[NCUC-DISCUSS] Candidate Statement (Farell FOLLY)

[Wisdom Donkor]

Thank you for this impressive statement. You have my full support.

*WISDOM DONKOR (S/N Eng.)*
E-government and Open Government Data Platforms Specialist
ICANN Fellow / Member, UN IGF MAG Member, ISOC Member,
Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) Member, Diplo Foundation Member,
OGP Open Data WG Member, GODAN Memember, ITAG Member
Email: wisdom.dk at gmail.com
Skype: wisdom_dk
facebook: facebook at wisdom_dk
Website: www.data.gov.gh
www.isoc.gh / www.itag.org.gh

On Mon, Oct 16, 2017 at 2:00 PM, Farell Folly <farellfolly at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear All,
> please find my statement below. I am sorry to be long but it demonstrates
> the complexity level our constituency has reached. For a better lisibility,
> you can read the document on google drive here
> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JsGJyL1GRhmL83GZaLzFfTNGDVUwZkwtWaJQ3r9UZmQ/edit?usp=sharing>
>  (read-only).
>
> * Name, declared region of residence, gender, employment, other
> volunteering experience
>
> Farell FOLLY, Africa, Male, IT Security Expert – Network Engineer;
> Technology Champion of Africa 2.0 Foundation (www.africa2point0.org)
>
> * Any conflicts of interest : None.
>
> 1.     Why?
>
> The NCUC is an important actor within the ICANN ecosystem. As you know, we
> are the voice of all “potential” domain name registrants and non-commercial
> Internet users. We advocate for the rights of consumers, non-commercial
> entities, and individual users of the Domain Name System. Today, the NCUC
> is bigger than ever and dealing with more and more consequential issues.
> From a recent report on ICANN diversity data
> <https://www.afnic.fr/medias/documents/Dossiers_pour_actualites/2016_Icann_Diversity_Data.pdf>,
> ICANN must acknowledge this evolution, and if the NCUC handles this
> diversity issue in an elegant and appropriate way, we can become a model
> for others to follow. Becoming more diverse will also help make more
> democratic decisions, foster richer debate, create more efficient policy,
> and build greater institutional legitimacy and vitality. I want to serve on
> the Executive Committee as your Chair to promote diversity across our
> membership, discussions and leadership positions -- and show the rest of
> the ICANN community what we are doing right.
>
> 2.     About me
>
> I have a Master of Sciences in Telecommunications and Computer Networks
> from the Royal Military Academy of Brussels, Belgium, where I lived for
> seven years from 2001 – 2008. I had a field grade of Capt when I worked for
> the United States Africa Command stationed in Stuttgart, Germany. I was
> working group chairman and technical director of the Africa Endeavour
> program which aims at improving communication interoperability among armed
> forces from Africa, US, and NATO countries. When I left the army as an
> active officer, I worked in the telecommunications regulatory area, ICT
> promotion and Internet governance; and have many times chaired workings
> groups and organized conferences/workshops.
>
> My journey into the ICANN community began in 2013 when I met the former
> CEO, Fadi Chehadé, at IGF 2013 and discussed diversity issues. However, as
> a network engineer, I started working with IANA a long time ago to
> implement IPv4 networks with its supporting protocols. I began contributing
> in ICANN ASO through my membership in the Africa Internet Registry
> (AFRINIC) in 2012. Subsequently, I entered the DNS area with discussions on
> ccTLDs and realized that still much more work needed to be done in this
> field compare to IP domain which was mostly concerned about the migration
> from IPv4 to IPv6. Consequently, I responded to the GNSO call in 2015 for
> volunteers to contribute to the next-Gen RDS PDP.
>
> Last year, while working for the United Nations in Mali, I decided to
> pursue a PhD in Cybersecurity and the Internet of Things (IoT). In fact,
> many recent reports proved once more that DNS implementation are very (if
> not the most) concerned with cyberattacks within the Internet ecosystem,
> while IoT tends to complexify the situation.
>
> 3.    Time commitment
>
> As a researcher I have a flexible timetable and can devote as much time as
> is needed to accomplish NCUC tasks, such as preparing for meetings,
> conferences, and outreach events. In general, I will make myself  available
> for at least 10 hours per week, and up to 20 hours if needed, to grow the
> NCUC.
>
> 4.    Communication
>
> My communication strategy will adapt to the three types of audiences that
> the NCUC encompasses: newcomers, (engaged) members, and the global
> community/others stakeholders.
>
> When I joined the NCUC, I found it very difficult as a newcomer to
> understand the ecosystem. I did not want my hand held, however, without an
> intrinsic motivation, I firmly believe that no newcomer can reach an
> acceptable level of engagement. I recognize the efforts of the current
> leadership team to implement the onboarding program,the FAQ, and focal
> points to coach newcomers, but I think there is still room for improvement.
> Therefore I will use monthly webinars targeted at newcomers so that EC and
> focal points can discuss the NCUC’s mission and objectives with them, and
> they can also express their own views and positions, so that an efficient
> coaching mechanism can be launched at an earlier stage of their membership.
>
> With all engaged members, discussions will happen using the traditional
> discussion lists, webinars, periodic meetings and any other channel that
> seems appropriate for a particular situation (Adobe, Skype, WhatsApp,
> etc.). The more a member shows engagement to the NCUC, the more likely
> he/she is to receive a grant or travel support which he/she applies for.
> Decision-making processes will always be democratic, transparent, and
> objective.
>
