Re: [council] About Designing a 21st Century ICANN

[Klaus Stoll <kdrstoll@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Friends

Greetings. I have now read the report twice and I think this report 
merits an extended reply by the GNSO.
I will refrain from derisory comments about the report as far as a I 
can, only one, the first page looks like IG buzzword bingo on steroids 
and like steroids it replaces substance with short term illusions!
A good example is the first buzzword "crowdsource". Crowdsource is a 
good thing, but as it is used in the report it is just a distraction the 
real problem. The problem of IG in general and of ICANN in particular is 
not a lack of participation, it is not even a question of language and 
acronyms. The uncomfortable fact remains true that Cyberspacetoday 
resembles a country where 1% of the population governs 99% of the 
population and 98% of these don't even know that the 1% exist! This 
represents a real legitimacy problem for all current IG processes. Crowd 
sourcing is only real and legitimateif it is based on knowledge that is 
available to everybody in appropriate forms. Everybody needs to be able 
to be in the crowd and not just a self-elected elite. "The report says: 
(page4), "For an institution to merit the peoples trust, it first has to 
trust its people". The people we are talking about here is the global 
Internet user community, all of them. Trust can only come when all the 
people know their rights and responsibilities. In the case of IG the 
responsibility to inform all is not simply discharged by awareness 
campaigns and nice pictures, but by demonstrating the relevance of IG to 
every level of its user community. People engage with things only if 
they are relevant to them, awareness is a result of relevance, 
empowerment and trust are the result of trusting the internet users in 
understanding the true significance and deep relevance of IG in all our 
lives. (Mikey, here is I think also part of the answer to your question 
regarding getting people involved into the Wgs, its not the language, 
its not the time, its that we have to find a way to make the WG topics 
relevant to a large number of people. This will not happen if we wait 
that people come to us, we need to get out to them).IG institutions can 
only be legitimate and successful if they put the awareness building and 
empowerment at the center of their thinking and doing. All governance 
structures for Cyberspace need to be user, not expert group centric. 
Accountability can only come from the awareness of all what IG is 
accountable for. Transparency in contracts and processes only makes 
sense when all understand what the contracts are about. Innovation has 
to come from informed participation based on relevance not engineered 
organizational processes.
I am surprised by the liberal recommendation by the report of on-line 
tools that are only available to an elite and not the average online 
user in a developing country. Like the whole report, these 
recommendations reflect a first world centered view on IG and technology.
Are other councilors also disturbed by the liberal use in the report of 
the "ICANN should..." phrase followed even sometimes by a time line and 
the clear indication that the expectation is on speedy implementation 
without much discussion and control? Maybe the authors of the report 
should be the first who take their own recommendations serious:"In the 
future, we need to eschew the kind of self-serious pomposity that gets 
in the way of change and embrace humility and fallibility as touchstones 
to progress". Wise words, well spoken, unfortunately completely ignored 
in the very same report.
Happy to work with fellow councilors on a more detailed reply.

