[bestbits] On the future of Best Bits and the pre-IGF meeting

Wed Jul 26 06:52:41 EDT 2017

Dear Jeremy,

Thanks for your email, I definitel;y concur and support Renata and will go
with Option #2, I look forward too in working with others towards this
process.

Kind Regards

Poncelet

On 25 July 2017 at 23:26, Renata Aquino Ribeiro <raquino at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Jeremy
>
> It is good to see the longevity of Bestbits, in its 5 year-old run.
> This is a space which has done a lot for civil society and it will
> certainly continue to do so.
> There are many new groups and activists in civil society looking forward
> to learn from the steps taken here and to collaborate.
> I would like to help bring together the experienced and the new
> participants here.
> So my option would be #2 and I'd be glad to work with others interested in
> thinking of new ways for Bestbits.
> I believe rebuilding the Steering Committee (3 years old) is important but
> also to bring in new voices who have ideas for the shape of the platform
> and who are interested in participating of internet governance communities.
> If we can broaden this search for new members and collaborators among ISOC
> Ambassadors, ICANN fellows, Youth IG movements, grassroots internet freedom
> initiatives, it would be great.
>
> Best,
>
> Renata
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 25, 2017 at 7:23 PM, Jeremy Malcolm <jmalcolm at eff.org> wrote:
>
>> 15 new members have joined this list since last week, and a new sign-on
>> statement has been posted on our website, both of which mark an uptick in
>> interest in this civil society network on Internet policy.  So I thought it
>> would be a good time to gather your thoughts on future directions for Best
>> Bits.
>>
>> For those who are new, this group was originally formed in 2012 primarily
>> to provide an action-oriented network of CSOs that could share information
>> and coordinate their response to various current Internet threats, most
>> notably at that time various proposals for the ITU World Conference on
>> International Telecommunications.
>>
>> Since then it has been used as a platform for communication (mainly
>> through this list, there have been others from time to time but none remain
>> active), joint actions such as the sign-on statements that we host,
>> coordination between people involved in similar activities, and an annual
>> meeting held prior to the IGF.
>>
>> Around 2014 calls for greater accountability in the operation of what
>> had, until then, been a fairly loosely and informally organised group, led
>> to the establishment of a steering committee
>> <https://bestbits.net/about/steering-committee/> and agreement on a set
>> of rules <https://bestbits.net/wiki/main/procedures/>.  But that turned
>> out to be counterproductive and so we have regressed to being ad hoc and
>> informal again.
>>
>> This is fine, except that it means that it's difficult to raise funding
>> for events, and that you have to rely on a benevolent dictator (which is,
>> by default, me) to moderate the list and and keep the server ticking over.
>> For now I'm OK with doing this, and our server remains functional and
>> funded for the near future.
>>
>> Last year we turned over our regular pre-IGF meeting to co-ownership with
>> the other major civil society networks working in Internet policy spaces,
>> viz. the groups that are under the umbrella of the Internet Governance
>> Civil Society Coordination Group <http://internetgov-cs.org/>.  That
>> went pretty well, marking something of a return to the original Best Bits
>> vision.
>>
>> At this point, I don't have a clear personal vision for Best Bits going
>> forward, so I would like to turn this question over to you, the
>> participants to find out what you want to be done.  To break it down into a
>> simple choice between two options, we should collectively choose between
>> either one of these:
>>
>>    1. Maintain the current low-key status quo, and remove the currently
>>    unused or underused features of our web such as our joint event calendar
>>    (which currently doesn't have anyone to maintain it), along with most of
>>    the resources under the "Tools" menu on our website.  Rely on other groups
>>    to pitch in on an annual meeting.
>>    2. Conversely, seek to reestablish a steering committee of people
>>    with time, energy and vision to reinvigorate Best Bits and re-establish a
>>    program of activities, which could include actively organizing and raising
>>    funds for a broad annual civil society meeting, and/or drafting joint
>>    statements, supporting fluid working groups, etc.
>>
>> I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
>>
>> --
>> Jeremy Malcolm
>> Senior Global Policy Analyst
>> Electronic Frontier Foundationhttps://eff.orgjmalcolm@eff.org
>>
>> Tel: 415.436.9333 ext 161
>>
>> :: Defending Your Rights in the Digital World ::
>>
>> Public key: https://www.eff.org/files/2016/11/27/key_jmalcolm.txt
>> PGP fingerprint: 75D2 4C0D 35EA EA2F 8CA8 8F79 4911 EC4A EDDF 1122
>>
>>
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>
>
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-- 
Poncelet O. Ileleji MBCS
Coordinator
The Gambia YMCAs Computer Training Centre & Digital Studio
MDI Road Kanifing South
P. O. Box 421 Banjul
The Gambia, West Africa
Tel: (220) 4370240
Fax:(220) 4390793
Cell:(220) 9912508
Skype: pons_utd

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