> Our website, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook will be used to reach out and
> engage more with the community. Capacity building and outreach events will
> be conducted periodically and assessed to ensure they are successful. I
> will encourage engaged members to maintain blogs and talk about their work
> engagement in order to demonstrate to others what they are doing within our
> community that reflects NCUC mission.
>
> 5.    Plan and goals
>
> I will focus on fostering diversity, membership efficiency, setting up a
> roadmap for the NCUC, and on fundraising to ensure our long-term
> sustainability and the enlargement of our endowment so that we can support
> the participation of more and more members to attend ICANN meetings.
>
> About the roadmap
>
> The most critical thing I will work on after being sworn in as Chair is
> setting up a clear roadmap for the NCUC. In fact, we have already updated
> our bylaws and written for the first time our operational procedures, with
> thanks to the current leadership and their determination to achieve that.
> What we now need is to have a steady leadership and management capacity.
> For me, that means that we need to set up at least a five-year agenda (the
> timescale can be discussed later) associated with our vision and
> objectives. EC term is a maximum of two consecutive one-year terms, that is
> quite enough but if we keep letting the Chair decide the mid- and long-term
> goals for the constituency, we’ll keep changing goals every election, and
> this will compromise our efficiency. Once we have our roadmap, all newly
> elected Chairs must reasonably comply with this vision, but they will of
> course have the autonomy to chart the course to achieve the objectives
> using their own methods, means, and style. Setting up a longer term agenda
> for the NCUC will be a collaborative work with all the members, and it can
> be reviewed periodically to cope with changes in the ecosystem. Policies
> related to users/data privacy and human rights will have a bigger place in
> that agenda.
>
> Diversity
>
> Diversity will guide every single decision I take as Chair. Following the
> recent report of ICANN on diversity
> <https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/59643308/Diversity%20-%20English%20version.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1468432893000&api=v2>,
> I would like the NCUC be the model and reference point for diversity within
> Internet governance ecosystem. We cannot continue talking on behalf of the
> vast majority of Internet users we claim to defend without increasing their
> means to engage with us. Those “potential” Internet users are mostly
> non-native English speakers, living in developing countries with a very
> weak Internet access and are to be affected by most of our decisions.
> Language barriers prevent many of our current NCUC members from fully
> participating in discussions. I am a candidate that intends to represent
> and promote that diversity. If I am elected as chair I will increase our
> diversity using the following ICANN and community-recognized set of
> criteria
> <https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/59643308/Diversity%20-%20English%20version.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1468432893000&api=v2>
> :
>
>
>    -
>
>    Geographical origin: to make sure that everybody counts, especially
>    under-represented voices.
>    -
>
>    Language: during my term as chair, I will work on implementing means
>    to facilitate spontaneous discussions in two or more languages (out of the
>    seven  ICANN recognised languages) within the discussions lists.
>    -
>
>    Gender: we will seek gender balance among our membership, leading by
>    example
>    -
>
>    Backgrounds and Ideology: I will seek for balance between all kind of
>    members: technical, legal, lawyers, academic, sociologist, journalists,
>    random users, arts, etc.
>    -
>
>    Last but not least, openness is also a very critical criterion for
>    diversity. It will favor newcomers, women membership and youth innovation.
>
>
> It is also recognised that there are other forms of diversity (including
> age, professional experience, sexual orientation, nationality, parents);
> the above criteria is not set in stone nor should it be seen as fixed.
>
> Membership
>
> Our membership is so critical to our growth because it can offer us the
> human resources and the skills required to accomplish our mission.
> Therefore, it won’t be enough to solely rely on the number of members. I
> will measure my success not by growing our membership, but by making sure
> we have the right people in our constituency, and that they are ready to
> work and to deliver the necessary changes. Focal points will have a crucial
> role in engaging with members in policy discussions and will lead NCUC
> sub-teams to get involved in their associated area of expertise.
> Consequently, call for public comments will be directed to sub-teams first,
> before proceeding in a reasonably hierarchical manner throughout the
> membership, NCSG Policy Committee, and Executive Committee. In addition,
> internal mechanisms to recognize the efforts of valuable people will be put
> in place in order to stimulate and reward active engagement. Furthermore,
> we will have set metrics to approve outreach events, and equally, metrics
> to assess their effectiveness and return on investment.
>
> Funding
>
> The organization is getting bigger but our endowment and resources are not
> growing at the same pace. Consequently, we need to work on a funding plan
> that will support our agenda. Together with the EC, we’ll work on how we
> can get more funding. I am sure that several members, myself included, have
> strong networking connections that we can leverage to raise funds.
>
> --
> Regards
> @__f_f__
> https://www.linkedin.com/in/farellf
>
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>
>
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