Late submission: travel support

["Vika Mpisane" <vika@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Kevin Wilson,

 

I hope I'm not too late in this submission. I write as an individual member
of ICANN and I believe that my employer (.za) is likely to share at least
some of my views.

 

The ICANN travel support both for the Board and SO Chairs and councilors is
a good thing. It gets even better to see that ICANN has managed through its
fellowship program to bring more participants to ICANN meetings to broaden
participation. Way to go!

 

I share the view expressed by Kevin Stubbs
(http://forum.icann.org/lists/travel-support-2010/) that ICANN should also
explore digital and remote conferencing technologies to maximize
participation. I am concerned that in the light of the ongoing global
economic recession, it may not be wise for ICANN to spend too much resources
on bringing people physically to ICANN meetings.

 

I am not saying ICANN should stop funding travelers, but I strongly support
the exploration of other remote participation technologies that may enable
many more people to participate remotely at a much limited cost. 

 

It is good thing that ICANN has given SOs funds to fund some of their
people, but again I hope the SOs will do more to discern if funded
participants are really interested in ICANN discussions not only during an
ICANN meeting but also through discussion list participation.

 

I might as well add that ICANN should be wary of those fellows that are only
interested in ICANN meetings without participating in regional
organisations' activities. This may apply across all ICANN SOs. Take the
case of the ccNSO: it would make more sense for ICANN to fund those people
who are active in regional ccTLD organisations (such as AfTLD, CENTR, LACTLD
and APTLD) than to fund people not known by these regional TLDs.

 

The same applies to ALAC fellows. ALAC has RALOs in all the regions and I
sure hope ICANN and its SOs will make sure that they consult with their
regional entities in determining if an applicant is worth travel support or
is just somebody interested in attending an ICANN meeting because it is at a
nice location!

 

As for the visa problems that some people are referring to, I believe the
ICANN staff members are smart and able to learn from the mistakes made and
to find ways of overcoming these problems. I assume the stipend paid to each
funded traveler varies from country to country. A blanket stipend may mean
that people sometimes have much less to spend when meetings are taking place
in countries with stronger currencies.

 

I should emphasize the importance of making the funded travelers understand
that the ICANN stipend is not meant for enrichment, but is intended more to
cover (or at least subsidize) incidental costs such as taxi fares and meals.
Of course each case should be treated on its own merits.

 

In closing, yes, in the current economic situation, I strongly urge ICANN to
be creative in maximizing participation and to explore other more cost
effective remote participation means technology can offer us today.

 

Regards,

 

Vika Mpisane

.za Domain Name Authority

Tel: +27 11 275 0082

Fax:+27 11 234 5022