[NCUC-DISCUSS] Candidate Statement (Farell FOLLY)

Mon Oct 23 09:44:35 CEST 2017

Thanks very much dear Wisdom and Bram. I appreciate your support and I will
ensure that all our efforts are joined together when time will come to
defend our common goals for the benefit of the community.

Have a nice week.

Le mer. 18 oct. 2017 à 11:31, Wisdom Donkor <wisdom.dk at gmail.com> a écrit :

> 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
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ncuc-discuss mailing list
>> Ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org
>> https://lists.ncuc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ncuc-discuss
>>
>>
> --
Regards
@__f_f__
https://www.linkedin.com/in/farellf
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