[NCUC-DISCUSS] Interest Group Reboot?

Fri Dec 27 10:47:37 CET 2013

Hi Benjamin 

Glad to hear you are interested in pushing the IG4D agenda.  I spent years doing that in IGF with what locally would count as some success (four years of workshops and agitation yielded a series of main sessions, which started well but became a bit mediocre).  This has proven more difficult in the ICANN context, as was demonstrated in the JAS debate on Applicant Support for new gTLDs from developing countries and underfunded entities.

What we need is a mechanism through which people who share common interests on substantive policy matters can engage in dialogue and collaboration.  These could be called Interest Groups, as per our original proposal for an integrated NCSG, or they could be call Teams like the functional/managerial ones we set up next year, or they could be called something else, doesn’t matter.  What does matter is that they have a space and some people willing to serve as coordinators/facilitators to ensure that conversation and movement doesn’t wither away.

On our old Ning website we had the ability for members to sign up to self-formed interest groups, and there were like a dozen people who said they wanted to work on IG4D.  There were also  self-formed interest groups on like a dozen other topics, e.g. FoE, IPR, IG, etc.  Alas, most of these drifted without coordination and commitment, and that functionality was not retained when we moved to the new website.

It would be very good to revisit the format of interest groups if there are now people willing to steep up and take some ownership so they are kept afloat.  If for example you could be interested to do an IG4D interest group, if Walid could be interested to do one on human rights, if Peter wanted to do one on China/AP, if João wanted to do one on the Brazil meeting etc.—right there we have the basis for some good new energy and potentially notable outputs, whether Issue Briefs, web materials, PCP interventions, WG participation, etc.  And that just the Fellows…there may be a lot of other members who have particular interests and are not equally jazzed by the full range GNSO topics.  NCUC should be a platform from which they can collaborate with others on those topics of most keen interest to them.

I don’t know if it’s possible to reinstate the social networking functionality on our website.  Alternatively, if people signed up for free ICANN Wiki accounts (Confluence), they could create dynamics spaces there, to which we’d link from our own site.  We can also set up listservs on demand.

So I would really encourage people to think about whether they would like to form subgroups to debate more focused policy issues with likeminded colleagues, if we get some serious proposals the volunteers in the EC and E-Team will help you get them set up.

