[bestbits] Survey on the future of Bestbits: Have your say! (Previously "Important:Merging Bestbits with IGC"))

Thu Feb 21 04:37:31 EST 2019

 Dear all,

Following a call and discussion on this thread, please see a survey below
to gather your views on the future of Bestbits. Following a call on
February 11 with members of Bestbits, as well as members of IGC, it was
agreed that a survey would be circulated to gather views of all members.

The survey is preceded by a background information note which includes a
summary of the discussions so far, and links to the summaries of calls.

http://bestbits.net/limesurvey/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=528319&lang=en

As a member of the Bestbits mailing list, you are invited to complete the
survey. To inform future discussions in a timely way, please complete the
survey *by 08 March*. Should you have any questions at all, don't hesitate
to get in touch.

Looking forward to hearing your views!

Best

Sheetal.

On Tue, 12 Feb 2019 at 20:08, Sheetal Kumar <sheetal at gp-digital.org> wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> Thank you to those who participated in the call yesterday. For those who
> couldn't attend the call, you'll find the list of participants and notes
> here:  https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/Bestbitscallfuture
>
> We had a rich discussion about the possible ways forward for Bestbits,
> building on the previous conversation in December and the discussion on
> this thread since.
>
> In essence, there was general agreement that both Bestbits and IGC have
> been facing challenges in fulfilling their objectives, particularly when it
> comes to coordination and we agreed to circulate a survey to both lists to
> gather perspectives on four suggested ways forward which were discussed on
> the call. It was suggested that this survey with the broader communities
> feed into a decision on the future of the platforms. The survey will be
> circulated shortly to both lists shortly,  and your participation would be
> greatly appreciated.
>
> Best
> Sheetal.
>
> On Thu, 7 Feb 2019 at 16:47, Sheetal Kumar <sheetal at gp-digital.org> wrote:
>
>>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> This is just a gentle reminder that the call on next steps is this coming
>> Monday, 11 February from* 4- 6 PM UTC*. The full details are included in
>> my previous email and I've updated the etherpad
>> <https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/Bestbitscallfuture> with those
>> planning to attend.
>>
>> Looking forward to speaking to you then!
>>
>> Best
>> Sheetal.
>>
>>
>> On Wed, 30 Jan 2019 at 10:07, Sheetal Kumar <sheetal at gp-digital.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear all,
>>>
>>> Thank you for filling out the doodle! It seems the best time for the
>>> call is* 4-6 PM UTC on February 11*. The full details of the call,
>>> including how to join, are below.
>>>
>>> Thanks to Farzaneh for setting up the room. Looking forward to speaking
>>> to as many of you as possible on the 11th!
>>>
>>> Best
>>> Sheetal.
>>>
>>> *Bestbits call: Future pathways *
>>>
>>>
>>> *Date and time: *
>>> 11 February, 4:00-6:00 PM UTC <http://worldtimebuddy.com/>
>>>
>>> *Online Meeting room: *
>>> To join the Meeting:
>>> https://bluejeans.com/819760256
>>>
>>> To join via Room System:
>>> Video Conferencing System: bjn.vc -or-199.48.152.152
>>> Meeting ID : 819760256
>>>
>>> To join via phone :
>>> 1)  Dial:
>>> +1.408.740.7256 (US (San Jose))
>>> +1.888.240.2560 (US Toll Free)
>>> +1.408.317.9253 (US (Primary, San Jose))
>>> (see all numbers - http://bluejeans.com/numbers)
>>>
>>> 2)  Enter Conference ID : 819760256
>>>
>>> Please note that if you call in, your phone number will appear on the
>>> Bluejeans room page. We would like to record and share the link with the
>>> BestBits network on the mailing list. Please let us know if you do not want
>>> the recording to be shared on an open mailing list if you call in.
>>>
>>> *Proposed agenda: *
>>> *Aim: *to discuss the future of the Bestbits and IGC lists, including
