<div>The consultancy that ICANN hired to support the RySG was WBC Global, who describes themselves on their website as, a "Leading international trade government relations consulting firm serving multinational clients ... offer[ing] public policy, political and strategic business advice to Fortune 500 and other companies."<br></div><div><br></div><div>The RySG offered this testimonial on the ICANN website:<br></div><div><br></div><div><i>"Our Document Development and Drafting Research Assistant,
Wim Degezelle, made a significant contribution in his role of
drafting comments to complex public comments. His ability to
research a topic, communicate with those in the RySG who may
have some more in-depth knowledge of the issues/topics at
hand, and then prepare and present salient observations and
suggested comments has been of incredible benefit to the RySG.
Wim’s role facilitated participation by RySG members who don’t
use English as their first language, and better enabled
engagement by smaller (or new) registry operators who have
limited bandwidth, resources and/or knowledge that restrict
their participation in issues that may have a direct impact on
their operations. In fact, we saw a notable increase in
participation by volunteers to partner (or even take a lead
role) in developing and/or contributing to critical issues
requiring formal comments by the RySG."</i><br></div><div><br></div><div class="protonmail_signature_block"><div class="protonmail_signature_block-user"><div>I think we could find this service to be very useful ourselves, too.<br></div><div><br></div><div>We could help ICANN identify a suitable consultancy to support our work, if we thought WBC Global was not the right fit for us. But they do have clients who include non-profits.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Best wishes,<br></div><div><br></div><div>Ayden Férdeline <br></div></div><div class="protonmail_signature_block-proton protonmail_signature_block-empty"><br></div></div><div><br></div><div>‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐<br></div><div> On Thursday, January 17, 2019 12:03 PM, Raphaël Beauregard-Lacroix <<a href="mailto:rbeauregardlacroix@gmail.com">rbeauregardlacroix@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><div> <br></div><blockquote type="cite" class="protonmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div>Thanks. Consultant and RA are two different things, but it would still be worthwhile to inquire about that and see if anything good came out of it. <br></div><div><br></div><div>Best,<br></div></div><div><br></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Thu, Jan 17, 2019 at 9:15 AM Stephanie Perrin <<a href="mailto:stephanie.perrin@mail.utoronto.ca">stephanie.perrin@mail.utoronto.ca</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div><p><span style="font-size:undefinedpx"><span style="font-family:Lucida Grande">Yes this was actually a pilot program, and we declined to participate. I don't think it is actually funding per se, it is the use of a research assistant that ICANN has procured (I am not sure how). Supervision
of a research assistant is another responsibility to add to our leadership team, and some may not wish to have that additional responsibility, but if the pilot program is still ongoing, I am willing to inquire about its progress and assessment of its utility.</span></span><br></p><p><span style="font-size:undefinedpx"><span style="font-family:Lucida Grande">Stephanie</span></span><br></p><div>On 2019-01-13 19:06, Ayden Férdeline wrote:<br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div>Hi Raphael,<br></div><div><br></div><div>There was a debate on this issue roughly two years ago, and a year before that too. In essence, the Commercial Stakeholder Group accepts funding from ICANN org to use consultants to supplement their research, but we are too proud. In the past, questions
have been asked along the lines of, 'Why do we even exist if we cannot do our own research?' I happen to disagree with this view.<br></div><div><br></div><div>As for the Fund, I was thinking it would be good to have this resource just there in case we had a need for it in the future; I would certainly hope we would not exhaust it immediately. I would also be reluctant to elaborate on what projects we'd be looking
to fund. We want some independence here; sadly, I doubt the research we should be supporting is anything that aligns with the ICANN executive team's view of the world.<br></div><div><br></div><div class="gmail-m_-8960626200597821046protonmail_signature_block"><div class="gmail-m_-8960626200597821046protonmail_signature_block-user"><div>Ayden <br></div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail-m_-8960626200597821046protonmail_signature_block-proton gmail-m_-8960626200597821046protonmail_signature_block-empty"><br></div></div><div><br></div><div>‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐<br></div><div>On Monday, January 14, 2019 12:59 AM, Raphaël Beauregard-Lacroix <<a href="mailto:rbeauregardlacroix@gmail.com" target="_blank">rbeauregardlacroix@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><div><br></div><blockquote type="cite" class="gmail-m_-8960626200597821046protonmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div>James: Why would we not get the ABR for the consultant if we ask again? Could you elaborate more on that? I think this idea is focused, narrow and useful enough to get approved. Now I have no idea in ICANN's world what a .5FTE amounts to. <<br></div><div><br></div><div>I think your second idea Ayden is interesting as well, but given deadlines now it might be worthwhile to flesh it out more for a next round (hopefully before next year, but I suppose not...?) I think that we would need actual examples of research or advocacy
