[NCUC-DISCUSS] Noncommercial @ IGF Bali

Fri Apr 19 19:29:05 CEST 2013

Greetings from Panama,

I submitted three preliminary workshop proposals to the IGF MAG for the IGF Bali meeting.  All were well received/ranked and should go forward.  The IGF Secretariat just sent me formal notification of their preliminary approval, so now I'd like to share with you the bits that pertain to NCUC and NCSG (including NPOC).

For the record, the first is on convergence, in conjunction with APC and ISOC well http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/wks2013/viewproposalx.php?done=282.  Turning then to matters of more local import:

The second was a proposal for an NCUC workshop on closed generics.  Given the preliminary approval, what I need to do before the final submission deadline of 26 April is to build out the preliminary place holder  http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/wks2013/viewproposalx.php?done=253 into a full fledged description; line up institutional co-sponsors (government of Argentina has offered to partner);  line up a balanced, multistakeholder group of speakers who are deeply into closed generics, have diverse views, and would be comfortable with a debate format;  and closer to the date, provide the required brief background paper.  Because of MAG rules I won't be able to load up the panel with more than a couple NCUCers, as we need a blend of government, industry and TC people too.  That said, it would be helpful to hear from any members who are interested in helping to develop the WS concept in light of the debates we've had on NCSG-discuss.

Third, I also submitted, on behalf of Robin and Alain, a preliminary proposal for a joint NCSG/NCUC/NPOC workshop on civil society @ GNSO http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/wks2013/viewproposalx.php?done=249.  The three sponsors will need to collaborate on the aforementioned components so I can submit a full final proposal on the 26th.  The panel limitations are even tighter here since we'll have three civil society voices by definition; we will need to bring on board some mix of up to three contracted + noncontracted business + perhaps GAC who can speak fairly in a non-agenda based manner to the strengths/weaknesses opportunities/constraints faced by civil society in the GNSO context.  Given the nature of the beast, the planning for this one will be a bit more complicated;  I guess I the chairs should discuss how to proceed and then we'll revert back.

Turning from the IGF to the ICANN side of the story: NCSG, NCUC, and NPOC all submitted to Fast Track budget requests for travel support for the joint workshop.  As this was done in a rush on the last day, the submissions vary a little in content and request:

NCUC's is https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/38045805/6-NCUC+Fast+Track+Request+FY14+IGF+Bali.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1364621813000.  I asked for three NCUC travel slots in support of this workshop as well as the other on closed generics.

NCSG's is  https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/38045805/7-NCSG-1_+FY14_Budget+Request.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1364621823000.  Robin asked for three NCSG travel slots in support of this workshop.

NPOC's is https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/38045805/4+-+SO-AC-SG+FY14+Budget+Request+NPOC+at+IGF+Bali.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1364621775000  Alain asked for one Exec. travel slot plus honorariums for two experts and offered a unique description of the event.

You can see the staff's response at https://community.icann.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=38045777.  The formulation was little odd and took some back and forth to clarify.  But basically, what we got was, subject to MAG approval of the final submission, one travel slot per group, under the aegis of the NCUC application.  Whatever. So the good news is that at least we can do an event telling the story of noncommercial stakeholders in GNSO and leverage this for the purpose of global outreach, potentially to folks who've not been involved in ICANN.  And if we want, we can use the workshop as the occasion for some online SG-wide stock taking with an eye to improvements and preparing for the next round of GNSO review/possible restructuring (no kidding).  Ditto the closed generic event. Plus it seems from a previous loose poll here that a number of NCSG people intended to be in Bali anyway, and the IGF has good remote participation tools, so we could really make this an inclusive and interesting thing for all regardless of where their atoms are on earth.

Finally, of local interest to NCUCers: I expressed concern to ICANN about their approving just one travel slot for the joint CS @ GNSO workshop without mentioning NCUC's other workshop proposal on closed generics.  Turns out under their procedures one asks to fund per event rather than per group, so the allocation decision on the former WS precluded separate treating the latter.  However, they have nicely suggested that since the the Board has already approved a block of funding, a separate request for the "closed" workshop could be entertained in the regular track approval process, even though the event happens in the first 4 months of the year.  Bottom line, I have to submit a new request for the 'closed' by the 26th, and there's at least a chance we can get a few more NCUC travel slots.

In a somewhat related (i.e. mildly confusing) vein: I'd submitted a Fast Track request for $2000 to produce a NCUC brochure and perhaps a trial Issue Brief that could be used at Durban, Bali, and Buenos Aires.  This was turned down, but now they say that left over FY 13 funds for printing remain available for Durban if used by end of June, and the FY14 request submitted will be deferred to the Regular Track review period and a decision will be made by end of June.  Got that?  Bottom line, NCUC has funding to produce a brochure and maybe Issue Brief by June, and we will be considered for more print material support for the period thereafter.

One of the Teams I'd hoped to get started alongside the active ones (e-platforms, program) and semi-active ones (finance, membership) was a group that'd work on Communications, i.e. enhancing the publicizing of the constituency and its' positions.  Well, now there's a piece of funding and a concrete mission to be completed by end June.  I hope some folks will be interested in participating in this so far moribund team, http://lists.ncuc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/communications which should provide input to the Exec. Committee for final decisions.

Ok, I think that's more than enough head spinning budget magic to share for one day…:-)

I'm copying the NCUC members list and suggest that any follow up discussions of the bits pertaining just to the constituency take place there, any follow up discussions of the bits pertaining to the SG take place here.  Ok? 

Thanks,

Bill

***************************************************
William J. Drake
International Fellow & Lecturer
  Media Change & Innovation Division, IPMZ
  University of Zurich, Switzerland
  www.williamdrake.org
Chair, Noncommercial Users Constituency, 
  ICANN, www.ncuc.org
william.drake at uzh.ch
****************************************************

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ncuc.org/pipermail/ncuc-discuss/attachments/20130419/83ae0d4a/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
Ncuc-discuss mailing list
Ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org
http://lists.ncuc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ncuc-discuss