[governance] Process issues for future consensus calls

[Bertrand de La Chapelle]

Dear Jeremy,

Just a few comments on process, following your exchanges :

- distiction between voting and consensus is important. the goal in drafting
documents and inputs is to get consensus and avoid voting as much as
possible (espectially as the number of people actually voting on drafts is
always relatively limited and this can reduce the credibility of the outcome
unnecessarily in the view of outside actors)
- irrespective of the online tools that can be potentially used, there is
one thing we could explore in preparing such inputs : the creation of a
"drafting team", whose responsibility is to sift through the comments on the
list, prepare a skeleton of comments and identify the points that :

   1. seem to get consensus and don't need to be discussed further
   2. get significant support but need refining of the formulation
   3. raise a potentially contentious topic and require an in-depth
   discussion

- the process, conducted iteratively, allows to progress in the drafting
without reopening everything until the last minute
- additionally, dissenting views can be integrated with formulations like :
"some members of the IGC nonetheless believe that ...."
- formation of a drafting group (different for each issue) can be done
through volunteeers and would alleviate the burden on the co-coordinators
(otherwise, they will be in charge of all drafting);
- co-coordinators could therefore devote more time to identifying occasions
where input will be needed (so as to prepare in advance and not ant the last
minute), as well as topics on which some sort of issue paper could be
prepared (for instance, once the main sessions themes for an IGF are
defined, the iGC could endeavour to prepare some neutral background
material).

I hope this helps.

Best

Bertrand


On Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 2:06 AM, Jeremy Malcolm <jeremy at ciroap.org> wrote:

> On 01/02/2010, at 3:12 AM, McTim wrote:
>
> > However, I do have a problem with the conflation of voting and finding
> > consensus.  IIRC, we vote ONLY when electing coordinators.
> >
> > Let's keep the word "voting/vote" ONLY for elections, IMO we do NOT
> > vote on statements.  We indicate support for statements (or lack
> > thereof).  While the difference is subtle it is important for some of
> > us, and is one of the reasons we approved the charter as is.
>
> I have no problem with that.  Thanks for the suggestion.
>
> >> It may be possible for technology to come to our aid here, in that we
> could
> >> experiment with collectively drafting documents online without the need
> for
> >> confusing exchanges of emails with many bracketed sections, as Bill's
> >> approach would (in my view) have required in this case.
> >
> > As long as we use the website specified in the charter.
>
> I would love that to be so, but it's not technically possible. :-(  We
> don't have sufficient access rights to the igcaucus.org Web site for the
> necessary software to be installed there.  I would have to use the
> igf-online.net site, which is meant as a public, non-partisan site open to
> all to use for IGF-related purposes.  I am currently its administrator after
> inheriting it from the defunct Online Collaboration Dynamic Coalition, but
> would love for some other group (eg. the Remote Participation Working Group)
> to officially take it over.
>
> --
> Jeremy Malcolm
> Project Coordinator
> Consumers International
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-- 
____________________
Bertrand de La Chapelle
Délégué Spécial pour la Société de l'Information / Special Envoy for the
Information Society
Ministère des Affaires Etrangères et Européennes/ French Ministry of Foreign
and European Affairs
Tel : +33 (0)6 11 88 33 32

"Le plus beau métier des hommes, c'est d'unir les hommes" Antoine de Saint
Exupéry
("there is no greater mission for humans than uniting humans")
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