>>> the possibility of a merger + other options
>>> 1) Identification/agreement of challenges and issues faced in each
>>> network
>>> 2) Discussion of options, e.g merger of lists/establishment of
>>> new/maintenance of status quo - using lists as information sharing devices:
>>> pros and cons of each
>>> 3) Discussion of next steps/agreement on process for decision making
>>> regarding future of the lists
>>>
>>> *RSVP on etherpad*
>>> I've put the agenda in this pad
>>> <https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/Bestbitscallfuture>and I've also
>>> added the names of those who indicated they were available for the call at
>>> this time. Of course, as a Bestbits member you can join the call without
>>> indicating that in the pad, this is just to have a vague idea of numbers.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, 18 Jan 2019 at 14:13, Sheetal Kumar <sheetal at gp-digital.org>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dear all
>>>>
>>>> It's been great to see the engagement on this topic, and thanks to
>>>> those who have shared their perspectives and the relevant documents too.
>>>>
>>>> In December when we had the call we agreed to touch base again in the
>>>> middle of January to agree a way forward. The discussions here provide rich
>>>> ground for the discussion, and Farzaneh has kindly offered to set up a
>>>> conference call space for us.
>>>>
>>>> I am circulating below a doodle for our second call to decide next
>>>> steps. This is a suggested agenda:
>>>>
>>>> 1) Identification/agreement of challenges and issues faced in each
>>>> network
>>>> 2) Discussion of options, e.g merger of lists/establishment of
>>>> new/maintenance of status quo, e.g using lists as information sharing
>>>> devices: pros and cons of each approach
>>>> 3) Discussion of next steps/agreement on process for decision making
>>>> regarding future of Bestbits
>>>>
>>>> Having spoken to those who arranged the last call, we suggest only
>>>> Bestbits members are invited but that we also reach out to some IGC folks
>>>> to help provide some background and inform the discussion only.
>>>>
>>>> https://doodle.com/poll/yzmbvibwp6n4s976
>>>>
>>>> If everyone could fill out the doodle by the end of next week (Friday,
>>>> 25 Jan) we can set a time and send the conference room link too.
>>>>
>>>> Best
>>>> Sheetal.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, 11 Jan 2019 at 13:10, Deirdre Williams <
>>>> williams.deirdre at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Please excuse the cross-posting.
>>>>> I've been following this discussion with care, and have a couple of
>>>>> questions which seem to fall in line with what Nnenna and Jeremy are saying.
>>>>> 1. If we had more or less stopped sharing information/discussing
>>>>> things/ working together within IGC and Bestbits separately, would merging
>>>>> the two groups again really improve participation?
>>>>> 2. Is there a way for us to look at what needs to be done, what we
>>>>> want to do, how we want to do it?
>>>>> 3. Who are "we"? Are we the same as the people who started IGC and
>>>>> Bestbits - same objectives, same perceptions and perspectives, same
>>>>> priorities?
>>>>> Without answers to these questions it seems unlikely that we would
>>>>> make much progress.
>>>>> Purely as an illustration please consider IRPC (which many of us also
>>>>> belong to) which is currently having some difficulty with identifying
>>>>> volunteers to carry out management tasks for the group.
>>>>> Civil society still needs a means to discuss issues and find a common
>>>>> voice, but is this the right way to do that now or do we need to devise
>>>>> something different?
>>>>> Best wishes for 2019
>>>>> Deirdre
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, 10 Jan 2019 at 14:09, Jeremy Malcolm <jeremy at malcolm.id.au>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> On 1/10/19 2:01 AM, Sheetal Kumar wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> > For those who were part of the first Steering Committee of Bestbits
>>>>>> -
>>>>>> > could you share more information about how it was constituted and
