Response to President's Strategy Committee on ICANN

[Remmy Nweke <remmyn@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Some specific questions are:
    
   What are some of the main challenges to ensuring continued stable and secure 
operations of the Internet's domain name and IP addressing system, and are 
there steps that could be taken to improve this? 
  I think the main challenges in securing a stable operations of the Internet?s 
domain names and IP addresses is having an international law that covers ICANN 
operations and observed globally especially under the United Nations (UN), 
considering that Internet has no boundary per se. Therefore absorbing ICANN 
within the UN may give this privilege and engender the global relevance it so 
much desire to exist and maintain the multi-stakeholders trust.
    
   Members of the Committee accept that there are a number of administrative 
challenges that ICANN faces as it is a unique model of bottom up participation 
and coordination of policy decision making. What are examples of how other 
global organizations have met similar challenges? Can experiences in other 
organizations be applied to ICANN to inform consideration of how best to serve 
the global community? 
  To my mind the current bottom up model is unique in itself and encouraging to 
accommodate as many communities as possible rather than up to bottom. In fact, 
it is bottom up that gave ICANN the little support/acceptance it has over the 
years. This can be expanded by continuous availability of its presence in 
various regions of the world actively and working or better still expand its 
Committees such as At-Large per region especially in Africa and other 
continents where the Least Developing Countries dwells more.
    
   Is the organization's ability to scale internationally affected by its legal 
personality being based in a specific jurisdiction? 
  Of course, like I noted in my response above, it has to assume an active 
international dimension and today the possibility of this could be seen hinging 
under UN or ITU to be specific since ITU overseas Telecommunications which in 
otherwords is ICANN?s main tool of existence.
    
   Given ICANN's narrow technical coordination mission and responsibilities, 
how should ICANN respond to relevant issues or challenges deriving from the 
WSIS decisions, including those related to Internet governance? 
  Like agreed at the final phase of WSIS for Internet Governance Forum to be 
held, it is relevant that this comes to stream as Greece agreed to host it and 
has since commenced steps. 
  Regular forum in this regard would always throw up issues relevant to move 
the Internet community forward. Therefore it would be nice to be sustained, 
even if it means once every year or twice.
    
   Specifically, how should ICANN further enhance cooperation of all ICANN 
stakeholders on those Internet governance issues that fall into ICANN's scope 
of activities? 
  ICANN can enhance cooperation by continuous involvement of Internet community 
in addressing topical issues relating to Internet generally at various levels 
as much as its budget could carry and should not limit itself to the proposed 
annual summit on Internet Governance.
  This way, ICANN would also learn from stakeholders on how to solve one issue 
at a region in another, thereby making itself relevant all the way.
    
   What can ICANN do to further improve the value that the GAC and its 
individual members offer to the multi stakeholder framework and addressing 
public policy concerns? 
  By making their presence nearer to the people through establishing 
office-like at country levels for GAC and to encourage its members among other 
individual members representing communities to organise policy workshops, say 
quarterly or twice annually, to keep abreast of hiccups per region/country as 
they come.
  For instance, since GAC came on stream I am yet to see GAC organised forum in 
West Africa let alone Nigeria.
    
   What can be done to assist in the evolution of a more widely informed 
participation from all regions from all interested stakeholders, including 
governmental representatives? 
  The above applies, but in addition to ICT-media involvement towards taking 
its activities to the grassroots.
    
   Are there activities or steps that would build on existing processes to 
continue to enhance global accessibility to the transparency of ICANN's 
processes and input into the decision-making processes? 
  Its current platform of forums online is encouraged to continue but must be 
supported with relevant workshops at various regions of the world as matter of 
sensitization.
   
  Remmy Nweke
  Chairman,
  International Relations Committee
  Nigeria Internet Group (NIG)
  234-8023122558

                
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