
                                Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 10:32 AM
                                To: soac-discussion@xxxxxxxxx
                                Subject: [soac-discussion] Public
Participation Committee public session, invitation for SO/AC leaders'
participation
                                
                                
                                Dear SO and AC leaders: 

                                On Wednesday 10th from 1600-1730 local
time in Nairobi, the Board's Public Participation Committee will hold
its public meeting.

                                The PPC has asked me to ask you if a
representative from each of the ACs and SOs would care to be  a part of
the session by participating in a panel, alongside the members of the
PPC, to lead the discussion  of the various  items on the agenda, and of
course to participate in the discussion directly. If one of you, or
someone you wish to nominate from your community, is unable to attend
in-room we can arrange for  you to be able to participate remotely via
audio bridge.

                                The full agenda may be found at
http://nbo.icann.org/node/8950; I have not  pasted it below since the
hyperlinks would not be  usable and as you will see when you browse the
agenda the hyperlinks are quite integral to the whole. 

                                Finally, I hope you will accept my
apologies in advance for  posting the agenda assuming that some members
of the SOs and ACs would be willing to participate as described. Given
the subject, it seemed that I would be on safe ground to  make that
assumption.

                                -- 
                                
                                
                                
                                Regards,

                                 
                                Nick Ashton-Hart
                                Senior Director for Participation and
Engagement
                                Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers (ICANN)
                                Tel: +33 (450) 42 81 83
                                USA Tel: +1 (310) 301-8637
                                Fax: : +41 (22) 594-85-44
                                Mobile: (Switzerland): +41 79 595 5468
                                email: nick.ashton-hart@xxxxxxxxx
                                Win IM: ashtonhart@xxxxxxxxxxx /
AIM/iSight: nashtonhart@xxxxxxx / Skype: nashtonhart
                                Online Bio:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashtonhart  
                                
                                





        
***********************************************************
                        William J. Drake
                        Senior Associate
                        Centre for International Governance
                        Graduate Institute of International and
                         Development Studies
                        Geneva, Switzerland
                        william.drake@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
                        www.graduateinstitute.ch/cig/drake.html
        
***********************************************************
                        
                        



        ***********************************************************
        William J. Drake
        Senior Associate
        Centre for International Governance
        Graduate Institute of International and
         Development Studies
        Geneva, Switzerland
        william.drake@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
        www.graduateinstitute.ch/cig/drake.html
        ***********************************************************