[governance] IMPORTANT : Merging IGC with Best Bits

[Ken Stubbs]

+1 Milton

Ken Stubbs

On 12/20/18 16:30, Mueller, Milton L wrote:
>
> I am feeling very old reading these messages ;-)
>
> To me it is obvious that IGC, BB and CSGC are all outgrowths of WSIS 
> civil society, which started around 2001. What became IGC started as 
> the mailing list of WSIS civil society.
>
> Why not consider the merged or combined entity to be the “new” IGC? BB 
> barely exists anymore, and it emerged as an outgrowth of IGC in 
> reality. There is no need to turn our back on the long history of WSIS 
> civil society while at the same time reorganizing in a way that 
> recognizes the contribution of BB and makes us more effective.
>
> What should be clear to everyone is that the current arrangement is no 
> longer effective and something needs to be changed.
>
> I also believe that the current structure of CSCG is an arbitrary 
> historical artifact and should not constrain what we do now. I do 
> agree with Bruna, however, that restructuring CSGC representation 
> should be step two. Let’s get IGC’s house in order first.
>
> Dr. Milton Mueller
>
> Professor, School of Public Policy
>
> Georgia Institute of Technology
>
> *From:*governance-request at lists.riseup.net 
> [mailto:governance-request at lists.riseup.net] *On Behalf Of *Bruna 
> Martins dos Santos
> *Sent:* Monday, December 17, 2018 2:11 PM
> *To:* Akinremi Peter Taiwo <compsoftnet at gmail.com>; Nadira Araj 
> <nadira.araj at gmail.com>
> *Cc:* Arsène Tungali <arsenebaguma at gmail.com>; governance 
> <governance at lists.riseup.net>
> *Subject:* Re: [governance] IMPORTANT : Merging IGC with Best Bits
>
> Dear All,
>
> Thanks Arsène for kicking off the discussion here on IGC.
>
> When the merger discussion was brought up, some of the attendees 
> agreed that the /"The historical moment that required the separation 
> of IGC and Best bits is long gone and that the merger would be 
> interesting due to the limited volunteering time and resources 
> available for managing both groups". /Therefore, while I dont yet have 
> a personal opinion with regards to the merger, I believe that it could 
> result in a stronger and (even) more active CS caucus/coordination group.
>
> I guess it is safe to say that we all acknowledge the importance of 
> both groups, as well as their legacy. And with IGC being the first 
> Civil Society gatherings having started back in 2003 (in the early 
> stages of the WSIS process) I would not be pleased with a merger that 
> did not bear in mind the importance of the statements issued in the 
> past or even the importance of groups such as ours in strengthening 
> Civil Society participation.
>
> At the same time, we have to consider that this list is no longer as 
> active as it once was and that our website <http://www.igcaucus.org/> 
> is no longer functional and some other things that were lost in the 
> transition. So the merger suggestion comes in light of the future 
> discussions and coordinations that could be generated within a 
> joint/stronger group.
>
> Having said that, I agree that we could come up with a draft merger 
> proposal, as suggested by @Nadira Araj <mailto:nadira.araj at gmail.com>. 
> If we agree on this new group, there might be a need for discussions 
> around structure - best bits has a steering committee while Best Bits 
> has only two co-coordinators - and a new institutional mandate. With 
> regards to the CSCG, Best Bits and IGC are 2 of the 5 CS groups 
> represented there, but Id say that the CSCG composition and the 
> discussions about representation there should be discussed in a second 
> moment.
>
> But I would also like to hear more from the list on this subject.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Bruna Santos
>
> Em seg, 17 de dez de 2018 às 16:54, Akinremi Peter Taiwo 
> <governance at lists.riseup.net <mailto:governance at lists.riseup.net>> 
> escreveu:
>
>     Thanks Arsene for sharing your thought. I could not attend the
>     call because of my engagement during the ecommerce week in Nairobi.
>
>     I would say that we don't rush into this merging of IGC and
>     Bestbit without first clarifying questions such as the purpose of
>     existence and whether the merging will translate automatically to
>     the group active participation. It would be good to conduct an
>     assessment that will lead to a reliable recommendations.
>
>     With that in mind, how would that affect the structure of CSCG and
>     expanding it scope to accommodate more civil society organization.
>
>     Regards
>
>     Peter.
>
>     Regards.
>
>     On Mon, Dec 17, 2018, 3:00 PM Arsène Tungali
>     <governance at lists.riseup.net <mailto:governance at lists.riseup.net>
>     wrote:
>
>         Hi everyone,
>
>         You have probably seen this already on a different thread but
>         thought
>         it well to have this discussion solely on the IGC list (as I
>         expect
>         Best Bits to do the same), that's why i started this thread
>         hoping to
>         hear from you on this important question.
>
>         This need for merging was raised by some IGC members during a
>         civil
>         society call that had mostly IGC and Best Bits participants;
>         many of
>         whom are both IGC and Best Bits (BB) members. The call
>         happened last
>         week and Farzaneh offered to share the link to the recording.
>
>         I will not go into much details about the rationale but would
>         welcome
>         anyone to weigh in and share their reasoning on whether or not we
>         should merge both lists. We will need to also answer the
>         question on
>         how (who is doing what?) will this happen? Is the IGC going to
>         become
>         BB or the latter becoming IGC? Or are we working towards a
>         different
>         group where members of both groups will all be added?
>
>         This brings back to my memory the whole hassle we had to migrate
>         (SAVE?) this list and allow us to have this discussion list (which
>         hasn't been quite active for a few months but where many feel
>         safe to
>         share IG related updates). So i hope we discuss and take into
>         account
>         the technical cost of the merging process (should it happen).
>
>         I am also not sure how we will gauge consensus about this
>         question on
>         this list? Should we vote? How long do we take to decide?
>         Should we
>         consult IGC 'founders' or former Co-coordinators separately
>         and ask
>         them what they think?
>
>         During the call, Bruna and I offered to have a decision by
>         mid-January
>         and we hope this is realistic given the holiday season. We
>         will then
>         report to the group.
>
>         I just wanted to throw this all here and would REALLY appreciate a
>         discussion that will help us move forward and come to a
>         conclusion.
>
>         Best regards,
>         Arsene
>         ---
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>
> -- 
>
> */Bruna Martins dos Santos /*
>
> Skype ID: bruna.martinsantos
>
> @boomartins
>
>
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