Yours

Klaus




On 2/3/2014 7:24 PM, Jonathan Robinson wrote:
> Thanks All,
>
> Personally, I can see no reason to use such words.  That symbolic 
> detail aside, this does throw up some critical points about how we 
> engage with this work.
> I have a call planned this week to talk one-to-one with Beth Novek in 
> order to give some feedback.  I'll obviously take into account any 
> input from the Council.
> In addition, the Council needs to think about any other feedback, 
> responses or engagement with the work of this panel.
> Jonathan
>
> *From:*Gabriela Szlak [mailto:gabrielaszlak@xxxxxxxxx]
> *Sent:* 03 February 2014 17:46
> *To:* Maria Farrell
> *Cc:* John Berard; Jonathan Robinson; council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> *Subject:* Re: [council] About Designing a 21st Century ICANN
>
> ... And bear in mind that the purpose - in their own words is- :
>
> ·/Proposing new models for broad, /inclusive 
> engagement,/consensus-based policymaking and institutional structures 
> to support such enhanced functions; and/
> ·/Designing processes, tools and platforms that //enable a global 
> ICANN community to engage//in these new forms of participatory 
> decision-making/
> Google translator cannot even translate those two words... it feels 
> really strange to talk about global engagement and participatory 
> processes only in English and in a an English that it seems also 
> complex for english speakers to get...
> G.
>
>
> *Gabriela Szlak *
>
> *Skype:* gabrielaszlak
>
> *Twitter: @*GabiSzlak
>
> La información contenida en este e-mail es confidencial.
>
> The information in this e-mail is confidential.
>
> 2014-02-03 Maria Farrell <maria.farrell@xxxxxxxxx 
> <mailto:maria.farrell@xxxxxxxxx>>:
> Goodness, I also nearly snorted my coffee but held it down long enough 
> to look up 'scylla' and 'charybdis'. I was chagrinned to learn these 
> new (to me) words were first used in the ICANN context by the beloved 
> Norwegian Harald Alvestrand back in 2002, a few reform movements back. 
> Who knew?
> "The current ICANN has attempted to chart a course between the scylla 
> of doing nothing and the charybdis of doing everything;"
> http://www.alvestrand.no/icann/icann_reform.html
>
> On 3 February 2014 17:23, <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
> <mailto:john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
> Jonathan,
>
> My coffee came through my nose this morning when I read the blueprint 
> from the multistakeholder strategy panel.  But, while language like 
> this: "engaging people in meaningful and productive conversations 
> about how to redesign the way ICANN runs itself is difficult because 
> the conversation gets caught, on the one hand, between the scylla of 
> broad generalities and geopolitics without regard to the specifics of 
> ICANN's day-to-day work, and the charybdis of mind-numbing technical 
> detail on the other" is a bit overblown, it also works as 
> mis-direction. There is no argument but that generalities, geopolitics 
> and technical detail are a part of ICANN's life, but I would argue 
> with "broad" and "mind-numbing."  That kind of language tips the 
> player's hand.
>
> Further, by pegging effectiveness to the use of expert networks and 
> linking legitimacy to crowdsourcing at each stage of decision making 
> may only hint at the future shape of ICANN but it is clear in its view 
> that the current version is no longer appetizing.  I will likely think 
> hard about that as I pack for the trip to Singapore.
> Cheers,
>
> Berard
>
>     --------- Original Message ---------
>
>     Subject: [council] FW: Stage 2 Begins: Designing a 21st Century ICANN
>     From: "Jonathan Robinson" <jrobinson@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>     <mailto:jrobinson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>>
>     Date: 2/3/14 1:12 am
>     To: council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
>     Stage 2 Begins: Designing a 21st Century ICANN
>
>     *From:*The ICANN Strategy Panel on Multistakeholder Innovation &
>     The GovLab [mailto:icannmsipanel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>     <mailto:icannmsipanel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]
>     *Sent:* 31 January 2014 19:01
>     *To:* jrobinson@xxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:jrobinson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
>     *Subject:* Stage 2 Begins: Designing a 21st Century ICANN
>
>
>
>       Hello!
>
>     By engaging the stakeholders of the Internet (this really includes
>     everyone!), the ICANN Strategy Panel on Multistakeholder
>     Innovation (the MSI Panel
>     
> <http://openinggovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a990feb5c&id=9e2fe95b04&e=32eced4cfd>)
>     and The Governance Lab @ NYU (The GovLab
>     
> <http://openinggovernment.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=1a990feb5c&id=d1a6e896d6&e=32eced4cfd>)
>     are working to develop a set of concrete proposals for designing
>     the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) --
>     the public interest organization responsible for coordinating the
>     Internet's Domain Name System (DNS) -- for the 21st Century.
