[governance] coordinating the IGC

[Avri Doria]

Hi,


Several people, both publicly and privately, have suggested that I  
volunteer myself for the task of coordinating the IGC.  And by and  
large I have kept quiet, or argued why it was impossible, wherever  
such recommendations were made.  At this point I figure I owe some  
sort of public response.

My first reaction is to be thankful that some of the participants in  
this caucus view me with that kind of trust.  I appreciate it, even  
if the task being discussed is somewhat daunting.   I have thought  
about this a lot and have concluded that I am willing to take the  
chance and try to do the job, though I believe following in the  
footsteps of Adam and Jeanette would be a challenge.

Before taking on this task, though, I wanted to make some things  
clear and discuss some of the organizational ideas I have for the  
IGC.   And I want to make sure that no one in the caucus objects to  
my taking the role or objects to my approach.  I.e. I am looking for  
consensus before proceeding.

1. Possible caveats

- As I have indicated before on this list, I occasionally do some  
paid consulting for the IGF secretariat.  Since this consulting is  
one of my paying jobs, I am not eager to give this up.  I have  
checked with the secretariat and since the IGC chair is a voluntary  
position they don't see a problem as long as everything is done  
transparently.  But you the participants in the IGC have to decide  
whether these periodic contracts are a problem.

- As I have also indicated, I have a seat on the GSNO council.  While  
that is not in conflict with the role of IGC coordinator, it might  
have an affect of some participant's view of my eligibility for the  
role.  Again as participants in the IGC you have to decide whether  
this is an issue.

- I am a dues paying, card carrying (well at least i have the cards,  
i think) member of ISOC, CPSR, ACLU and Amnesty International.   
Something in that list for most everyone to disapprove of.

2. Possible Plans:

- I tend to think that we, the IGC, need to regroup and do a certain  
amount of reorganization to finish the transition from a WSIS  
oriented group to an IGF+ oriented group. (Note: eventually I think  
this caucus has a role with any Internet governance organization, but  
at this point I think we need to focus on the founding of the IGF)

- One of the things I would like to do if chosen/accepted is work  
with the caucus to write a charter for the IGC going forward.  I  
don't expect that we can come up with a closed, buttoned up document,  
but it should be possible for us to put together a statement of  
principles, basic action areas and basic practices.

- In terms of my term length, while doing it until Athens is long  
enough, I would like to suggest a term of a year. I will explain more  
below.  I do see it as a reorganization period appointment.

- I think the IGC should have co-cooridnators.  Mostly to share the  
work, but also to make sure there is someone who can handle issues  
when a possible conflict of interest occurs.   Or is available if  
someone takes a vacation.

- I think that each of co-coordinator should have a two year term  
except for my initial one year term during the reorganization  
process, with staggered terms (i.e one term 06-08, one 07-09).  I  
think it is good to have rotation of people in the chair role, but we  
should try to avoid getting in the situation again where we lose both  
chairs at the same time.  I.e. we should have a well formed method  
for continuity.

- My suggestion would be to put together a nomcom after the charter  
is created to pick a co-coordinator for a two year term (the even  
year term).  I would hope we could have the basic working charter in  
about a month and a co-coordinator within about 2 months - this way  
we would be in good shape for the work needed to prepare for the  
Athens meeting by mid June or the beginning of July.

- Before my one year term ends, someone new could be chosen for the  
next two year term (the odd year term).  While this could be done in  
Athens, I would not recommend it:
   - not enough people go to any single meeting
   - we will probably be too busy dealing with substance at that point.
   - i believe the best time to think about what to do next in terms  
of picking the next co-coordinator would be after the Athens  
meeting.  But with meeting burn out and holidays, I would be  
surprised if it got done before the beginning of 2007.  So I suggest  
we plan it that way.

- Someone suggested that we have a nomcom in position for a long term  
period to make all the choices for that period, for example a year.   
While this idea has some merit, I think this needs to be considered  
with caution.  Partly becasue one would be excluded from other roles  
for as long as they were on the nomcom, and partly because picking a  
nomcom for a specific purpose is not all that difficult.  I certainly  
do _not_ think that the current nomcom should be pressed into service  
since they only volunteered for a single choice.  Also we need to  
review the experience of the nomcom and deal with any pending issues  
and decide whether this is the way we want to proceed in the future.   
There may be other suggestions that would be worth considering.

- Another thing I would like to do during a term is experiment with  
new collaborative working methods and decision methods to see if we  
could find an easier way to come to closure on proposals and comments/ 
contributions.  This has often been one of the flash points in the  
caucus and needs to be resolved if the IGC going to be a fully  
functional contributor to the IGF and other governance efforts into  
the future.  I believe that if we have a good organizational process  
and can come up with consensus documents, we can have a decent effect  
on the IGF.

So, as I said at the beginning of this note, I am willing, but only  
if no one objects.  And I am certainly willing to discuss any of the  
things in this note - I know that I sometimes write in a manner that  
is not clear to all readers. Or that what I wrote may be completely  
wrong headed.  But, if there is general support of this proposal and  
there are no major objections to me taking the role, then i would be  
honored to take on the task for a year starting in May.  I figure we  
can use the rest of this month to discuss it and find out if there  
are objections.

thanks

a.

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