>>>>>> why?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It was because IGC discourse had become toxic and dysfunctional, and
>>>>>> people were dropping out. It had been a while since it had been able
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> agree on a joint statement. At the same time, the 2012 ITU WCIT was
>>>>>> coming up, and being able to collaborate on joint action was
>>>>>> important,
>>>>>> so a few conversations between people both inside and outside of IGC
>>>>>> resulted in them becoming the first volunteer steering committee.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But then the same civil society politics that had driven the IGC into
>>>>>> the ground started to disrupt Best Bits too. There were (misplaced but
>>>>>> damaging) allegations about various participants having hidden agendas
>>>>>> or not being transparent enough about their own funding. So whereas
>>>>>> the
>>>>>> original committee had been fairly lightweight and informal, pressure
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> adopt more formal mechanisms of accountability resulted in us
>>>>>> investing
>>>>>> a lot of time in creating a more elaborate set of rules and processes.
>>>>>> As it turned out, this was too heavy and people weren't motivated to
>>>>>> engage in these new processes, indicating that the more lightweight
>>>>>> structure had probably been better.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If there was a group of willing people who could resuscitate Best
>>>>>> Bits,
>>>>>> even without formal elections, I'd be all for that. But I don't think
>>>>>> there is. I personally have given as much time to it as I'd like to
>>>>>> give, because I'm focusing my energy on my new nonprofit Prostasia
>>>>>> Foundation now.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Jeremy Malcolm PhD LLB (Hons) B Com
>>>>>> Internet lawyer, ICT policy advocate, geek
>>>>>> echo "9EEAi^^;6C6]>J^=^>6"|tr '\!-~' 'P-~\!-O'|wget -q -i - -O -
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ____________________________________________________________
>>>>>> You received this message as a subscriber on the list:
>>>>>>      bestbits at lists.bestbits.net.
>>>>>> To unsubscribe or change your settings, visit:
>>>>>>      http://lists.bestbits.net/wws/info/bestbits
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> “The fundamental cure for poverty is not money but knowledge" Sir
>>>>> William Arthur Lewis, Nobel Prize Economics, 1979
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> *Sheetal Kumar*
>>>> Programme Lead | GLOBAL PARTNERS DIGITAL
>>>> Second Home, 68-80 Hanbury Street, London, E1 5JL
>>>> T: +44 (0)20 3 818 3258| M: +44 (0)7739569514  |
>>>> PGP ID: E592EFBBEAB1CF31  | PGP Fingerprint: F5D5 114D 173B E9E2 0603
>>>> DD7F E592 EFBB EAB1 CF31|
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>>
>>> *Sheetal Kumar*
>>> Programme Lead | GLOBAL PARTNERS DIGITAL
>>> Second Home, 68-80 Hanbury Street, London, E1 5JL
>>> T: +44 (0)20 3 818 3258| M: +44 (0)7739569514  |
>>> PGP ID: E592EFBBEAB1CF31  | PGP Fingerprint: F5D5 114D 173B E9E2 0603
>>> DD7F E592 EFBB EAB1 CF31|
>>>
>>>
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>> *Sheetal Kumar*
>> Programme Lead | GLOBAL PARTNERS DIGITAL
>> Second Home, 68-80 Hanbury Street, London, E1 5JL
>> T: +44 (0)20 3 818 3258| M: +44 (0)7739569514  |
>> PGP ID: E592EFBBEAB1CF31  | PGP Fingerprint: F5D5 114D 173B E9E2 0603
>> DD7F E592 EFBB EAB1 CF31|
>>
>>
>
> --
>
>
> *Sheetal Kumar*
> Programme Lead | GLOBAL PARTNERS DIGITAL
> Second Home, 68-80 Hanbury Street, London, E1 5JL
> T: +44 (0)20 3 818 3258| M: +44 (0)7739569514  |
> PGP ID: E592EFBBEAB1CF31  | PGP Fingerprint: F5D5 114D 173B E9E2 0603
> DD7F E592 EFBB EAB1 CF31|
>
>

-- 

*Sheetal Kumar*
Programme Lead | GLOBAL PARTNERS DIGITAL
Second Home, 68-80 Hanbury Street, London, E1 5JL
T: +44 (0)20 3 818 3258| M: +44 (0)7739569514  |
PGP ID: E592EFBBEAB1CF31  | PGP Fingerprint: F5D5 114D 173B E9E2 0603 DD7F
E592 EFBB EAB1 CF31|
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