>
>     We're writing to request your participation in this important
>     initiative and to help us spread the word!
>
>     Today launches */Stage 2 /*/--/*/Proposal Development /*/--/*//*of
>     our online engagement effort aimed at getting *your*input into the
>     Panel's work in order to bring our ideas for evolving ICANN from
>     principle to practice. The Panel has been specifically charged by
>     ICANN's President and CEO with:
>
>     ·Proposing new models for international engagement,
>     consensus-driven policymaking and institutional structures to
>     support such enhanced functions; and
>
>     ·Designing processes, tools and platforms that enable the global
>     ICANN community to engage in these new forms of participatory
>     decision-making.
>
>     To answer this charter, we launched a three-stage brainstorm
>     initiative on November 19, 2013. We started with *Stage 1: Idea
>     Generation. *The Panel and GovLab launched an *engagement platform
>     
> <http://openinggovernment.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=1a990feb5c&id=49575264ee&e=32eced4cfd>*
>     asking the global public to share their ideas for what techniques,
>     strategies, tools and platforms ICANN could look to and learn from
>     to help transform itself into an /effective, legitimate and
>     evolving/21st century global organization.
>
>     We now want to take these ideas closer to implementation during
>     Stage 2. To do so, we've shared the *draft proposal blueprint *
>     
> <http://openinggovernment.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=1a990feb5c&id=b31cd77527&e=32eced4cfd>on
>     the /GovLab Blog /organizing all of our ideas into 16 concrete
>     proposals for ICANN, which we are *opening up to you for
>     discussion. *We want your feedback, input, comments, questions,
>     and suggestions on what we've collected. We've also published our
>     first set of proposals, which include recommendations for ICANN to:
>
>       * Leverage expert networking
>         
> <http://openinggovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a990feb5c&id=c8d26b0537&e=32eced4cfd>;
>       * Use crowdsourcing during all phases of decisionmaking
>         
> <http://openinggovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a990feb5c&id=78cb16e898&e=32eced4cfd>;
>         and
>       * Crowdsource oversight and develop standards to measure success
>         
> <http://openinggovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a990feb5c&id=75796fa362&e=32eced4cfd>.
>
>     *Feel free to provide feedback or reactions using comments or the
>     line-by-line annotation tools enabled on the blog.*
>
>     You can also see all of these materials aggregated on the GovLab's
>     ICANN project page, online */HERE/*
>     
> <http://openinggovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a990feb5c&id=e606d3f2d6&e=32eced4cfd>*.*
>
>     *Help us spread the word!*
>
>     Do you know any people or organizations who would be interested in
>     these proposal topics? *We'd love to get their feedback,
>     too.*Consider doing any of the following:
>
>     ·Forward this "Call To Action" to colleagues and organizations you
>     know working in these areas who may have ideas or feedback to
>     share on the blog.
>
>     ·Share our proposal draft links (all accessible *here*
>     
> <http://openinggovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a990feb5c&id=166e90c780&e=32eced4cfd>*)*,
>     as widely as possible within your networks (e.g., via mailing
>     lists and listservs). Feel free to link to these posts or repost
>     on your website edited to fit your needs!
>
>     ·Use social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or Google+
>     to spread the word about this initiative (use the *#WeCANN *hashtag!).
>
>     ·To inspire participation and learn how to contribute, watch and
>     share a *video
>     
> <http://openinggovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a990feb5c&id=adb2ce10df&e=32eced4cfd>*
>     The GovLab made when we launched this brainstorm.
>
>     ·Discuss the MSI Panel's work and proposals in your own
>     communities and share your comments and feedback with the us in
>     the blog comments or at icannmsipanel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>     
> <http://openinggovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a990feb5c&id=c78e16b652&e=32eced4cfd>.
>
>     Toward the end of February -- we will move into the last stage of
>     this brainstorm -- *Stage 3: Collaborative Drafting*. Using a
>     *wiki
>     
> <http://openinggovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a990feb5c&id=e89c0b7d3f&e=32eced4cfd>*,
>     we will invite collaborative drafting on a first full draft of all
>     proposals that the Panel will then submit to the ICANN CEO, Board
>     and community. So stay tuned!
>
>     For more information, visit The GovLab at www.thegovlab.org
>     
> <http://openinggovernment.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=1a990feb5c&id=6c7b575816&e=32eced4cfd>.
>
>
>     Thanks and best,
>
>     /The MSI Panel & The GovLab/
>
>
>
>
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