[bestbits] [governance] IMPORTANT : Merging IGC with Best Bits

Wed Jan 30 05:07:42 EST 2019

 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|
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