work we want to get done if we are to get any money.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Best,<br></div></div><div><br></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Sun, Jan 13, 2019 at 6:51 PM Stephanie Perrin <<a href="mailto:stephanie.perrin@mail.utoronto.ca" target="_blank">stephanie.perrin@mail.utoronto.ca</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div><p><span><span style="font-family:"Lucida Grande"">seems like a lot given the total budget of 285K....maybe something a bit more modest and focused.? </span></span><br></p><p><span><span style="font-family:"Lucida Grande"">Stephanie</span></span><br></p><div>On 2019-01-13 18:31, James Gannon wrote:<br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><br></div><div><div><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div>On 14 Jan 2019, at 00:22, Ayden Férdeline <<a href="mailto:icann@ferdeline.com" target="_blank">icann@ferdeline.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><div><br></div><div><div>Just thinking out loud-<br></div><div><br></div><div>Could it be useful to request the support of a 0.5 FTE policy consultant (of the NCSG's choosing), to support our ongoing policy development activities? I am thinking of someone to document past NCSG policy positions by creating an archived and searchable
observatory of past NCSG, NCUC, and NPOC statements, and to engage in policy research activities in areas where volunteer burn-out has us stretched to capacity.<br></div><div><br></div></div></blockquote><div>Good idea, but we will not get it as we rejected the concept before (A huge mistep by us IMO)<br></div></div><div><div><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div>In addition, could we perhaps ask for a modest, one-off contribution of $50,000 to 'kick start' a Stakeholder Group Support Fund, given we have established over the past week on our list that the NCSG has no money. I would suggest that we would only use
this Support Fund to support our advocacy work and independent research on the DNS, and we would cap spend at max. $20k/year, and that it would not be used to fund travel.<br></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>I think that a more specific version of this could be useful, it needs to be for a specific reason however, a “to do what we want with” won’t get approved IMO.<br></div><div><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div class="gmail-m_-8960626200597821046gmail-m_-6370612639643547425protonmail_signature_block"><div class="gmail-m_-8960626200597821046gmail-m_-6370612639643547425protonmail_signature_block-user"><div>Best wishes, Ayden Férdeline<br></div><div><br></div></div><div class="gmail-m_-8960626200597821046gmail-m_-6370612639643547425protonmail_signature_block-proton gmail-m_-6370612639643547425protonmail_signature_block-empty"><br></div></div><div><br></div><div>‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐<br></div><div>On Monday, January 14, 2019 12:01 AM, Bruna Martins dos Santos <<a href="mailto:bruna.mrtns@gmail.com" target="_blank">bruna.mrtns@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><div><br></div><blockquote type="cite" class="gmail-m_-8960626200597821046gmail-m_-6370612639643547425protonmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div>Dear all, <br></div><div><br></div><div><div>Just a quick reminder that the NCUC EC will be receiving Additional Budget Requests suggestions up until tomorrow <b>14th Jan, noon (utc). </b><br></div></div><div><div>best, <br></div><div>Bruna <br></div></div></div><div><br></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">Em sex, 11 de jan de 2019 às 16:37, Bruna Martins dos Santos <<a href="mailto:bruna.mrtns@gmail.com" target="_blank">bruna.mrtns@gmail.com</a>> escreveu:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div>Dear all, <br></div><div><br></div><div>ICANN Org is receiving additional Budget Requests until Jan 15th. Therefore NCUC Leadership would like to welcome your suggestions and ideas on possible submissions. <br></div><div><br></div><div>Given that the deadline for submission to ICANN is 15th Jan, <b>we would like to set an internal deadline for constituency discussion/receiving of proposals until the 14th Jan, noon (utc). I would also welcome any volunteers to help drafting requests. </b><br></div><div><br></div><div>Please note <span>that the budget requests being accepted now are for the fiscal year 2020 (which I believe runs 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020). Also bear in mind that in light of some budget cuts being proposed/performed by ICANN org, our requests should
be strategic and aligned with the NCUC mission and values.</span><br></div><div><span></span><br></div><div><span>Last but not least, for ease of reference, all the FY19 Approved <span>ABRs</span> are uploaded here: </span><a href="https://community.icann.org/x/zodHBQ" target="_blank">https://community.icann.org/x/zodHBQ</a><br></div><div><br></div><div>Best, <br></div><div><div><div>-- <br></div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><b><i>Bruna Martins dos Santos </i></b><br></div><div><br></div><div><div>Skype ID: bruna.martinsantos<br></div><div>@boomartins<br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>-- <br></div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><b><i>Bruna Martins dos Santos </i></b><br></div><div><br></div><div><div>Skype ID: bruna.martinsantos<br></div><div>@boomartins<br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>_______________________________________________<br></div><div>Ncuc-discuss mailing list<br></div><div><a href="mailto:Ncuc-discuss@lists.ncuc.org" target="_blank">Ncuc-discuss@lists.ncuc.org</a><br></div><div><a href="https://lists.ncuc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ncuc-discuss" target="_blank">https://lists.ncuc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ncuc-discuss</a><br></div></div></blockquote></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><pre>_______________________________________________
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