SV: [governance] Effective participation ....

Thu Oct 12 04:14:31 EDT 2006

Dan,

welcome on board. More media involvement is always needed and in this case in particular.

Best regards

wolfgang

________________________________

Fra: Dan Krimm [mailto:dan at cpsr.org]
Sendt: on 11-10-2006 20:02
Til: governance at lists.cpsr.org
Emne: Re: [governance] Effective participation ....

Greetings governance-list folks,

Dan Krimm here, CPSR's new Communication Director (announcement will be
forthcoming fairly soon).  My background in this area is that in August I
worked with Robin Gross at IP Justice on an NCUC statement on Whois policy
to the IGF for the pending Athens conference.  There is also a process for
ICANN GAC that is approaching an initial comment deadline tomorrow
(usurpation of GNSO vote as to the purpose of Whois data) that I'm sure many
of you may be well aware of.

Prior to working with IPJ/NCUC this summer, I was only rather vaguely aware
of IG issues (a brief exchange with Milton on the cc-mediareform list a few
months back was also informative), and I consider myself fairly well
informed about digital tech issues generally.  Frankly, IG does not get much
visibility in the mainstream media.

What I can suggest is the following:

There is information on the web about this stuff, from IPJ, IGP, etc., and
it could be useful to set up a resource page on the web that links to these
various sources, with some general framing/orientation.  This would be just
a first step, because such resources would ultimately be incomplete and
holes would need to be filled in the info over time (for example, ICANN
governance structure which is pretty complex with various advisory bodies
and supporting organizations, as well as the MOU arrangement with the USG
etc.).

When I get fully up and running here at CPSR, I will consider this sort of
thing for the CPSR web site itself.

A complement to that would be some pro-active process of getting the word
out about the info resources, the issue(s), and opportunities for engagement
at CPSR and elsewhere.  To the extent that CPSR is involved in this, it is
part of my job description to do exactly that, both with collaborating
organizations and the press and general public.

While it'll take a little time for me to build momentum, this is the sort of
model I'd like to try to build here, moving forward.

Dan Krimm
Communication Director, CPSR

On Wed, 11 Oct 2006 17:31:58 +0100 (BST)
  kwasi boakye-akyeampong <kboakye1 at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Thanks Milton.
>  
>  While I'm not too proud of painting such a bleak picture of the situation
>in my country, that's what it is. All the good stories about the strides
>Ghana is making with regards to ICT, can be likened to the one-eyed man
>being King in the land of the blind.
>  
>  I believe for us to get to where we want to be a lot has got to be done
>in the area of promoting and strengthening ICT institutions, effective ICT
>manpower and academic curricula development, and above all ICT policy
>development and implementation. As we are speaking the mailing list of the
>only IT professional organisation is so dead quiet. We don't make any
>attempt to contribute to and affect policy decisions.
>  
>  May be if these professional institutions could receive some funding and
>staffing of some sort, things will change. I have been thinking a lot about
>this. What do you think?
>  
>  Kwasi
>  
> 
>
> Milton Mueller <mueller at syr.edu> wrote:
>  Kwasi:
> Thanks for your realistic if bleak appraisal of the situation. Makes for
> an interesting contrast with McTim's...
> --MM
>
>>>> kboakye1 at yahoo.co.uk 10/07/06 2:09 AM >>>
> Howzit Anriette,
>
> On 10/6/06, Anriette Esterhuysen wrote:
>
>>
>> Why are there so few participants from national IG communities in this
>> space, and it appears, going to the IGF?
> ####################
>
> The problem of participation from developing countries goes beyond
> funding. There a number of issues involved, among which are:
>
> 1. Very few people know about IG, ISOC, ICANN, etc. and most of those
> who know about them (including government officials, IT professionals,
> academics, those working or doing business in the IT industry, etc.)
> don't even understand them or the issues involved.
>
> 2. They don't know about these conferences, discussions, meetings,
> cyberspaces, etc. and they don't even know they can attend.
>
> 3. Local Chapters of ISOC exist on web pages, when you even send an
> e-mail enquiry you don't get response
>
> 4. Those who are supposed to know don't even know and/ or understand
> ccTLDs. Some company claims to be sponsoring ccTLDs but doesn't even
> respond to e-mail enquiries. dot gh for instance is far more expensive
> than a dot uk and you ask yourself why. Besides no one seems to care.
>
> 5. Most of the folks who get to attend these IG related conferences
> and meetings and represent developing countries probably don't
> understand the issues - some of them are businessmen and government
> officials who stand to gain by the status quo.
>
> 2. The average person can't get visa to attend these meetings; we are
> living in a situation where being allowed to travel depends on the whims
> and caprices of some entry clearance official who doesn't even know
> about ICANN and probably doesn't even care.
>
> 3. The average person can't even afford to fully participate in these
> online spaces; he cannot afford Internet connection at home and can't
> pay for a decent Internet access. Internet access is more expensive in
> developing countries; universities, colleges, schools, can't afford
> them. Academics as a result don't have them.
>
> 5. I have come to live in the UK for 5 years and I'm dreading going
> back because of Internet access. In the UK regardless of how low your
> income is you can afford it, in Ghana, it is a luxury and sometimes a
> status symbol. I work 15 hours a week (my visa allows me to work a max.
> of 20 hours, as an International student) but I can afford broadband
> Internet access.
>
> 6. Government officials can afford this luxury so why bother
>
> 7. ICANN held a general meeting in 2001 in Ghana and local IT
> professionals didn't know about it; those who knew didn't understand
> what was going on neither were they aware they could participate.
>
> These, in my opinion, are just a few of the issues we are plagued
> with.
>
> ...Kwasi
>
>
>
>
> "In the END, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the
>silence of our friends" - Martin Luther King, Jr.
>
>  Visit me at: www.boakye-akyeampong.zoomshare.com
>  
>
>              
> ---------------------------------
> Try the all-new Yahoo! Mail . "The New Version is radically easier to use"
>- The Wall Street Journal

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