Best

Bill

On Dec 27, 2013, at 9:53 AM, Benjamin Akinmoyeje <benakin at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello Drake,
> I am excited and appreciative to be associated with NCUC, since the first intro in Durban, I hope to participate actively in NCUC events and would love to champion IG4D agenda. With appropriate guidance I think I came make some impact.
> 
> Thank you
> Benjamin
> 
> 
> On Fri, Dec 27, 2013 at 9:06 AM, William Drake <wjdrake at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi
> 
> It will be great to have you folks there.  In recent meeting a number of fellows have ended up coming to Constituency Day and joining NCUC, so this connection appears to be working.
> 
> Hopefully we can engage you in some of the discussions and collaborations that will need to happen prior?  For ex, both IG4D and IG4humanrights are key concerns for NCUC but the folks who previously had been initiating in these areas have less bandwidth available now, so these and other topics need new champions to carry forward with respect to outreach, position texts, etc….
> 
> Best,
> 
> Bill
> 
> 
> 
> On Dec 26, 2013, at 7:52 PM, Walid AL-SAQAF <wsaqaf at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> It's delightful to be able to see you again and hopefully see if I could have a more substantial role towards helping NCUC achieve its goals.
>>  
>> Sincerely,
>> 
>> Walid
>> 
>> -----------------
>> 
>> Walid Al-Saqaf
>> 
>> 
>> On Thu, Dec 26, 2013 at 7:40 PM, Pascal Bekono <pbekono at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hello,
>> 
>> For new members like me, it will be an opportunity to meet the team
>> and attend meetings physically.
>> 
>> Best wishes,
>> 
>> pascal
>> 
>> 2013/12/24, William Drake <wjdrake at gmail.com>:
>> > Happy to see NCUCers and potential NCUCers in the mix….I would strongly
>> > encourage folks to apply for future rounds…
>> >
>> > Bill
>> >
>> >>
>> >> http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-23dec13-en.htm
>> >>
>> >> ________________________________
>> >> Fellowship Program Brings Global Voices Together at ICANN | Fellows
>> >> Announced for Singapore Meeting
>> >>
>> >> 23 December 2013
>> >>
>> >> 42 fellows from 31 countries have been selected to participate in ICANN's
>> >> Fellowship program at the 49th Public Meeting in Singapore, 23-27 March
>> >> 2014. Fifteen of the fellows are alumni from at least one of the past 20
>> >> programs, 23 are first-time attendees to an ICANN meeting, and 4 have
>> >> attended meetings in past but are fellows for the first time. The fellows
>> >> represent all sectors of society including civil, government, academia,
>> >> business, not-for-profit and user groups. The country code supporting
>> >> groups are also represented.
>> >>
>> >> Here is the list of selected fellows:
>> >>
>> >> *   Oluwaseun Samson Ojedeji – Nigeria – Academic / Registry
>> >> *   Xandra Fong – Fiji – Not for Profit
>> >> *   Yungyung Teng – People's Republic of China – Government / IPC
>> >> *   Mamadou Lo – Senegal – Business
>> >> *   Maricarmen Sequera – Paraguay – End User
>> >> *   João Carlos Rebello Caribé – Brazil – Not for Profit / NCUC
>> >> *   Md. Jahangir Hossain – Bangladesh – Not for Profit / NPOC
>> >> *   Inam Ali – Jordan – Civil Society
>> >> *   Hanen Idoudi – Tunisia – Academic
>> >> *   Farzaneh Badiei – Iran – End User
>> >> *   Karel Douglas – Trinidad and Tobago – Government
>> >> *   Bukola Fawole – Nigeria – Academic
>> >> *   Pascal Guillaume Bekono – Cameroon – Government / At Large
>> >> *   Ephraim Percy Kenyanito – Kenya – End User
>> >> *   Shakeel Ahmed – Pakistan – End User
>> >> *   Emani Fakaotimanava-Lui – Niue – Not for Profit / At Large
>> >> *   Yousef Torman – Jordan – Academic
>> >> *   Rommel Natividad – Philippines – Government / GAC
>> >> *   Taravatu Arua Taravatu – Papua New Guinea – Government
>> >> *   Gul-e Rana – Pakistan – Academic
>> >> *   Wisdom Kwasi Donkor – Ghana – Government
>> >> *   Rahul Sharma – India – Not for Profit
>> >> *   Zakir Syed – Pakistan – Not for Profit
>> >> *   Mario Aleman Zapata – Nicaragua – Not for Profit
>> >> *   Bonface Witaba – Kenya – Not for Profit / NPOC
>> >> *   Ibrahim Alfayoumi – West Bank and Gaza – ccTLD
>> >> *   Etuate Cocker – Tonga – Academic
>> >> *   Lianna Galstyan – Armenia – Not for Profit
>> >> *   Aasis Karan – Fiji – Business / At Large
>> >> *   Benjamin Akintunde Akinmoyeje – Nigeria – Not for Profit / NCUC
>> >> *   Philip Adar – Kenya – Business
>> >> *   Bram Fudzulani – Malawi – Business / ISP and ASO
>> >> *   Matilda Pamao – Papua New Guinea – Academic / ccNSO
>> >> *   Vernon O'Brien – Dominica – Government
>> >> *   Valentina Pavel Burloiu – Romania – Not for Profit / At large
>> >> *   Hasnaa Soraya Melyani – Morocco – End User
>> >> *   Zhang Zuan – People's Republic of China – Not for Profit / member
>> >> NCUC
>> >> *   Jason Hynds – Barbados – Not for Profit / At Large
>> >> *   Mohamed Adas – West Bank and Gaza – End User
>> >> *   Mohamed Elshaikh – Sudan – End User
>> >> *   Walid Al-Saqaf – Yemen – Academic / NCUC
>> >> *   Andreas Sifiso Dlamini – Swaziland – Government
>> >>
>> >> ICANN received 121 fellowship applications for the Singapore meeting.
>> >> Applications for each meeting are assessed by an independent selection
>> >> committee. Priority is given to applicants who meet minimum program
>> >> requirements, are current residents of developing and least developed
>> >> nations in the five ICANN regions, and who are interested in participating
>> >> in ICANN and its supporting organizations, advisory committees or
>> >> stakeholder groups.
>> >>
>> >> Click here to find out more about the fellowship program and how to apply:
>> >> http://www.icann.org/en/about/participate/fellowships
>> >
>> _______________________________________________
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>> 
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> 
> 
> *******************************************************************
> William J. Drake
> International Fellow & Lecturer
>   Media Change & Innovation Division, IPMZ
>   University of Zurich, Switzerland
> Chair, Noncommercial Users Constituency, 
>   ICANN, www.ncuc.org
> william.drake at uzh.ch (direct), wjdrake at gmail.com (lists),
>   www.williamdrake.org
> ********************************************************************
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
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> 

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

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