[npoc-voice] Re: The view of a Gambian ICT4D advocate on ICANN's current MSism

[Alain Berranger <alain.berranger@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks Evan,

Your analysis is key to putting perspective on the article.

Alain

On Wed, Oct 10, 2012 at 11:45 AM, Evan Leibovitch <evan@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> While it may not be clear from the article, Katim is hardly an ICANN
> outsider. He is a former Board member, and is champion of a gTLD
> application in the current round (.ummah) -- one of the few to take
> advantage of the Applicant Support Program.
>
> I am disturbed by an article that complains about the lack of geographical
> representation yet makes no mention -- not one -- of At-Large, ICANN's most
> geographically diverse constituency.
>
> Complaining about lack of participation of Africans in the GAC and ccNSO
> is not something ICANN is able to address. Those countries and their ccTLD
> operators choose not to participate, and ICANN can not compel them to do
> so. Additionally, the GNSO business community is no more a "closed shop"
> than NPOC. They accept those who show up.
>
> Yes, ICANN is weak on outreach and remote participation. At-Large sees
> that first-hand on a regular basis. This area is explicitly dealt with in
> R3. Yet Katim made zero mention of the AfrICANN working group or the
> Fellowship program, yet was well aware of both.
>
> In addition, Africa has some unique internal challenges that are beyond
> ICANN's ability to address. Some of them have been on full display as we
> witness a nasty, public feud-cum-power play between the two applicants for
> .africa.
>
> And lastly, lack of participation in the gTLD program, which IMO in large
> part is an expensive and useless exercise of vanity, to me demonstrates
> prudence. (I take it as a sense of pride that my own local governments
> chose not to apply in this round, and I would have fought them had they
> tried.)
>
> In Africa, there are far better things on which to invest $200K++
> (personally, I would extend that beyond Africa, but I digress...)
>
> So is lack of participation due to lack of awareness? Or rather just the
> opposite -- an acute awareness of ICANN and its relatively tiny role in
> Internet governance and issues, and a subsequent low prioritization.
> Katim's comment completely avoids that central question.
>
> In these contexts, I find the CircleID piece to be a cheap shot at an easy
> target. He's not wrong, but he's not being particularly helpful either. He
> certainly did At-Large no favours by completely ignoring our role and
> unique potential. And the lack of disclosure about participation as a gTLD
> applicant is cause for concern.
>
> - Evan
>
>
>
> On 10 October 2012 10:41, Alain Berranger <alain.berranger@xxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>
>> Dear NPOC Colleagues and friends,
>>
>> Please see:
>>
>>
>> http://www.circleid.com/posts/20121009_multi_stakeholderism_revisited_icann_we_can_do_better/
>>
>> It is the view of Katim S. Touray from The Gambia. Poncelet Ileleji,
>> NPOC's new 1st Vice-Chair, Program Committe is from The Gambia and probably
>> knows Katim Touray.
>>
>> Our NPOC/ALAC session on Wednesday in Toronto continues to be very timely.
>>
>> I hope Mr. Touray can participate if he is in Toronto or by distance
>> participation.
>>
>> Best regards, Alain
>> --
>> Alain Berranger, B.Eng, MBA
>> Member, Board of Directors, CECI, 
>> http://www.ceci.ca<http://www.ceci.ca/en/about-ceci/team/board-of-directors/>
>> Executive-in-residence, Schulich School of Business,
>> www.schulich.yorku.ca
>> Treasurer, Global Knowledge Partnership Foundation, www.gkpfoundation.org
>> NA representative, Chasquinet Foundation, www.chasquinet.org
>> Chair, NPOC, NCSG, ICANN, http://npoc.org/
>> O:+1 514 484 7824; M:+1 514 704 7824
>> Skype: alain.berranger
>>
>>
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>
>
> --
> Evan Leibovitch
> Toronto Canada
>
> Em: evan at telly dot org
> Sk: evanleibovitch
> Tw: el56
>
>
>
>


-- 
Alain Berranger, B.Eng, MBA
Member, Board of Directors, CECI,
http://www.ceci.ca<http://www.ceci.ca/en/about-ceci/team/board-of-directors/>
Executive-in-residence, Schulich School of Business, www.schulich.yorku.ca
Treasurer, Global Knowledge Partnership Foundation, www.gkpfoundation.org
NA representative, Chasquinet Foundation, www.chasquinet.org
Chair, NPOC, NCSG, ICANN, http://npoc.org/
O:+1 514 484 7824; M:+1 514 704 7824
Skype: alain.berranger


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